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Riwal Launches Augmented Reality Feature in Mobile App

May 1, 2019
Riwal, the international aerial work platform and telehandler rental specialist, is launching an augmented reality feature on the My Riwal Rental app.

Riwal, the international aerial work platform and telehandler rental specialist, is launching an augmented reality feature on the My Riwal Rental app. This new feature will support customers in selecting the right aerial work platform for the job to be done. The app allows customers to search within the My Riwal Rental app for an aerial work platform that they are interested in renting and then view it in augmented reality.

Using the camera, the augmented reality feature projects a machine model in 3D so that it is integrated with the real environment detected by the camera. It is then possible to move the 3D machine vertically and horizontally, as well as view its transport and full working height measurements against a building. This feature makes it possible to see if a specific aerial work platform fits through the entrance to a work site, and if the working height is sufficient for the job to be done.

The augmented reality feature will first be launched on the iOS version of the My Riwal Rental app, followed soon by the Android version. Riwal’s technology uses BIM files that have been converted to augmented reality files, which ensures that the machines have the correct dimensions when projected in augmented reality.

The first launch will include Riwal’s top 50 most rented machine models with available BIM files. Eventually, The My Riwal Rental app will make every machine with a BIM file available in the augmented reality feature.

“At Riwal, we continue striving towards delivering the best customer experience, in all possible manners,” said René Timmers, Riwal chief financial officer and responsible for digital and IT developments. “We are confident that implementing this feature will help our customers to make better decisions when it comes to choosing the right aerial work platform that fits their needs.”

About the Author

Michael Roth | Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.