Trimble Buildings is working with startup Mobilus Labs to incorporate the world's first two-way bone conduction audio and voice communication solution into its Connect for HoloLens and XR10 with HoloLens on-site collaboration platforms.
Technological Telepathy
Although there have been many trials of bone conduction technology audio products, mobiWAN is the world’s first voice platform using two-way bone conduction.
It can be integrated into standard safety helmets and is able to transmit voice communication directly to the inner ear through micro-vibrations on the head, bypassing the need to have headphones in the ear.
Although there have been many trials of bone conduction technology audio products, mobiWAN is the world’s first voice platform using two-way bone conduction. It can be integrated into standard safety helmets and is able to transmit voice communication directly to the inner ear through micro-vibrations on the head, bypassing the need to have headphones in the ear. With their hands and ears being free, front-line workers in extreme environments, including construction, oil and gas, manufacturing and mining industries, can concentrate on safe and efficient delivery of their work.
MR is no longer limited to the visual domain
According to the manufacturer, its conduction headset is the only audio solution that has been developed for use in industrial environments, and provides a "truly immersive experience" when used with the Trimble XR10 with Hololens 2.
The Trimble XR10 with Hololens 2 enables construction workers to overlay Constructible Building Information Models (BIM) and other digital project data onto the physical context of the jobsite.
Trimble has taken this approach one step further by incorporating Mobilus’ mobiWAN bone conduction audio headset for a fully immersive experience in the field.
With mobiWAN audio output and the HoloLens' advanced array of microphones, the system is capable of two-way communications and video remote assistance in high-ambient noise environments.
Reinventing voice communication
The paradigm for communicating at a distance using a phone or radio has been around for more than 150 years and remains virtually unchanged: some device in your hand, headphones stuck in, or over, our ears, and a microphone as close to the mouth as possible. Today, with supercomputers in our pockets, and being constantly on the move, we have a growing need for clear, hands free, and frictionless communication scalable across team size and noisy environments.
Recognising this, and taking into account the extreme environments in which a hands-free and ears-free experience is most in-demand, Mobilus Labs is reinventing the way we experience voice communication.
To provide a fully end-to-end voice comms solution, the mobWAN voice wearable is backed by a cloud based crossband (VoiP/RF) software platform.
Ineffective communication using sign language whilst SCUBA diving off the coast of Mozambique almost cost Jordan McRae, the CEO and Founder of Mobilus Labs, his life.
As an inventor and engineer with previous experience at MIT, Lockheed Martin and as a Co-Director of the NASA Frontier Development Lab, Jordan knew there had to be a way to solve communication problems in extreme environments.
His journey with Mobilus Labs is set to fundamentally change the way we use an iconic 150-year old invention to communicate.
Founded in 2017, Mobilus Labs has received over £1 million of funding from investors including Ascension Ventures, Entrepreneur Fist and Innovate UK.
The company's other major customers include Bouygues, Bam Nuttall and Balfour Beatty.
