Virtual Workforce

Massive investments in consumer gaming technology are morphing into opportunities to leverage this capability along with high definition 3-D data to create a whole new class of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) work products. These tools are in their early developmental phases for utilities; however, it has been implemented for asset inspection for one large utility utilizing an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) capture platform. The remotely sensed data is processed and delivered via cloud infrastructure and the assets inspected remotely using specialized software and trained inspectors. The advantages of this are many, including improvements in inspection quality and consistency, as well as the obvious safety benefits of conducting inspections in the safety of an office environment vs. from a helicopter patrol flight.