Augmented Reality to improve productivity through better decision making from enhanced spatial orientation and easier access to data

REDMOND, WA, UNITED STATES, September 13, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Stockpile Reports, the leader in image based inventory management from phones, drones, and planes, announces a new version of its patented iPhone application leveraging Apple’s ARKit. Stockpile Reports customers can now place info signage in their quarry or on their stockpiles, place 3d models of their stockpiles on surfaces such as the parking lot, their desk, the bed of a pick-up truck, or the ground at a construction site. Based on initial feedback from beta customers Stockpile Reports will be integrating augmented reality to improve training, help customers find materials in the field, improve project planning through better visualization, and reduce disputes through quicker, more inexpensive access to measurement numbers.
Materials management companies have traditionally been challenged to adopt technology at scale, and transforming their business to achieve massive productivity gains. One of the challenges has been workforce and asset mobility, making it difficult to easily and effectively capture and utilize data in the field. While mobile phones and tablets have improved the ability to enter and access data - it still takes significant time and effort away from the highly mobile work activity to enter or view this data. While data today is being captured more than ever—it is often difficult for the corporate management team to internalize, visualize, and leverage that data back at the office.

Augmented Reality (AR) describes user experiences that add 2D or 3D elements to the live view from a device’s camera in a way that makes those elements appear to be in the real world. Leveraging AR, Stockpile Reports will allow field workers to take advantage of contextual data, appearing in the camera view, based on what the user is looking at. It will also bring field data to life back in the corporate office projecting field conditions and progress reports on table tops. The initial release of AR enabled Stockpile Reports is intended to ignite the imagination of what is possible, driving the development of features that continue to improve the productivity of companies managing stockpiled materials. Example industries include road maintenance, construction, recycling, landscape materials, ready mix, and aggregates.

"In a recent meeting with a County Government the participants literally jumped out of their chairs when a job site was projected on the table top in front of them”, says David Boardman CEO of Stockpile Reports. "The head of operations wanted to know how soon this would be available as they would like to take it to a public hearing to help explain status on a controversial project.”

Tony Jacobson, VP of Product at Stockpile Reports, described a similar reaction in a meeting with a DOT customer, “The customer explained the challenge of knowing which piles are owned by which contractors on a large-scale highway construction project. They want to point the phone at a pile and see a virtual sign detailing who owns the pile, the material type in the pile, and the date and quantity of the latest measurement to ensure that costly mistakes aren’t made during the project.”

In addition to creating new user experiences for Stockpile Reports, the additional sensor data provided by ARKit is being leveraged to improve robustness and performance of the core underlying 3d reconstruction platform developed by the computer vision team at URC Ventures. “Integrating ARKit with our core algorithms will enable our platform to better handle severe camera rotations, textureless surfaces, sun flare, and repetitive structures”, says Dr. Brian Clipp, Chief Scientist at URC Ventures, the parent company of Stockpile Reports who created the 3d Reconstruction Engine that powers it.

While we have 3d reconstruction running on phones in the lab or in controlled settings—it’s still not quite fast enough for demanding users in complex environments. With ARKit and the new powerful processors in the iPhone 7, 7s, 8, 8s, and iPhone X, we are one giant step closer to making that possible”, says Dr. Jared Heinly, Senior Researcher at URC Ventures.

To give this new technology a try, you can download the latest version of Stockpile Reports Lite app at: https://appstore.com/stockpileslite (you must have iOS11 installed in order to try out this new feature).

Companies who need to scale inventory management across their entire operation can upgrade to the Stockpile Reports enterprise version, giving them unlimited measurements, the ability to measure larger piles, bunkered material measurements, doing aerial measurements via drone, and managing all the data and insights across all their locations via the Stockpile Reports enterprise web portal.

Stockpile Reports is based in Redmond, WA and has offices in Oregon, Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina. It is used by hundreds of companies at over 3,000 locations in 25 countries around the world.

Tony Jacobson
Stockpile Reports
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email us here

Augmented Reality with Construction Material Stockpiles