Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) are bringing the maritime digital solutions of the future to life at Nor-Shipping. Unveiling their augmented reality (AR) project at the world’s biggest maritime show, this immersive, interactive tool enables visitors to view the company’s very latest products and systems, inside and out.
Developed in conjunction with Austrian technology company Imagination Computer Serv. GesmbH, using their AR software ‘MagicLens’, visitors will download a reader app to their phones and scan a printed image to unlock the AR system. Kjell Andre Engen, Executive VP, Marine Products, WSS believes AR has the capacity to be much more than just a marketing tool for exhibitions. He says, “AR helps us illustrate what really makes our maritime specific solutions portfolio tick and we believe it will change how and why customers make their purchasing decisions."
Viewable via a mobile phone app, AR renderings can be loaded with additional information on for example, product performance, spare part compatability, usage and safety data, along with videos and infographics. Making a desk’s worth of product catalogs, manuals and data sheets obsolete with the swipe of a finger across a phone screen, Engen believes AR will also become ‘absolutely invaluable for crew training’.
Showcasing products and systems in final development, along with company staples such as Unitor welding equipment, visitors to Nor-Shipping will be able to inspect and scrutinise two new innovative digital solutions.
The first, the automated boiler water maintenace system, is currently in final testing on both Color Line and WWL vessels. The company’s first connected solution, the system constantly measures boiler water condition and automatically doses chemicals when required, greatly reducing the risk of a boiler failure. Paired with a tailor made desktop dashboard, streaming live critical boiler water information, accessible by customers 24/7, the system continues to be refined with input from the test vessels. The second, the Smart Ropes system, is still in early development and helps eliminate the age-old problems associated with mooring ropes. Constructed using the Timm Acera rope range, an embedded load sensor provides real time nformation on tension, along with logging usage and longevity, relaying data to a base station located on deck.
Giving an overview of rope tension via the Digital Mooring Assistant, Smart Ropes enables crew to moor their vessels safely, accurately and efficiently.
