Our vision is to radically change the world of work by visualising the real world virtually through the use of 3D point cloud and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. We aim to transform the traditional approach of undertaking physical site visits to perform tasks. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic there will be more emphasis on remote working, less travel to reduce the risk of future pandemics, and an increased appetite to embrace new technology to enable new ways of working. Our key objective is to deliver a user friendly way to view, inspect and analyse sites remotely and improve the speed at which outputs are delivered, enabling timely and/or more frequent decisions to be made. This will enable rapid recovery from the lockdown disruption and longer term will ensure the target sectors are more resilient. Our project fuses Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), imaging and Virtual Reality technologies. We will improve the functionality and productivity of our existing software, originally developed to post-process high resolution LiDAR data, to develop a unique application which generates a VR experience. Sectors benefiting from the innovation would include those requiring site inspections, particularly hazardous or difficult to access sites, during the course of a project or for routine work, such as construction, highways and nuclear industries. LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses multiple lasers to create a 3D point cloud of the surroundings. Known for it's use on autonomous vehicles to detect objects, LiDAR is also an emerging technology for creating 3D terrain and building models. The Extension for Impact funding allows us to extend the positive impacts of our current project and increase our speed to market. It will enable us to undertake further beta testing with consumers to ensure the product will have the maximum impact at launch; this market intelligence will inform and enable further R&D work which will enhance our innovation further; and it will enable us to accelerate commercial activities that will help to increase the impact and speed to market of the innovation.

For unmanned and autonomous vehicles to become viable in military and commercial shipping, they need to be able to operate safely with a high degree of autonomy and minimal human supervision. Their operation in public areas needs to be supported with a robust body of test evidence to provide the required assurance of their safety. This project will research new operating concepts and methods for human / system interaction to ensure that unmanned systems can be efficiently operated from a distance, by remote control, and to reduce the likelihood of human error. Additionally, the project will address the development of a capability that will provide significant improvements in detection, location and tracking of obstacles at sea, allowing for safer autonomous operation.