As lockdown restrictions re-emerge, Vestdavit is fully ready to offer remote support for the engineers servicing its marine davits, using state of the art augmented reality technology from UBIMAX.

Working with ‘RealWear HMT-1’ head-mounted hardware sent to Vestdavit’s Polish production plant, UBIMAX ‘xAssist’ software has proved itself invaluable in overseeing Factory Acceptance Tests from the firm’s Bergen headquarters.

“We refined things during trials, especially focusing on audio quality when there is background noise: we now use integral headsets,” says  Vestdavit After Sales Director Henric Collvin. “We can confirm that this technology is intuitive for operators and can deliver remote support more easily, saving time and engineer travelling costs. We are ready to use it with a customer, which is especially as travel restrictions are tightening once more worldwide.”

Already, service engineers routinely use mobile phones to video equipment they are working on to show more qualified technicians the challenges they face. AR means that this can happen in real time and hands-free. “The result is better communication and an improved ability to respond on site, but also a collaborative approach that is all about problem-solving,” says Collvin.

If a client requires a small adjustment to one of its boat launch-and-recovery systems, for example, Vestdavit could send the RealWear HMT-1 to the customer with the necessary spare parts. The customer’s in-house engineer could then undertake the maintenance task under supervision from a Vestdavit expert.

“Our engineers have benefited from intense training and many years of service experience. There is no replacement for that, but they also cannot be everywhere at once,” says Collvin. “This new approach means that, even during lockdown, clients can secure authorised service support from professionals highly skilled in problem-solving wherever they need it.”

To date, Vestdavit has taken delivery of three AR headsets, with one in operation in Poland, a second dispatched to its US-based service organisation and the third held at headquarters for future deployment.  “Once this service is established, we certainly envisage investing in more units to match demand,” says Collvin.