HANADeck is a prototype application we developed that harnesses the Oculus Rift, Leap Motion, Microsoft Kinect and Unity3d for an immersive 3D virtual world which connected with SAP HANA created an enterprise application for data and environment visualisation.

So why use gaming technology for enterprise visualisation? We work in 3D, it is much easier to understand information when it is shown in a way that resembles the real world. Especially with the drive for gesture control and really immersive experiences it is more important than ever to look for truly immersive experiences.

HANADeck uses the display of the 7 inch Oculus Rift with Stereoscopic vision, which delivers the 3D environment. The user is tracked by a microsoft kinect, as this provides the lateral and vertical movement to the virtual environment. It was also found to reduce the motion sickness some people experienced with the Rift as the system is providing motion feedback to the user. Also a Leap Motion controller was mounted on the front of the Rift at 45 degress, which works well at tracking the user’s hands and providing an interaction point. Between the Leap Motion, Microsoft Kinect and Oculus Rift there are all the parts to track and deliver the immersive experience to the user.

The experience focused on in this enterprise demo is taking the visualisations of power lines within the UK network. This is sitting on real world data and purpose is to allow the engineer to travel to electricity towers a lot more quickly and safely.