TEXA BRINGS AUGMENTED REALITY TO THE WORKSHOP

TEXA's innovative approach to business has made the Italian company a market leader in the manufacturing of diagnostic instruments for the car industry. Affirming this reputation for innovation, TEXA has created its first augmented reality application running on Epson's Moverio BT-200 smart glasses.

TEXA was founded in 1992 by Bruno Vianello and Manuele Cavalli. The company designs and builds multi-brand diagnostic instruments, exhaust gas analysers, air conditioning maintenance stations, diagnostic devices for cars, motorcycles, lorries, boats and agricultural vehicles.

The company is present throughout the world with a widespread direct distribution network via its branches in Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Poland, Russia, Brazil and Japan, and importers in more than 100 countries.

There are now about 500 TEXA employees working around the world, 45% of which are university graduates, including around 100 engineers and specialists working in Research and Development, one of TEXA's most important divisions. The company has always been committed to using the most up-to-date technologies to provide efficient and advanced solutions.

Innovation, research and development have always been the company's guiding ethos for achieving ambitious results.TEXA has in fact revolutionised the sector by introducing video support and, in 2007, signed a major collaboration agreement with Google Search Appliance for diagnosing breakdowns. Also, in 2011, the company rolled out an innovative touch-screen display that forms a new frontier in vehicle diagnosis.

Between 2013 and 2014, following Epson's announcement of Moverio, TEXA wanted to develop a new product capable of exploiting the device's functionality. The Moverio platform is unique in its use of a stereoscopic view that offers 3D augmented reality content. It also includes a forward-facing video camera that shows the field of view of the wearer them, WiFi connection capability and a microphone for vocal interaction. All of these features offer unrivalled flexibility, which inspired TEXA to develop the application.

Manuele Cavalli, TEXA co-founder and technical director: "For us, research and development is fundamental in achieving ever better results and improving mechanics' working conditions at a time when the use of electronic vehicle components continues to grow. Moreover, with the entry into the market of hybrid and electric cars, repairs require ever more attention from the mechanic and it is fundamental to use appropriate instrumentation."

The development of the augmented reality application for the Moverio BT-200 arose from the knowledge that it was possible not only to develop a totally new category of products, but also continue to improve the quality of work for mechanics and achieve excellent safety standards in the workshop.

This revolutionary solution will allow mechanics to work on a vehicle's components without having to look away at the diagnostic instrument. The system can project all necessary data onto the glasses and respond to voice commands. As an example, a mechanic can calibrate a sensor while at the same time see the effective values overlayed in their field of view.

With the arrival of new technologies, such as hybrid and electric cars, the use of these glasses and augmented reality will reduce the risk of hazardous operations on moving parts or high voltages, for example, because each critical point will be highlighted by the content shown on Moverio. The technician will therefore be able to concentrate solely on the area of work, significantly reducing the risk of accidents.

This innovative solution allowed TEXA, in collaboration with Epson, to win the prestigious Innovation Award in the Repair/Diagnosis category at Automechanika, the leading trade fair of the automotive industry in 2014, and the Innovation Award at the Auto Trade Expo in Dublin.

"The features of the Moverio BT-200 glasses allowed us to create an application that could revolutionise the future of vehicle repairs," continues Manuele Cavalli. "We are working hard to engineer the prototype, because we already have many enquiries from garages, mechanics and professionals who work in the vehicle maintenance industry."

According to Carla Conca, sales manager, of Epson Italy. "Augmented reality is entering into the daily lives of many technicians, bringing them increased safety, better results, greater working speeds and precision. This particular project is symbolic not only of the potential of the Moverio platform but also of the capacity it allows for businesses to innovate."