Jacksonville-based CN2 Spatial creates technology that could be be described as a highly advanced version of online videos that guide homeowners through do-it-yourself repairs.
The company produces three-dimensional models, or “digital twins,” that show companies how to install, maintain, repair and operate machinery from anywhere in the world.
All of this can be done on a cellphone, tablet or computer screen.
Margaret Posthauer is the company’s founder and CEO. She began her career in augmented reality working on projects with Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where she worked to help professors incorporate media in the classroom.
“I was partnered with Georgia Tech’s augmented environments lab, and we had the first iPhone in the lab before it became public,” Posthauer said
“The iPhone was the first commercial device capable of displaying augmented reality content. It had a camera, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, all of these things in one device that allow this content to be viewed.”
She formed her company 17 years ago in Atlantic Beach. She moved there from Atlanta after visiting relatives in Northeast Florida several times and growing fond of the area.
Today, CN2 Spatial products are used in 49 countries.
Posthauer employs 40 computer programmers and designers from around the country who work on projects remotely.
Her clients include entities in the fields of health, biopharma, transportation, utilities and manufacturing.
Spatial computing is the combination of augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, she said.
An example of augmented reality is the yellow first-down line shown on television during football games. Virtual reality is fully computer-generated.
CN2 Spatial makes a computer copy of a piece of machinery, either representing the object’s actual size or a scaled-down version. The model can be accessed by a person or a team, each in a different part of the world if need be.
If the machinery needs to be adjusted in real time, it can be done through the model. The digitized version can diagnose problems, show what is causing the issue and provide step-by-step instructions on how to repair it.
The spatial creations are so detailed that they can be used as sales tools. Instead of prospective customers having to travel to where a large product is made, via a laptop they can see the product and get into the inner workings of the machinery. CN2 Spatial includes the actual space where the item will be installed in the customer’s workspace to give a feel of how it will interact with their production facilities.
“What all of our customers have in common is that they use computer-aided design to create a product, a process or a place,” she said.
“And so what we do is the next level from that, which is a digital twin.”
She gave this example:
A drug company has a large room full of various pieces of equipment. CN2 Spatial makes a replica of the room and all of its contents – the digital twin.
Once the model is created, scientists from anywhere can use it to monitor equipment in real time, make changes and record data.
When a digital twin is used as a training device, it can measure class aptitude and what parts of the tutorial are more difficult for employees to understand.
CN2 uses that information to make the twin more responsive to trainees’ needs.
“We can also let you see aptitude for different trainings,” Posthauer said.
“Maybe this training is particularly great at the mechanical aspect of things. Maybe this training is showing great promise on the electrical side. So we can also help provide context about what roles are best suited for a diverse workforce.”
For now, Posthauer is content to work from her Atlantic Beach home. She plans to open an office in the Pearl Square mixed-use development in Downtown Jacksonville when the $750 million project begins to attract residents in its apartment buildings and visitors to its retail spaces.
When CN2 opens a Downtown office, she said, most of her local employees will probably live nearby.
“The people that I will be hiring want their work and play (to be near each other),” she said.
“Young people want to potentially even live in the building where their office is.”
Posthauer sees spatial technology having a good future in Jacksonville. Area colleges are teaching the skills needed for this kind of computing.
She develops her models on the Unity programming platform, which is used to develop computer games.
“JU offers some really great programs for Unity development, and so that is a great talent pool,” she said.
“Many of my developers have their own games that they’re developing on the side, their pet projects and that sort of thing. They love working for me because what I do allows them to work on their skills, on the platform that they’re passionate about.”