Blackbay bid to cut missed deliveries through augmented reality
Mobility solutions specialist Blackbay is working with New Zealand researchers to develop augmented reality technology to boost courier first time delivery rates. Augmented reality (AR) allows a display of information to be overlaid on a live camera view of the world, and could help a courier quickly find exactly where to leave a package while out on delivery.
The technology was initially developed to help rescue teams in earthquakes, as a way of seeing what damaged or destroyed buildings looked like before the disaster struck.
Blackbay is now working with the University of Canterbury’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) to integrate the system into its existing products for courier and postal companies.
Professor Mark Billinghurst, the direct of the HIT Lab, said New Zealand’s Ministry of Science and Innovation was matching every dollar invested by Blackbay in the research.
He said a demonstration model put together for Blackbay last year had been “extremely well received” by the postal sector, and that has paved the way for the work integrating it with Blackbay’s products.
“In recent years the availability of smart phones with camera, GPS and compass sensors has meant that mobile devices can deliver several layers of information at the same time,” said Billinghurst.
HIT Lab NZ researcher Dr Gun Lee (left) and Prof Mark Billinghurst with their augmented reality technology
“When you integrate this with social media, the sophistication, speed and accuracy of many traditional activities can be greatly enhanced.”
“Major cost savings”
Blackbay said a commercial release for the technology could come in 2013, potentially as the first time mobile AR technology will have been used in a courier application.
Nigel Doust, Blackbay’s chief executive, said the system should help eliminate one of the biggest challenges in the courier marketplace – delayed or missed delivery.
“Just a small increase in the percentage of first time delivery success across a courier business offers major cost savings,” he said.
The Blackbay CEO said he believed AR technology would be key to a significant increase in his company’s market share, spearheading expansion in Europe and the United States.
London-based Blackbay has 74 of its more than 100-strong global work force based in New Zealand, based close to the HIT Lab in Christchurch.
