Augmented Reality Could Reshape Collaboration
An article in Biz Tech Magazine quotes the CTO of CISCO Systems’ Collaboration Technology Group, John Restrick, who was speaking during a panel interview about emerging technology at the Cisco Live 2016 conference. Restrick spoke of how AR and VR can help businesses in numerous practical ways, and made particular reference to transforming collaboration.
Cisco’s core collaboration products include video conferencing, WebEx online meetings and IP telephony. Restrick is quoted as saying that all of these scenarios involved connecting people, letting them exchange information efficiently and letting them collaborate around content.
AR and VR can help solutions like this become more immersive and far richer. For example, the technology can enable workers to see what their colleagues are seeing through the use of an AR headset. This has practical applications in fault finding during a machine repair scenario, or when updating machinery.
Remote collaboration becomes possible by sharing displays and by drawing on the user’s display to direct them to the fault. In this way, quicker communication can enable error reduction. Restrick also pointed towards the use of VR for virtual meetings in the not so distant future.