Kognitiv Spark is a Gold Mixed Reality Partner in the Mixed Reality Partner Program. Read the blog post below to hear from Duncan McSporran, Founder and COO of Kognitiv Spark.
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The technology behind Mixed Reality and our wider community of practice is becoming increasingly accessible, so it is great to be able to share some of the lessons learnt and observations from the team at Kognitiv Spark. In particular, as an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) with a wide range of customers and partners it is also worthwhile to be able to open up discussion on some of the significant impacts that we have been able to identify, out there in the real world of operational deployments. I am sure these impacts will reflect the experiences of many within our community, but hopefully this blog will also inform those looking for solutions, about what is possible with the amazing #futurenow tech that Microsoft Mixed Reality Partners work with every day.
As with any overview, it is important to situate the perspective of the reader, so please forgive me for taking you down a short introduction to who we are at Kognitiv Spark. As you read through my jottings, please forgive any mis-use of technical terms, I hope that the context of what I’m discussing will provide you with the clarity where my use of words doesn’t!
Kognitiv Spark has been working in Mixed Reality since 2016, initially creating augmented reality solutions with an emphasis on user-centered capability development across the industrial and public sectors. The focus since an early stage has been on reducing the cognitive load on operators through an end-user focused approach, creating easy to implement solutions that deliver knowledge to the point of need. This work has led to the development of RemoteSpark, a low-bandwidth and robust MR platform that can be deployed on-cloud or on-prem.
This has led to some amazing experiences with the widest range of customers across a wide range of sectors from Special Forces to the Nuclear Power industry, including Healthcare, Automotive and the Maritime sector to name just a few along the way. To the point of this short blog, the operational environments have been equally exciting and challenging. This includes RemoteSpark being deployed to support teams working in the Canadian High Arctic, at the same time as our customers has been employing Mixed Reality to work in the humdrum of industrial production lines in Europe, and in the oil fields across North America.
Of all the impacts that come with use of commercially focused MR, the most profound is the one that we refer to as enhanced operational tempo. It became very clear to us at an early stage that discussing the benefits of adoption, by addressing the needs of the operational team on whose shoulders the outputs of an organisation or facility rest was critical. In this we came to re-confirm for many of us who had industrial or public sector backgrounds that humans when confronted by a situation they are not prepared for will invariably do one of two things: Stop and wait for an expert to turn up; or plough on, guess and hope that things work out. In this latter case this often leads to downstream at best a longer period before the systems or equipment is returned to service and potentially significant re-engineering costs.
At an early stage one of our first A-ha! moments in understanding the impact on Operational Tempo through use of MR came when we were just starting with the Canadian Army on their initial pilot. A contractor showed us the results of the “I can work this out, it can’t be difficult” approach. A critical piece of reconnaissance equipment was undergoing a repair by replacement where a line replaceable unit (LRU) is removed and subsequently replaced with another. In this case the junior tech working on the equipment caused over $50k in damage by applying a variable pressure applicator (hammer) to get something to fit because he didn’t realise and had no reference available to indicate he had the LRU misaligned. More importantly from an operational tempo perspective this led to the whole platform – an armoured reconnaissance vehicle – being unavailable for routine tasking until a new LRU was procured through the supply-chain.
As we began to work out our use cases with the Canadian Army, this presented itself as a demonstrable instance where Mixed Reality and Remote Support would have been an ideal tool to prevent not only the cost impact, but also to improve operational tempo through avoiding unnecessary equipment downtime. Also, importantly the use of heads-up hands-free MR at the point of need would in these instances provide the technician with impactful on the job training/guidance from an expert who may be in the next maintenance bay, or at the Original Equipment Manufacturers service office anywhere in the world.
Step forward 12 months to our initial discussions with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) about how they could maximise the benefit of MR, and the needs for their maintainers aligned almost exactly with the use case we had identified with the Canadian Army. The impact resonated with the vision of the then Commander of the RCN, Admiral Lloyd to use advanced digital technology to empower his maintainers to enhance the operational tempo and readiness of the fleet.
This led to remote expert supported capability being developed with full animated procedures for repair by replacement of a critical shipboard system. In defining this use case, the RCN also committed to creating a technical user group that not only provided feedback, but guided the technical roadmap for the systems which the RCN continue to deploy and build out into their digital transformation strategy.
The impact on Operational Tempo was most clearly stated by one of the members of the user group, a very well-seasoned Chief Petty Officer. At the end of his extended (he simply wouldn’t take the HoloLens off) initial familiarisation session, he removed the headset and commented that with the capability he had in his hand he could get the least skilled person on a ship – the chef - to conduct the repair work on that specific and critical equipment. In other words, he could immediately see after just 40 minutes the impact of MR. As the senior enlisted maintainer for a ship, he immediately grasped the application of a new way of working. The focus? Getting work done when it needed to be done using MR to deliver Operational Tempo for his team members and others in a complex – high pressure environment.
Whilst the benefits to Operational Tempo are directly applicable to almost all our commercial and public sector partners, other impacts are equally significant. Amongst these I would highlight the ability for our customers to identify meaningful Environmental, Social and Governance applications, and these apply across the whole pantheon of Public Sector and Industrial use cases. Imagine being able to reduce unnecessary travel to site by 60% or more? This has been reported by several of our customers focused on improving the way they work, with the aim of remaining highly productive whilst reducing the impact of their work on the environment. Not only does that have reduce operational costs, but also reduces Green House Gas emissions for a company or organisation by a truly meaningful amount. We should all celebrate these companies and their implementation of MR in such an impactful way.
Final thoughts
It is easy to be very positive about not only our own journey, but also to have selective memory when it comes to the end-user. As I look in the mirror, I have to remind myself that for every positive step that we have taken there has been a very significant amount of sometimes painful discovery learning.
I know that this applies across our team here at Kognitiv Spark, but also to the wider community of practice to which we belong. This applies to the technical dead ends that we have travelled down, often committed to find a path to success that simply fails to materialise. It also applies to the challenges of matching the needs of a client or end-users to the current state of deployable MR capability and falling short of their expectation, or even worse not being able to achieve any alignment at all.
However, as I round out these thoughts, I am reminded of the most meaningful impact that I have heard expressed to us on our journey to date. Simply put, a CEO for one of our clients in the Oil and Gas sector jumped onto a routine update call with our Customer Success team. His comment was straightforward and to the point – “Without your capability I know that during the pandemic my company would not have been able to sustain its operations and keep people in work, and I just wanted to say thank you.”
I hope that my wanderings have added to your understanding of the real impact of MR not just on the workplace, but on our people and our environment. As I mentioned, I am sure that for those in the MR community you will have your own examples, and it would be great to hear them in the comments. Likewise, if you’re looking into our world and have questions about how you can achieve impact with MR in your context – just ask!
Learn more about Kognitiv Spark by visiting their website here.