During the presentation of the newest research findings resulting from the cooperation between the University of Kempten and Soloplan GmbH, great enthusiasm and awestruck wonder were on the agenda. Last year, students at the University of Kempten already developed an app of their own for augmented reality goggles in cooperation with Soloplan GmbH. Now, at the beginning of the new year, the newest findings of the research project “HOLO4LOGISTICS” were presented to CEOs Wolfgang and Fabian Heidl and CDO Christian Heidl. The highlight of the presentation was a video filmed by the students themselves, in which they visually demonstrated the functionality of the app and the mixed reality goggles.
With augmented reality, the user perceives their real environment and interacts in combination with digital extensions of their real world. This technology is especially well-known by now due to recreational activities such as online games or filters for photos and videos on social networks. However, experts also consider its use in the working world to be full of potential: It allows users to optimise processes, save time and avoid unnecessary routes. The cooperation between the University of Kempten and Soloplan GmbH is now successfully creating ways for augmented reality to be used in the area of logistics, specifically.
The task for the further development of the app was mainly concerned with outgoing goods: Thus, in the future, the way to the loading bay and the storage position are projected to the employee in the loading area via the mixed reality goggles. This can be compared to a navigation system; key word: “pick by vision”.
Another new functionality of the app is that the loading sequence of the trucks is now also taken into account in the transshipment warehouse. The packages that are to be unloaded first are grouped in the back area of the loading bay and the packages to be unloaded last are grouped in the front area. That way, users can guarantee that the goods can be unloaded at the destination in time and ensure an efficient workflow.
Furthermore, the latest version of the app has been extended to include additional functionalities such as a link to time recording, a notification bar and a task manager. As the next step, the further developed app and the newly gained insights are to be tested in practice as well. To that end, Soloplan GmbH is already in touch with a business partner who would like to integrate the augmented reality technology in their company.
“I am impressed with how perfectly and in how much detail the students have implemented our objective and achieved such an impressive result,” says CEO Wolfgang Heidl. Professor Dr. Stefan Wind, who manages the project on the side of the university, is also fascinated by the results of his students and in conclusion thanked Soloplan GmbH and CDO Christian Heidl for the excellent cooperation.
Have we piqued your interest in augmented reality, as well? Let yourself be inspired by the research cooperation between the University of Kempten and Soloplan GmbH and take a look through the mixed reality goggles yourself.
You can find the video with the presentation of the newest research findings here.
