The company RealWear after 10 years of work and 35 million investment is about to launch on the market a wearable tablet designed for factory work
What if a tablet could be worn directly on the head? No, it's not a sci-fi movie scenario but a new Android device. It's called RealWear HMT-1 and it's a device, equipped with a small display, designed for industrial use and applicable over work helmets.
HMT-1 is designed for employees of warehouses and factories, and in general for all those who have to perform multiple tasks at the same time and need a technological solution that doesn't hinder their eyesight. The hybrid tablet was made by RealWear and after initial testing is being supplied to 65 companies, including Exxon, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Nokia, PTC, Dell, Walmart, Skanska and OSIsoft, for a second phase of development. The tablet understands 10 different languages and is designed to receive orders through voice commands. To provide greater safety for workers.
RealWear HMT-1, the tablet that you wear
HMT-1 is the child of a 10-year research effort that saw a total investment of more than $35 million in development. "Ours is a wearable tablet," explains Andy Lowery, CEO of RealWear, "that also has voice recognition and incorporates several smart algorithms and two microphones. After the 10-year design process, the first prototype saw the light of day in late 2016, and once the testing phase is over, actual production will begin. RealWear hopes to start making its tablets as early as next August. The price of the wearable tablet will range from 1,000 to 1,500 euros. The first companies that have exclusively tested the device have assured that the "tablet" is also very useful for repair thanks to augmented reality. However, it is a very ductile tablet that makes resistance its strength and can be used both for the management of a warehouse and for the monitoring of a production process. And UPS is using this system for preventive repair of its trucks. In addition, RealWear said it is working on a new AR application that will allow before-and-after images to be overlaid in areas affected by earthquakes and other disasters. So that it will be easier for engineers to figure out the causes of the disaster and start rebuilding buildings immediately.