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While wearable technology has so far been marketed at the consumer, there are many business cases for products that make data more readily available to workers in the field. We've previously written about the Golden-i Wireless Headset, which provides firefighters with maps and information about oxygen levels in dangerous environments. Now the DAQRI Smart Helmet is providing industrial workers with hardhat protection while also using an augmented reality to help them navigate sites.

Since most of those who work around large machinery or on construction sites are required to wear a helmet, AR specialists DAQRI integrated a further protective visor into the workwear, which doubles as a transparent head up display. It's also equipped with a 360° camera array and sensors that can map the environment and monitor metrics such as temperature and light levels. Using the HUD, relevant data can be overlayed on top of whatever workers are looking at to provide a better understanding while they're working.

For example, users could look at a machine gauge and instantly get extra information about how the levels being displayed correspond with those elsewhere on site. The data can even be logged digitally for later use or shared with others using the Smart Helmet.

By detecting user gestures and voice commands, tasks can be carried out without the worker stopping what they're doing. It's even compatible with new devices such as smartwatches.

Watch the video below to see a demonstration of the Smart Helmet:

The DAQRI Smart Helmet makes use of a technology — augmented reality — and applies it to industrial use to help users make more sense of the environment they're working in. Are there other ways that consumer technologies can be applied in the workplace?