Mayor sees a bright future for 3D visuals firm
A Bath software company that specialises in 3D visualisation and augmented reality has expanded its business and found five major clients with the help of a grant from the the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) of £5,500.
“We were already developing our product for the UK aviation sector, and a Business Growth Grant helped us launch in style,” said Simon Brown, CEO of TEKTOWR on the London Road.
“We took our software SIMTWIN to a drone conference with two pairs of holographic glasses, called “Hololenses” part-funded by WECA, to show people a glimpse of the future.”
Also as a result of the grant, TEKTOWR has been accepted into the Future of Air Mobility (FOAM) ‘accelerator’ programme working with a group of five airports: Aberdeen, Glasgow, Southampton, Coventry and Heathrow.
TEKTOWR now also works with British Airways, SITA, Oxford and Cranfield Universities Hyundai and Vertical Aerospace to develop the next generation of simulators to accelerate the urban and airpace planning process, as well as transform the digital infrastructure of aviation for all.
TEKTOWR won £580k of Innovate UK funding in 2020 to accelerate their product innovations.
“Since then, we’ve been accepted into an investment accelerator programme, working with electric aircraft manufacturers, even more UK airports and new urban airport companies,” he said.
“When TEKTOWR offered me the chance to see the future, it sounded a bit like an episode of Dr Who,” said Metro Mayor Dan Norris. “But the work they’re doing shows the worldclass level of innovation that we have in the West of England.”
“We were delighted to host Dan Norris at our office, showing him the great work going on in the West country to accelerate aviation to net-zero,” said Simon.
Mayor Norris tried out the special holographic glasses as he was immersed in the “SIMTWIN” environment, Tektowr’s augmented-reality collaborative space. Just like in an online multi-player computer game, architects, town planners and businesses worldwide can get together remotely and share all their plans.
Collaboration using SIMTWIN can accelerate the traditional planning process, resulting in a “no surprises” fast-track to commercial operations.
“They’re helping architects and town planners literally see their future plans virtually in amazing detail,” said Mr Norris, mayor of the WECA, the strategic authority for Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset.
“Seeing really is believing! Businesses like TEKTOWR are at the forefront of innovation in the West of England. Their work’s changing how we do town-planning and developing the green transport of tomorrow. The future is bright,” he said.