All day in the cab: How Unicontrol built a Unity HMI that operators actually like

It’s 6 a.m. You’re in the cab of a 30-ton excavator you’ve barely operated, and the trench has to be exactly 1.6 meters deep. How confident are you that you’ll get it right the first time? Mark Povlsen, Software Manager at Unicontrol, shows how a simple human-machine interface (HMI) built on Unity gives even a first-time operator the answer at a glance.

Discover why Unicontrol’s machine control app is designed to feel like a game, why operators in dusty, muddy cabs prefer a rugged look over a sleek, consumer-style one, and how the same simple screens now let anyone on site measure and survey.

Watch the full video to learn how:

• Unicontrol keeps machine control simple: operators want to dig, not learn software, so anything too complex gets ignored.
• Live 3D and three-colored bars replace numbers: green means on target, yellow means approaching, and red means you’ve dug too far, in an interface as simple and fun as a game.
• Unicontrol built an app for the job site, not the showroom. In dust, mud, rain, and with gloves on, operators value ruggedness over polish. A tablet that looks too delicate ends up locked away in the cabinet. The app, built on Unity, is Android-native and hardware-agnostic. It runs on a range of tablets, including a semi-industrial option as a cost-conscious middle path. Distributors can match the hardware to what each market will pay for.
• Sensors on the machine’s joints build a digital twin of the excavator, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antennas add centimeter precision instead of the meter-level accuracy of global positioning system (GPS).
• Anyone can survey with the same screens on a GNSS rover.) Measure a point once and the cloud syncs it to every machine on the project, with no expensive surveyor needed.
• An early concept for the next generation of the app aims for a cleaner look and a 3D model that looks like the operator’s own machine, while staying simple.

This session was recorded at the Unity Industry Summit in Munich, October 2026.