Illustration: ikonaut

5 — Safer motorbike riding
The ETH spin-off Aegisrider is developing a system in which AR goggles are integrated in a motorbike helmet. Just like the on-board computer of a car, it’s designed to make navigating more intuitive, and riding safer.4 — Flying a helicopter
Conventional flight simulators comprise a huge sphere with two-dimensional displays and cost some CHF 20 million. The start-up Loft Dynamics is now offering a more practical version which allows budding helicopter pilots to sit in an open cockpit and use VR goggles.

3 —  Be still my heart
When people have to undergo a cardiological examination, they’re nervous and often need sedatives. The Fribourg Hospital has a different remedy. Using a combination of VR glasses and headphones, patients can immerse themselves in a forest or an underwater world before their procedure. They are also shown a sphere that slowly inflates and deflates, which guides them to match their breathing.

2 — Measuring cables in the ground
Until now, geomatics technicians have had to mark out the ground for construction work by making painstaking comparisons between the information provided in maps and what they see on their GPS displays. The start-up V-Labs is now offering an AR headset that gives technicians a virtual representation of the cables and pipes running underneath them. This leaves their hands free to hammer in their wooden poles in the right place.

1 — Recognising glaucoma
A visual field test is very strenuous for patients with glaucoma, most of whom are elderly. The start-up Perivision is developing a technological solution for recognising the progression of this disease quicker and in a more practical way. Instead of doing the test at a bulky machine, the patient uses a VR headset with an integrated AI. The results are stored in the Cloud, where the doctor analyses them.