Imagine a future where technical jobs require minimal education. Instead of technicians needing to know what every transistor and dial does in a piece of machinery, they simply point their smartphone camera at an exposed wiring panel. A digital overlay pops up, tells the tech what needs to be adjusted and why, and the problem is solved.
That’s exactly what one utility company, Westar Energy, is building into its infrastructure.
When one hears the term, “augmented reality,” it’s not likely that utility companies are the first thing that come to mind. But if there’s one thing companies love, it’s cutting costs. And any time human knowledge and experience can be replaced by software, that’s a massive opportunity for reducing overhead.
The application, modestly dubbed the LineAssist SuperApp, is being rolled out to field technicians. It works by walking a tech through a troubleshooter for each specific model of controller. By using augmented reality, it shows the tech exactly what needs to be done to solve a given problem, much like the example above.
Not only that, but the app includes reference material for the craftsman to use in case there is a related problem that isn’t explicitly covered by the app itself.
While it’s reasonable to expect that it may take some months for all the bugs to be worked out of the program, Westar Energy is likely expecting this push into augmented reality to be well worth the investment. Taking technicians away from their work to drive to a site and work on something complex like a line voltage regulator is time consuming and expensive. If the app manages to cut the frequency with which techs need to drive out and work on the problem themselves, then the program will have paid for itself and then some over the long term.
What do you think about Westar Energy’s foray into the augmented reality world? Let us know in a comment!