TIM eMagazine Vol.2 Issue 10
MOL Jointly Develops
Voyage Information
Display System
Using AR Technology
that Will Lead to
Autonomous Ships in
the Future
- Supporting Ship Operation and Watch-keeping to
Enhance Safety -
T
OKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Junichiro Ikeda)
today announced an agreement with Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. (President:
Yukio Furuno; Headquarters: Nishinomiya-shi, Hyogo Prefecture) and
MOL Techno-Trade, Ltd. (President: Hirokazu Hatta; Headquarters: Chuo-
ku, Tokyo) to jointly develop a system that supports ship operation
during voyages using augmented reality (AR) technology.
In this project, information, such as other ships sailing around the
vessel and landmarks like buoys at sea, can be shown on tablets and
other displays, based on data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Images of
landscapes taken from the bridge can also be shown on the same tablets, and these images
will overlap with AR to provide visual support to crewmembers operating ships and keeping
watch during voyages.
MOL is looking at ways to overlap displays of obstacles taken by radar, adding an
Obstacle Zone by Target (OZT), which is an algorithm to prevent collisions between vessels,
and supplementing displays of obstacles using image recognition technologies to expand
such functions. Functions will be improved during FY2018. In addition, MOL expects this
technology to play a key role in realizing autonomous ships in the future.
MOL has moved ahead with advanced support of safe operation and reduction of its
environmental impact, as set out in the "ISHIN NEXT - MOL SMART SHIP PROJECT -," started
in November 2016, and aims to become customers' first choice as a logistics partner by
applying ICT technology to improve service quality and efficiency.
mol.co.jp
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