The Record - Issue 20: Spring 2021

I NT E R V I EW M ixed reality solutions, enabled by Microsoft HoloLens 2, are changing the way in which many industries work. With use cases ranging from training to remote repair, the capabilities offered by mixed reality can enable businesses to completely transform their operations. Kognitiv Spark, creator of augmented reality remote support tool RemoteSpark, is aiming to bring the benefits of mixed reality to busi- ness. Duncan McSporran, Kognitiv Spark’s co-founder, COO and vice-president of aer- ospace and defence, says that one of the most powerful benefits is better decision-making. “By empowering the end user in the work- force with the information and knowledge that they need, mixed reality can help them to make decisions more effectively, and in the full knowl- edge that it’s the correct decision,” he says. “The technology really is in a class of its own when it comes to enabling that flow of information, and it allows organisations to speed up the tempo of their operations significantly.” McSporran also highlights the value of a solution that is easy for workers to use and understand. “I think that the ease of using mixed reality would surprise a lot of people,” he says. “That’s partly because our solution is designed to be easy-to-use right from the word go, but also because we ensure that mixed reality aligns with the organisation’s operational imperatives. We take a very collaborative approach when build- ing a partnership, and we make sure that mixed reality aligns with the aims of an organisation.” The potential uses of mixed reality can have a profound impact in the industrial environment, but there are also examples of the technology being successfully utilised in a range of differ- ent contexts. “One of the things that continues to amaze me is the variety and widespread nature of the use cases mixed reality enables,” says McSporran. “We’ve worked with the Canadian Armed Forces, who started using our systems for mixed reality to help repair a piece of equipment, with a 3D hologram showing them how to complete the repair in steps. However, the Navy has also now started to use mixed reality to train med- ics following a pilot process. That has been an eye-opening example of just how the technology can have a real impact on people.” In the future, the huge increases in the amount of data that organisations have available to them could allow mixed reality to have an even greater impact. “What we’re looking towards is the use of the massive amounts of data we now have access to in a mixed reality environment,” says McSporran. “The visualisation of that data through mixed reality technology can reduce the cognitive bur- den on end users, helping them to understand complex information more easily. Mixed reality is going to be enabled by the convergence with big data, and it’s going to change the way people absorb and learn from the information we have at our fingertips.” Duncan McSporran of Kognitiv Spark discusses the benefits that mixed reality solutions can deliver Embracing the new reality BY A L E X SM I TH “ I think that the ease of using mixed reality would surprise a lot of people” DUNCAN MCSPORRAN, KOGNI T I V SPARK 108 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om