What sounded like sci-fi in 2017, when Mobilus Labs was founded, is today a reality. This February, the startup has delivered the first batch of its mobiWAN_TR units to Trimble, a global leader in positioning and navigation technologies. mobiWAN, the world’s first two-way bone conduction communication device, will deliver audio and voice communications alongside every Trimble XR10 with HoloLens 2. Together, built into an industry-standard hardhat, these products offer a comprehensive mixed-reality experience which increases safety and efficiency in extreme working environments.
Technological Telepathy
Whilst trials with bone conduction technology audio products have been known for a while, mobiWAN is the world’s first voice platform using two-way bone conduction. It can be integrated into standard safety helmets and is able to transmit voice communication directly to the inner ear through micro-vibrations on the head, bypassing the need to have headphones in the ear. With their hands and ears being free, front-line workers in extreme environments, including construction, oil and gas, manufacturing and mining industries, can concentrate on safe and efficient delivery of their work.
MR is no longer limited to the visual domain
The mobiWAN_TR bone conduction headset is the only audio solution that is fit for use in industrial environments and provides a truly immersive experience when used with the Trimble XR10 with Hololens 2. The Trimble XR10 with Hololens 2 enables construction workers to overlay Constructible Building Information Models (BIM) and other digital project data onto the physical context of the jobsite. Trimble has taken this approach one step further by incorporating Mobilus’ mobiWAN bone conduction audio headset for a fully immersive experience in the field. With mobiWAN audio output and the HoloLens’ advanced array of microphones, the system is capable of two-way communications and video remote assistance in high-ambient noise environments.
Mobilus Labs is reinventing voice communication
The paradigm for communicating at a distance using a phone or radio has been around for more than 150 years and remains virtually unchanged: some device in your hand, headphones stuck in, or over, our ears, and a microphone as close to the mouth as possible. Today, with supercomputers in our pockets, and being constantly on the move, we have a growing need for clear, hands free, and frictionless communication scalable across team size and noisy environments. Recognising this, and taking into account the extreme environments in which a hands-free and ears-free experience is most in-demand, Mobilus Labs is reinventing the way we experience voice communication. To provide a fully end-to-end voice comms solution, the mobWAN voice wearable is backed by a cloud based crossband (VoiP/RF) software platform.
Ineffective communication using sign language whilst SCUBA diving off the coast of Mozambique almost cost Jordan McRae, the CEO and Founder of Mobilus Labs, his life. As an inventor and engineer with previous experience at MIT, Lockheed Martin and as a Co-Director of the NASA Frontier Development Lab, Jordan knew there had to be a way to solve communication problems in extreme environments. His journey with Mobilus Labs is set to fundamentally change the way we use an iconic 150-year old invention to communicate.
Mobilus Labs is a technology startup with the mission to reinvent voice communication for teams of any size, beginning with the most extreme environments. The London-based company was founded in 2017 and has received over £1M in funding, which has included funds from Ascension Ventures, Entrepreneur Fist and Innovate UK. Customers include Bouygues, Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty and Trimble.Visit mobiluslabs.com to learn more.
