8 Ways Spatial Computing Fights Climate Change
One cause everyone on our little blue marble can agree upon is the need to prevent and ideally reverse climate change. No matter where you live, you’ve probably already seen the effects.
Here in British Columbia at Stambol headquarters we’ve seen rising temperatures and seasonal wildfires that have us thinking daily about what we can do to help the earth now, and in the years to come.
Fortunately, spatial computing offers humanity many of the tools we’ll need to make changes and tackle the huge challenge that is environmental recovery. So it’s with optimism and excitement that we’re sharing our top eight ways the world of extended reality can and will make a difference.
1. R&D Facilitation
We know that much of the equipment and systems we’ll be using to save our world haven’t been invented yet. Digital Twins work extra hard in this respect, reducing the carbon footprint of the research and development process while increasing the quality of new inventions. Digital prototypes can loop in collaborators from anywhere in the world – and they can become a part of a machine’s life cycle, transitioning to an efficient maintenance tool during real world operation.
2. Industrial Efficiency
Heavy duty machines and the systems they serve have become increasingly complex as our technology advances. Maintaining the associated hardware and infrastructure must be achieved with the greatest efficiency possible to ensure we stay on track to care for our planet. So while it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, using Digital Twins, AI, and Augmented Analytics to monitor, interpret, and in turn make recommendations on when and how to look after industrial equipment will be essential in keeping it green.
3. BIMfinity Smart Buildings
Buildings conceived inside a digital landscape benefit from a lasting relationship with their structural data. While the core purpose of using Building Information Modeling software is to increase design accuracy and reduce construction costs, ongoing operating efficiency is also one of the prime benefits BIM data brings to the table. We call it BIMfinity, but however you refer to a building’s Digital Twin, the end result is the same – less energy consumed, less waste produced.
4. Eco-friendly Real Estate Sales
Traditionally, both commercial and residential real estate developers needed to construct scale models and produce a large quantity of paper marketing material. For residential sales, full scale show homes or partial show suites were necessary as well. In the XR era, architects and developers can use VR, AR, 360 degree videos, and 3D visualizations to design, present, and market new buildings. Removing models, show homes, and brochures from the development process is both eco-friendly and much more cost-effective.
5. VR Disaster Tours
Part of what makes current conversations about climate change so terrifying is that many people want to downplay the seriousness of the issue – or worse yet, don’t even believe it’s happening! This is not surprising, as it’s still easy for many city dwellers, particularly in temperate regions, to ignore the harsh realities of current and future environmental fallout from climate change. 360 degree video is an excellent format for visually communicating the damage many people need to see to truly understand. We know that VR experiences and the associated immersion have more of an emotional impact than any other medium. VR has the capacity to impart memory as well, making climate-related wildfires, floods, and droughts as real to people removed from the disasters as they are for the victims themselves.
6. Telecommuting Support
One of the largest remaining barriers to successful telecommuting is the need for employees and supervisors to connect. Building trust and a working rapport with a key team member is a complex process, one best accomplished by spending time together. Virtual Reality meetings are a fantastic alternative to requiring staff to commute for the work day when only a fraction of the hours spent in the office is actual interpersonal time.
7. Transit Management
The benefits Augmented Reality offers public transportation are twofold; improved mechanical efficiency and accurate user information. While Augmented Analytics can look after fleets of buses and trains, the AR Cloud will keep millions of urban commuters informed on where their bus or train is, what traffic conditions look like, all with weather and news overlaid in real time.
8. Self-driving Cars
Related to the transit efficiency above, Reality Capture, in conjunction with the AR Cloud, will be part of the technology that makes (electric, of course) self-driving cars a very real part of our future lives. And of course, Augmented Analytics will keep these machines using as little energy as possible, keeping resource consumption manageable.
We hope the scenarios above have given you a better idea of how spatial computing can contribute to environmental improvement in multiple aspects of our lives.
Stambol disruptors can think of no more important cause than the reversal of climate change. Ask us how we look for ways to make a difference in every single thing we do.
Image Credit: LALSSTOCK / Adobe Stock