A Fife housing association has revealed it is using new technology to help tenants fix repairs remotely.
Kingdom Housing Association introduced augmented reality just before the coronavirus lockdown, not realising how useful it would become during this period of social distancing.
The technology allows operatives to be ‘virtually’ present in a tenant’s home, to see the issue in real time using video technology on a mobile phone or tablet. Support and advice is offered by having their hand superimposed on the scene in the tenant’s home.
The technology has been introduced through a partnership between housing consultancy DtL Creative and Swedish-based XMReality.
Gary Haldane, interim digital director at Kingdom Housing Association said, “This technology has the potential to be a game-changer. I knew when I first saw it that it would prove very useful. I just hadn’t realised how useful until we went into lockdown and operatives were unable to attend routine repairs because of isolation.
“Our tenants have been amazed at how simple it is to use and we’ve already had really positive feedback from tenants who have used the service. Our main priority during the coronavirus pandemic remains the health and wellbeing of our tenants and staff.
“Using augmented reality, we’re not only able to deliver the level of service our customers expect in a highly efficient manner, but we’re also able to do our best to minimise the transmission of the virus too.”
Dave Loudon, founder of DtL Creative added, “When the coronavirus hit a few weeks ago, we decided to help housing associations as much as we could. We’re working with several tech companies to offer free support to help them manage. The remote guidance from XMReality is amazing and is just one of many innovations we’re offering to housing associations to help during this difficult time.”
