The image of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, skillfully moving a floating virtual 3D blueprint back and forth with his index finger is actually much closer to reality than you might think. Holo-Light GmbH from the Austrian Tyrol is one of the avant-garde companies working on turning these kinds of extremely useful and thus highly desirable scenarios into reality. It uses state-of-the-art mixed and augmented reality technology to develop efficient solutions for Industry 4.0. Besides supplying software products for quality control, maintenance and 3D data visualization, the fledgling tech-enterprise also specializes in conducting customized case studies and projects for training, maintenance and Building Information Modeling, for example. The highlights of its showcase at HANNOVER MESSE 2018 include the Holo-View app and its new Holo-Stylus.

The Holo-View app comes remarkably close to the Iron Man scenario outlined at the start, transforming CAD models into 3D holograms from which data can be dragged and dropped into all kinds of data goggles. Holo-View makes it possible to process and present 3D models in virtual space, which can be worked on directly and checked as a team thanks to multi-user accessibility. The Holo-Stylus, designed to make working with mixed reality far easier, is the company’s first venture in developing its own hardware. The stylus in question works as an intuitive input device. Its extreme accuracy enables very precise interaction with holograms and detailed 3D drawing, but also greatly facilitates many other processes that call for fine nuances in hand movements. The Holo-Stylus can be used with all the usual head-mounted displays and, if everything goes according to plan, is destined to become the standard input device across the board for AR, VR and MR applications.