Improving productivity and safety for utility workers with augmented reality
2019 Award for Technical Excellence
To improve the safety of electrical line workers in the field, our team created a smart, hands-free prototype system to test how wearable augmented reality technology could improve safety behavior by guiding workers in real time and validating their work.
Category: Digital Workplace Transformation
Niloy Chowdhury, Patrick Stoddart
To improve the safety of electrical line workers in the field, our DXC Technology team created a smart, hands-free prototype system for trial by Essential Energy, a large electricity distributor in Australia. The prototype tested how wearable augmented reality (AR) technology could improve safety behavior by guiding workers in real time and validating their work.
In the trial, an AR device attached to a worker’s helmet was used to provide critical information, with freedom of movement, to the individual while working on power poles. The system guided the line worker through work instructions, recorded observations and measurements, and created an auditable record (including video and photo evidence) of the work being done.
"Our enterprise augmented reality services power productivity and efficiency for front-line technicians and other workers."
Development of the prototype could assist in capturing auditable video and, potentially, lead to achieving compliance with safety regulations and procedural steps, and boosting worker productivity by helping workers stay focused on the job. The system’s use of video, audio and photos could result in reduced paperwork and improvements in the quality of information collected.
Jarrod Bassan led the team and was named a DXC Master as part of the DXC Tech Honors program.
View all the 2019 Awards for Technical Excellence.