Heavy lift shipping line Jumbo, in collaboration with ETTU and Friday Out Of The Box, is launching a deck marking solution using Microsoft HoloLens smart-glasses that utilise mixed reality technology.
According to Jumbo, this innovative technology will help to reduce the time that it takes to decide on the correct anchorage points that need to be welded onto a ship's deck, prior to the loading of heavy cargoes.
To date, this would be a manual task, but the use of the Microsoft HoloLens enables an engineer see a blueprint of the cargo that is directly projected on the deck of the ship, which Jumbo claims makes it easier to mark the anchorage points.
This visual process enables the engineer to notice possible obstacles immediately and apply the anchorage points at a faster rate.
"We were looking for a more efficient way to project (cargo) information on deck. To realise this concept, mixed reality using the Microsoft HoloLens was used to accelerate and improve our deck marking process,” said Wout Janssens, director operations and engineering at Jumbo.
The projection features an accuracy of 1 cm within surfaces measuring 12 m x 17 m. When using the HoloLens application, deck marking tiles light up when walking on deck.
According to Jumbo, this technique - which Jumbo calls 'the Billie Jean' method based on the video to Michael Jackson’s song - results in a highly stable and accurate projection as only the tiles that are closest to the user are shown.
“The accuracy needed for this application to be able to project a blueprint on deck is on the edge of what is possible with the technology of today,” explained Ralph Jansen, application manager at Jumbo. “This makes the software unique, and because of this Jumbo has patented this solution.”
The project is in the final phase of testing on board Jumbo vessels in Australia and Rotterdam.
