DESMI - 3D model in AR with built-in manuals
DESMI Ocean Guard improves support to customers with an app that lets them see the whole bilge water system in augmented reality – also at sea.
Augmented Reality App
Digital Reality
DESMI
Make information easily accessible
When a machinist on a ship needs support, it is difficult to perform the task while having to handle physical drawings and manuals. Therefore, DESMI Ocean Guard wanted to improve their support to the segment of smaller customers who contact them to receive help with maintenance and troubleshooting of DESMI’s bilge water systems.
Through the project Digital Reality, Virsabi helped find the solution for DESMI’s customers’ needs: An app that uses augmented reality to make information easily accessible. The app was built for Android and can easily be downloaded by the customer and the machinist who runs the bilge water system on a ship.
What does the app do?
In the app, the user can search for information, guidelines, and error codes from a 3D model of the specific bilge water system. The AR technology makes it possible to see the whole system as a 3D model in which details about each component is supported with a direct link to the right manual and information. The app supports knowledge sharing both internally and externally, and it helps DESMI set itself apart from competitors.
“I expect to see an effect of the solution relatively fast. The solution that has been developed is ready to be put to use, but it can be built upon with more features, and it’ll be really interesting to see what the future development will include,” says Mark Andersen who is Head of Projects at DESMI.
A solution that works on the user’s terms
It has been a primary concern for DESMI to create a solution that works in the user’s environment.
Because the users of the app work at sea, DESMI focused on developing a solution that would be easily accessible for their customers, even without data coverage. The solution was an app that lets the user download information when they install the system, so that it is always accessible – even when there is no internet coverage. By using the smartphone, a well-known technology available to all customers, DESMI gives all its customers a digital and more useful access to knowledge in the well-known manual format.
The design of the app supports use in loud environments with reduced light, conditions that are common on ships. Furthermore, the functions are placed to be reached using just one hand, leaving the other hand free to perform work.
