Augview Ltd

Introduction 

Augview is a small business at the forefront of taking augmented reality technology into the utilities and construction market. Augview addresses a global issue and we now have customers in a number of countries around the world. 

The problem: 

When utility companies undertake installation or maintenance work to their underground assets, their field workers first need to know of the existence and location of any other network assets. Typically take one of two approaches before they start excavations. 

● They can get a set of paper plans or pdfs (ie digital paper) of where existing utility assets are located. But these are often difficult to interpret, especially if you don’t know where you are standing in the first place. 

● Alternatively, they can use the services of asset locating companies to have the area surveyed and marked out with spray paint on the ground. The problem here of course is that as soon as you start digging, you lose the information. 

Unsurprisingly, collateral damage and cable strikes are a fairly regular occurrence, leading to loss of service, significant repair costs, economic disruption and of course it exposes the field workers to serious H&S risks (especially when working near high voltage power cables, gas mains and high pressure water networks). 

Using Augview, field workers will 

● Reduce collateral damage to existing networks, resulting in reduced costs and reduced network outages 

● Reduce H&S risk, improving field worker safety, and reducing staff sick leave 

● Improve field worker productivity 

● Improve data quality and data timeliness by eliminating data transcription and back-office functions 

What is Augview? 

Augview is a downloadable app and works on most current tablets and smartphones. 

The app pulls data from one or more utility and local authority databases. It then dynamically generates a 3D model of the underground asset network within the application. 

This model is then superimposed over the real-life view of the street, which is being viewed through the device’s camera. Hence - augmented reality. 

The device’s sensors keep the model correctly positioned and oriented, relative to the user’s own position and orientation. 

This provides an intuitive view of the location of the underground assets, helping to avoid causing damage when excavating or using directional drilling. 

Augview can also be used to capture and update asset information in real time, from the field, as maintenance work is being carried out. This means asset information is updated in a timely fashion, data quality is improved, transcription errors eliminated and there is no need to incur the cost of re-surveying.