Los Angeles-based startup Daqri is touting a high-tech helmet for blue-collar workers that combines augmented reality and 4D. The helmet, which will begin shipping next month, includes cameras, a sensor package, native augmented reality software and Daqri's Intellitrack system that leverages precise display and tracking features.
Daqri got its start producing software to help companies use augmented reality. Its initial focus was on media and consumer products, but the company found a few years ago that more and more industrial customers were adopting its products, Brian Mullins, the company's founder and CEO told The Wall Street Journal.
That led to the creation of Daqri's Smart Helmet, which aims to provide workers with visual instructions or cues to help them carry out the task at hand or avoid hazards. Mullins said one example could be the use of an augmented reality image that shows a worker, via a simulated arrow, which way a valve in a production plant should be turned.
Source: Daqri/YouTube
The Smart Helmet runs on the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android OS and uses two Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon chips. Mullins says smartwatches and augmented reality could be used to control helmet settings.
The company has not publicly released a price for the helmet, though it is expected to run into the thousands of dollars.
For more:
- see this Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)
- see this Gizmodo article
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