Reflecting upon its highly successful showcase at this year’s
The market leading manufacturer and distributor of commercial explosives introduced the sound, sight and movement-based AR tech to Hillhead visitors; the equipment comprised of live video imagery, speakers and floorplates to combine Virtual Reality with the real world to improve operator knowledge and safety.
Back at its Derbyshire headquarters, the equipment has given the EPC-UK team the strategic edge when it comes to raising its safety standards and applying the latest innovations to its business development.
“We’re delighted to have been able to exhibit our latest AR technology at Hillhead this year,” comments Ben Williams, managing director of EPC-UK. “Back onsite, we have found it to be an invaluable technological addition, that’s given us a true advantage when it comes to keeping operatives safe and enhancing our industry expertise.
“It is showing itself to be a tremendous developmental aid, with the capacity to demonstrate safer working practice to countless operatives.”
With a mind to the future, Ben and the EPC-UK team are researching how the technology can be effectively utilised to improve student development, explained: “We’ve been trialling this technology internally to determine its parameters and evaluate its benefits, and it is clear that it will be an extremely valuable aid when it comes to training.
“Students and operatives-in-training have the opportunity to learn so much and become better prepared for working safely in a real quarry environment once theoretical training is at an appropriate level.”
Back to Hillhead, and Ben describes how at the EPC-UK stand, the AR tech drew plenty of attention from visitors to the exhibition, where, by responding to the instruction of a specially devised app, virtual screen-based explosions were conducted using prompter wall targets.
“Our live video imagery, enhanced with computer generated graphics, have effectively, and realistically simulated experiences where Hillhead visitors can be situated within a specific blast environment, without being presented with the potential safety risks.
“We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to share our innovations and technological advancements with so many from our industry’s community.”
In addition to the AR demos, the EPC-UK team used Hillhead as a platform to showcase its innovative EPC-Metrics service, which has been developed in partnership with Datum Monitoring Services, to facilitate the immediate access of event data, via fixed monitoring stations.
The opportunity was also taken to announce a series of new training programmes, from ‘Environmental Management in Blasting’; ‘Geology for Blasting’ ;‘Managing the Blast Site’ and ‘Explosives Legislations for Senior Managers’; industry leading EPC-UK courses that have been made available to all professionals within the commercial explosives and blasting services industry.
