St. John’s-based Engage Creative Technologies has landed a major AR contract with the Canada's Department of National Defence (DND).
Newfoundland Augmented Reality Company Wins $1.2-Million Defence Contract
St. John’s-based Engage Creative Technologies has landed a major contract with the Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND). Aaron Dawe president of the company spoke to SaltWire about the deal.
His company has landed a $1.2 million contract to demonstrate its next-generation augmented reality system with the Canadian Navy. BridgeVUE, developed by Engage Creative Technologies of St. John’s, N.L., combines radar and other marine data with augmented reality to enable ship’s captains to ‘see’ what’s around them, regardless of actual visibility conditions
The contract enables the Royal Canadian Navy to take Dawe’s BridgeVUE system for a test drive.
The testing will take place at the Naval Training Development Centre — iNexTT — in Victoria, B.C., and will focus on use of the technology to enhance radar-based small target surveillance and oil spill detection.
Dawe told SaltWire he’s “super excited” about this chance to show the navy how BridgeVUE works.
It’s a significant milestone for a technology that went from idea to a marketable product in just four years.
A few years ago Dawe started imagining how augmented reality (AR) could work for mariners, giving them the ability to “see” through fog, blinding rain and snow, and darkness, to spot navigational hazards like icebergs, land and other ships.
BridgeVUE collects data from traditional radar and converts it into AR in real-time.
The past year has been spent bringing the system from prototype to commercial ready. The naval contract, he said, gives BridgeVUE legitimacy.