AR4WATER

Augmented Reality Geographic Information System for the Water Utility Industry

Type	Open Call No.	Funds granted
Twin AE	OC 3	€90,000

Challenge

Water management companies maintain vast networks of underground infrastructure. This infrastructure is difficult to access, and coexist with other utilities (gas, electricity, telecommunications). The inability to utility workers to directly see buried assets, occasionally leads to excavation damages. For decades, water management companies have been relying on 2D maps to find pipers, mains, and manhole covers. Time, energy, and money were spent searching for the right files in the office and the right pipelines in the ground.

Solutions provided

AR4WATER+ is an Augmented Reality service that supports workforces in the complete life cycle of water utilities management, revolutionising planning, operation, maintenance, on-site Geographical Information Systems (GIS) updates and decision-making. The project innovation exploits the combination of geospatial databases, provided by GIS, with the power of 3D hologram projection through Augmented Reality (AR) technology.

Consortium strength

Allbesmart brings its proven technical competences on AR, whereas AQULARA brings expertise in GIS for underground water infrastructures and real data sets for the prototype validation.

Business development

AR4WATER+ strategy for profitability is based on a subscription-based business model with an estimated return of investment (ROI) of 5:1. This is a great value proposition for water management companies. Aligned with the spirit of DigiFed, this twin experiment will foster the introduction of digital technologies in water field technicians that typically rely on traditional methods.

Companies involved

Allbesmart has developed AR applications for training-on-the-job and assist maintenance operations of industrial machines.

Website	Company size	Country	Industry sector
www.allbesmart.pt		Portugal	Industry 4.0

The real data sets, GIS expertise and deep understanding of the water industry and business, brought by AQLARA, will be essential for a successful implementation and commercialization of the AR4WATER+ project.

Website	Company size	Country	Industry sector
https://www.aqlara.com/		Spain	Water services