Newfoundland augmented reality company wins $1.2-million defence contract | SaltWire

Aaron Dawe has been keeping a secret.

Several weeks ago, the president of St. John’s-based Engage Creative Technologies found out his company had landed a major contract with the Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND).

He told only close family and friends.

On Monday, he shared the news in a press release.

His company has landed a $1.2 million contract to demonstrate its next-generation augmented reality system with the Canadian Navy.

The contract enables the Royal Canadian Navy to take Dawe’s BridgeVUE system for a test drive.

The testing will take place at the Naval Training Development Centre — iNexTT — in Victoria, B.C., and will focus on use of the technology to enhance radar-based small target surveillance and oil spill detection.

Dawe told SaltWire he’s “super excited” about this chance to show the navy how BridgeVUE works.

It’s a significant milestone for a technology that went from idea to a marketable product in just four years.

A few years ago Dawe started imagining how augmented reality (AR) could work for mariners, giving them the ability to “see” through fog, blinding rain and snow, and darkness, to spot navigational hazards like icebergs, land and other ships.

BridgeVUE collects data from traditional radar and converts it into AR in real-time.

The past year has been spent bringing the system from prototype to commercial ready.

The naval contract, he said, gives BridgeVUE legitimacy.

“I’m super pumped,” said Dawe, especially when he starts thinking about the potential for larger contracts if the Canadian navy likes the system and decides it’s something they need to have on their ships.

“This opens us up to anyone in NATO who might see a use for the technology,” he said.

“We are in the early stages of AR adoption, and to have the opportunity to be part of re-shaping the future and to support the Digital Navy Action Plan is something we are very excited about,” he said.

Meanwhile, said Dawe, the company is hustling “all over the place” to introduce their product to other potential customers.

First, though, Dawe has to prepare for a trip to British Columbia.

He’s flying out to Victoria next week for the BridgeVUE test project, to be there in person to show Navy personnel how it works.