Ethar Awarded NSF STTR Grant to Revolutionize Manufacturing with AR
Ethar and Alfred University Awarded NSF STTR Grant to Revolutionize Manufacturing with AR
Ethar, Inc. (ethar.com), is proud to announce that the company, in collaboration with academic partner Alfred University (alfred.edu), have been awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).The scope of work involves development of Ethar’s proprietary, semantically-aware augmented reality solution for manufacturing environments.
This grant will enable the Ethar team to continue building groundbreaking intelligent augmented reality (AR) solutions that merge innovations in structured data and location-based spatial computing to address two critical challenges: worker efficiency and workplace safety. The initial project is aimed at the manufacturing sector and the solution will later be broadly applicable across many market verticals.
During the one-year project, the Ethar team will develop a proof-of-concept demonstration in Alfred University’s Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology. That system will predictively provide factory personnel with location-based AR-enabled work instructions and digital safety warnings blended into their physical 3D workspace.
Additionally, the Ethar team will develop a foundational, open-specification Reality Modeling Language (RML) to extend current geospatial models and describe 3D spatial reality in a more usable way. Multiple international standards organizations provided letters of support for Ethar’s project and are anticipating ways RML could accelerate value-generation in AR solutions.
“The open RML will unlock a world that’s knowable, searchable, and enriched with data, empowering users and applications to empower the entire AR ecosystem.” stated Tony Hodgson, Ethar CEO. “Context-aware AR applications will pave the way for seamless interaction between people, places, and things, ultimately realizing the full potential of AR to support digital twins and smart factories – critical elements for U.S. global competitiveness, economic growth, and national defense.”
Ethar, Inc. is helping clients unlock new dimensions of customer engagement through augmented reality. Our inspired team is pursuing a portfolio of projects leveraging our intelligent spatial web platform and making AR easy, accessible, and affordable. Stay tuned for further updates on this, and other, exciting projects as Ethar welcomes the next era of communication.
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