Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Waikato IT company exporting knowledge via head-mounted tablets

Tom Rowland
By Tom Rowland
Waikato Herald·
1 Jul, 2020 01:20 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

With the use of the head tablet, businesses are able to export knowledge without having to travel themselves. Photo / Supplied

With the use of the head tablet, businesses are able to export knowledge without having to travel themselves. Photo / Supplied

A Waikato IT company is fast-forwarding the region further into the 21st century with technology that allows the installation and set-up of engineering machinery in the United States using hands-free, voice-activated, head-mounted tablet computers.

The global Covid-19 pandemic spurred clients to approach Company-X and ask for head-mounted tablet computers for their businesses to support workers in the field.

"Company-X became the first Australasian reseller of RealWear head-mounted tablets in 2019 because of some really exciting productivity opportunities," said Company-X co-founder and director David Hallett.

"Even more so now with the global Covid-19 pandemic. That has been a huge catalyst.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We have clients buying RealWear head-mounted tablets from us who sent millions of dollars' worth of engineering machinery off to the United States and who would normally send technicians over to set it up," Hallett said.

"The United States, like many other countries, didn't fully lockdown during the pandemic, and their businesses still had a need for essential equipment.

"They have sent RealWear head-mounted tablets to the United States and have an expert here in New Zealand using software and a web browser to see what the person in the United States is seeing on the other end."

The New Zealand technicians are using Microsoft Teams to communicate with their state-side counterparts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Voila. Your system is now working, which is really cool."

Another Company-X client had imported equipment from Europe but the technicians were not allowed to enter New Zealand to install it.

"Because they're not essential workers, currently they're unable to enter New Zealand,' Hallett said.

"So we are running head-mounted tablets here in New Zealand, and from Germany, they can tell the remote technician what piece needs to go where."

While such work was driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, Company-X clients are planning on a permanent switch to this remote expert-on-demand solution.

"It's amazing," Hallett said,

"There might be a little bit of reduced efficiency with remote hands and an expert on-demand but you've just saved thousands on airfares and hotels for the experts, so even if it takes an extra hour or two to set up it's a fraction of the price to fly there.

"Some of our clients are considering how they can use head-mounted tablets for all of their future overseas appointments so they won't need to have a person on-site, just expert information."

The head tablet allows an expert to communicate with the user and guide them through processes. Photo / Supplied
The head tablet allows an expert to communicate with the user and guide them through processes. Photo / Supplied

RealWear head-mounted tablets were deployed in Wuhan, China, to allow doctors in the Covid-19 red zone to transmit live telemetry back to colleagues in the green zone.

Paired with thermal imaging cameras, Hallett said, head-mounted tablets have been used globally for thermography.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That's using these headsets with the real-time temperature readouts so you can see in real-time who have high temperatures."

Car manufacturer BMW was using head-mounted tablets for servicing in the United States market before the lockdown.

"They follow through checklists and standard procedures," Hallett said.

"They take photos and videos as they go, documenting things in real-time and annotating it, so that they can automatically generate a report for a customer, an entire auditable report. We're talking about significant savings from using these systems."

Closer to home, another Company-X client is using an intrinsically safe version of the RealWear head-mounted tablet in its natural gas transmission and distribution network.

"You can take it into highly explosive environments and be absolutely sure there's going to be no sparks or ignition to worry about," added fellow Company-X co-founder and director Jeremy Hughes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They can use head-mounted tablet computers completely hands-free with gloves on," Hallett added. "Because they are working in a gas environment with pipes and machinery they can be wearing one of these head-mounted tablets and talking to the computer to control it, taking photographs, annotating notes, working through checklists, and doing it with no fear of anything going wrong.

"In the past, it has been a case of having to scribble things down by hand and going back to the vehicle a safe distance away."

The world learned the value of video-conferencing technology during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This now widely accepted culture around virtual meetings, the 'Zoom culture', makes sense," Hallett said.

"So why wouldn't we extend the same concepts for remote working and remote support?"

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

04 Jul 08:45 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

04 Jul 06:03 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

'God-given right': Family defends largely unconsented homestead on rural land

04 Jul 08:45 PM

A family wanted to be left alone to develop their land without council interference.

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

'I'm proud of you': Sister's final message before fatal crash

04 Jul 06:03 PM
Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP