The report finds strong evidence that XR is establishing itself quickly and strongly in supporting enterprise, but still struggling to gain a major foothold for consumers: almost half (49.2%) report that growth on the consumer side was weaker than expected, as opposed to just 25.7% in the VR for enterprise segment.

Attempting to chase this growth, XR technology and content providers are following suit and shifting their focus towards providing enterprise XR solutions, with 73% of these companies saying they are working on VR for enterprise functions and just under 65% doing the same for AR/MR, as opposed to less than half working on VR consumer functions and 37.4% working on AR/MR.

Likewise, hardware, software and third-party content creators for extended reality (XR) are seeing much stronger enterprise growth compared to consumer sector growth over the last 12 months: almost half (49.2%) reported that growth on the consumer side was weaker than expected, as opposed to just 25.7% in the VR for enterprise segment.

Different applications of XR notwithstanding, the gains from successfully leveraging XR are real and demonstrable. 93% of enterprise users said that VR had had a positive impact on their business and 88.4% said the same for AR/MR. And in 2019, we have seen a series of high-profile announcements from the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, Huawei and YouTube, suggesting 2020 could be a breakthrough year for consumer XR.

To dissect more of these key trends and understand where the XR market is heading globally, VR Intelligence interviewed and surveyed over 750 XR professionals working at the sharp end of XR implementation, of whom 35% come from C-suite positions. Featuring real-world case studies and insights from HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Intel, Nvidia and more, the XR Industry Insight Report takes a comprehensive dive into the XR landscape of today and seeks to distil what the future holds for this young but blossoming industry.

Get the XR Industry Insight Report 2019-2020 here for unparalleled insights into:

• XR Growth Trends: In which areas is the industry seeing the greatest growth, and what is required for future growth?
• Immersive Technology for Enterprise in 2019: What has been the impact of enterprise XR and what are the challenges limiting further uptake?
• XR for Consumers: How has XR impacted B2C industries, why has consumer growth stalled and how can we increase consumer uptake?
• 2020: A Critical Year for XR: With a host of new products and services planned amid further development of AR and MR, will 2020 be the Year of XR?

Get the XR Industry Insight Report 2019-2020 here

The XR Industry Insight Report 2019-2020 was researched and produced association with VR Intelligence’s upcoming VRX Conference & Expo, taking place December 12-13, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel. Expecting more than 600 senior attendees from across gaming, entertainment, healthcare, retail, automotive industries and more, VRX is the world’s premier B2B immersive tech event for those wishing to use XR to boost ROI, propel their business forward and engage consumers through immersive, innovative experiences. More information can be found on the website: www.vr-intelligence.com/vrx, or please contact Kathryn Bloxham directly.

Contact

Kathryn Bloxham

Events Director & Head of Innovation

VR Intelligence / VRX

T: +44 (0)207 375 7567

E: [email protected]

Virtual Reality Intelligence is a trading name of FC Business Intelligence Ltd. Registered in England and Wales no.4388971. Registered address 7-9 Fashion Street, London, E1 6PX, UK.

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It is here that mixed reality, a concept that fuses augmented and virtual reality, can be put to good use by helping workers become hands-free with the processes and focus solely on the package at hand. Workers wear smart glasses that act as a hands-free communication device, connecting people with the processes by displaying real-time digital information in their field of view.

“Mixed reality is considered the next major technology platform. We went from the desktop to the laptop, and to using phones and tablets today. Market studies indicate that in the next decade, smart glasses will be the next big thing in technology,” said Nick Cherukuri, founder and CEO at ThirdEye Gen, a mixed reality hardware and enterprise solutions company.

Ground-level logistics personnel have the need to look down at their hand-held readers and tablets to gather information on the packages to be processed. Cherukuri explained that with mixed reality solutions, all the information required for workers to function could be displayed visually, helping them work faster and more efficiently.

“Roughly 80 percent of the global workforce uses their hands while they work during the day. So being hands-free is incredibly utilitarian. Mixed reality can also be used to provide remote assistance. So when a worker wears smart glasses, a person who is somewhere else can also exactly see what the worker sees. The worker can then get live step-by-step instructions on how to fix a machine under repair,” said Cherukuri.

The ease in relaying information helps businesses save time and money, with Cherukuri pointing out that efficiency rises by about 40 percent in certain situations. “It also improves worker safety and lowers errors that occur during operations,” he said. “The biggest markets for mixed reality right now are industrial warehousing, logistics field services and healthcare.”

ThirdEye Gen has had interactions with logistics giants like DHL, FedEx, Walmart and Amazon, to understand their worker-related warehousing problems. From those discussions, ThirdEye Gen learned that picking error rates were noticeably high. For instance, a worker in a warehouse could mislabel a cart, and thus, the packages in the cart end up being wrongly assigned, causing complications with last-mile delivery.

“With mixed reality smart glasses, workers do not have the need to carry around a manual or a hand-held scanner, and can get instructions just by looking at a package and scanning its QR code. Details like where the package is from, where it needs to be moved, what kind of label should the package have –  all these can be displayed on the glasses,” said Cherukuri.

Information on the efficiency levels of workers, including data on the time they take to handle a package, overall effective time spent and their productivity during the day, can be gathered and sent to management so they can have an eagle-eye view over operations.

Cherukuri explained that though the technology is still not available at a price point that is conducive to smaller businesses today, the advancement in technology will help make the glasses much cheaper in the future. ThirdEye Gen already manufactures one of the smallest and cheapest mixed reality glasses on the market, which Cherukuri said will only get better with time.

“Mixed reality is a new technology, and thus it is important to educate businesses on how it can be quickly and effectively deployed across their operations,” said Cherukuri. “It is essential to convince them to invest in the technology that can really incentivize their business, with a return on investment (ROI) seen within just a month of deployment.”

Find out more about ThirdEye Gen on their AREA member profile.

At a very basic level, the answer is simple: The much-used term digital transformation simply means adapting an organization’s strategy and structure to capture opportunities enabled by digital technology.

This is not a new challenge—after all, computers and software have been around for decades and have brought changes both to products and services and to how we make and deliver them. But the point the SVP was making is that it has become increasingly difficult for a company to translate that answer into an action plan.

This opinion piece talks through valuable perspectives for companies.

Read it in full on the Harvard Business Review here.

It starts “if you want to get a rosy view of the future of virtual and augmented reality, ask a company that works in the space. If you want to get a pessimistic view, ask an investor. But if you want a realistic view, one shaped by experience instead of conjecture and wishful thinking, ask the folks who are actually making the stuff.”

From their perspective, according to a new report from the organizers of the annual conference XRDC, things aren’t looking bad at all.  XRDC’s “AR/VR Innovation Report” was generated from an online survey of more than 900 developers.

“Our main goal is to get a sense of the temperature of the industry, which spans from hobbyists and students to professionals working on big-budget projects,” says Alex Wawro, an editor at XRDC and Gamasutra who has been involved with the annual survey since it began in 2016.

Games are still the primary driver of the industry, however, the survey saw pronounced growth in a number of other fields, particularly education (33 percent) and training (27 percent). That growth dovetails with another interesting shift: when developers expect to turn a profit.

In past years, Wawro says, most have expected their VR/AR work to be profitable in the medium term, but this year saw a two-fold jump in people who said their projects aren’t tied to profitability at all.  Government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses creating internally focused experiences aren’t making VR and AR for consumers at all, which skews their priorities away from profit.

Read more in the original article here.

David Francis writes:

It is incredibly encouraging how many companies are now embarking on an XR (eXtended Reality) journey. Many have managed to find some internal investment and commitment to do a Proof of Concept (PoC) project to start to understand how these emerging technologies can improve their business.

Whilst some engage with outside help, others decide to embark on the journey themselves. Both are great, in that, the only way to understand and prove that the technology has significant time saving and cost benefits, is to actually do it!

But, by going it alone you may well be introducing technical debt into your organisation. Technical debt describes what happens when software development teams take actions to expedite the delivery of a piece of functionality or a project which will later need to be re-worked. In other words, it’s the result of prioritizing a quick delivery over a perfect solution.

Technical debt is a phrase originally coined by software developer, Ward Cunningham (@WardCunningham). He first used the metaphor to explain to non-technical stakeholders at WyCash why resources needed to be budgeted for refactoring.

Ward said “With borrowed money you can do something sooner than you might otherwise, but then until you pay back that money, you’ll be paying interest. I thought borrowing money was a good idea, I thought that rushing software out the door to get some experience with it was a good idea, but that of course, you would eventually go back and as you learned things about that software you would repay that loan by refactoring the program to reflect your experience as you acquired it.”

Ward didn’t realize at the time, but he had just created a new buzzword in the software community.

As Ward suggested, if technical debt is not repaid, it can accumulate ‘interest’, making it harder to implement changes later on. Technical debt is not necessarily a bad thing, and sometimes (e.g., as a proof-of-concept) technical debt is required to move projects forward. But, you can encounter problems down the road.

For example, by creating a PoC in-house, you rely on the skills of your staff members. If the business restructures, you may find that these resources are no longer available to you; so, who will continue their work, and move it on to the next phase, if they are no longer there?

There are many reasons why you could find yourself in the situation of creating this technical debt. This technology is new, so it is quite possible that there was insufficient up-front definition; often requirements are still being defined during design or development. Agile software development is all about iterations and rapid delivery but often this means that the solution has to be reworked later.

Business pressures, where there is a concern that not doing something will lead to a competitive disadvantage, leads to something being released sooner, before all of the necessary changes are complete. This builds up technical debt comprising those uncompleted changes.

Or, there could be a lack of process or understanding of the desired outcome; where businesses are blind to the concept of technical debt and make decisions without considering the implications.

By reading this, you may now be put off from starting your XR journey; but don’t be. Just make sure that you understand the implications of your decisions before you start.

Some issues that we have encountered with our clients include, not thinking about what will happen when your CAD vendor no longer supports the version of software that you are using. Your processes are absolutely dependent on your 3D CAD and your ability to integrate it in VR/MR but your working solution is now end-of-life.

A solution like our Visualization Pipeline would ensure that this does not happen. At Theorem we work with all of the major CAD vendors to ensure that our software works with the latest versions. This means that getting your 3D content into your visualization software remains consistent. You can upgrade, or even change your CAD supplier, and your path to visualization remains intact.

Another issue that we have encountered is around the hardware. In the last couple of months there must have been 5, 6, or maybe more product announcements from various companies showing the latest head mounted display technologies. How do you know which is the right one to choose? It is really important to have a device agnostic approach. Often companies look like they have the best device which is going to revolutionize the market- look at Meta 2, or Star VR. Both of these no longer exist. By taking an agnostic approach, rather than pinning all your hopes on one device can save you from the headache of being stuck with obsolete and unsupported hardware, that may also still be “brand new”…

Read full original article on the Theorem Blog.

Read Theorem Solutions AREA member profile.

Fueled by advances in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and computing speed, businesses — from auto to aerospace to retail — are changing the fundamental building blocks of how they operate.

By 2030, machine learning could contribute nearly $16 trillion to the global economy, research shows.

For Mrosik and Siemens, the revolution is well underway. Manufacturing plants increasingly rely on smart machines and interconnected devices to build products cheaper, faster and more efficiently. In August of 2018, Siemens unveiled a new strategy, Vision 2020+, an ambitious plan to revamp the 170-year-old behemoth into a shinier, new, AI-age version of itself, shedding older lines of businesses while investing in technology it believes will allow it to dominate in the digital era.

To see the fourth industrial revolution in action, take a trip to Siemens’ factory in Amberg, Germany. Here, in a facility that has been in production since 1989 — before most people knew  the World Wide Web even existed — the transformation from analog manufacturing to analytics-fueled digital production is unfolding in real time.

The Amberg factory in Bavaria has a particularly complex job — the 100,000-square-foot facility manufactures more than 1,200 different products. This means its production line must change configurations approximately 350 times a day, says Mrosik. In the past, this was a laborious process that required workers to spend time making changes to equipment and machinery by hand.

Now, before anything even hits the line, a computer model creates a digital version of the products, the production line and the manufacturing process itself, helping to streamline and speed up the time it takes to set up new configurations.   Digital twins are explained.

By running a digital dress rehearsal of, say, an engine’s assembly, the company can see where there might be bottlenecks, inefficiencies or unexpected needs, whether for additional materials or safety measures.

The Amberg factory is a microcosm of a much bigger story. What’s happening here is happening across manufacturing floors around the world using digital twins to accelerate product design and manufacturing. Automakers, for example, once had to create physical prototypes to design and test new models; now they can create computerized versions that look and behave like real cars.

Read more in the full article.

Sayduck enables e-commerce companies to develop their digital product portfolio into 3D and allows end consumers to deploy virtual 3D models into the real-world based on the latest Augmented Reality technology.

Since 2018, Sayduck has collaborated with Shopify Inc, a world-leading e-commerce platform that powers more than 800,000 businesses. Sayduck is Shopify’s first AR-partner and the company’s AR- and 3D modeling services are marketed towards Shopify’s client base.

Maria A Grimaldi, CEO of the Bublar Group: “The acquisition of Sayduck is part of our strategy to offer scalable XR technology. Our current subsidiary Vobling has built a strong position as an agency providing the enterprise sector with the latest XR-solutions. Now we can add a proven augmented reality SaaS-platform for the fast growing retail and e-commerce business, transforming their product visualization capabilities.”

Niklas Slotte, CEO of Sayduck, “We are proud to be part of Bublar Group. Together we will strengthen our position as the leading Nordic company within XR technology and can meet the increasing demand from a global market. 3D and Augmented Reality are the next natural steps in the development for both web and mobile commerce. With our platform, we help brands and retailers to easily showcase their products in 3D”.

About 10,000 products in 3D have been created on the Sayduck platform. The the number of daily 3D views via Sayduck has increased from about 500 in 2016 to about 12,500 at the end of 2018. This shows the increasing use of AR by customers who want to AR-visualize the product range for web and mobile.

The Augmented Reality technology within B2B, Enterprise AR, is growing at a rapid pace, with a significant contribution from the retail sector. 100 million consumers are expected to trade with the support of AR online and in stores by 2020, according to Gartner. 25% of global e- and m-commerce will be AR-adapted in 2030 according to Citibank.

Greg Clark visited the Factory 2050 in Sheffield to see how a powerful private sector consortium led by Rolls-Royce and Accenture – and drawn from the aerospace, automotive and pharmaceutical industries – has collaborated with the University of Sheffield AMRC (long standing AREA member) to develop a connected facility that will de-risk investment in the digital technologies at the heart of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy and Made Smarter initiative.

Mr Clark, and the Minister for Business and Industry, Andrew Stephenson, were given a tour of the connected smart factory test bed which included real time data streams from remote machining activities, smart assembly using intelligent work benches and augmented reality, visual inspection linked to artificial intelligence and a reconfigurable factory cell.

The test bed aims to show the significant opportunities of applying digital technologies to manufacturing with 50% productivity benefit, 30% reduction in defects and 50% improved time to market increasingly being demonstrated.

The article features comment on the initiative from the Secretary of State, Greg Clark, Founder and Executive Dean of the AMRC, Professor Keith Ridgway and from The Director of Global Manufacturing at Rolls-Royce Dr Hamid Mughal. Read the full article here.

Read The AMRC’s AREA member profile

Topics mentioned by DuBoff:

XR using manufacturing due to AR and VR tools.

Benefits of XR for immersive training in the workplace

The multitude of purposes XR brings to healthcare, retail and education,

Health and social services

She states that technology is not replacing but enhancing work.  Going forward we must plan data and governance and be mindful of the integrity of experiences such as copyright laws, safety and IP.

Montgomerie writes “It’s a thrill to see how rapidly AR and other technologies are evolving. And it’s just as gratifying to see just how these knowledge-sharing technologies are meeting the business needs in the marketplace.

Just a few years ago, enterprise AR was an emerging technology. But one thing became crystal-clear at AWE this year: AR for the enterprise is no longer a novelty. It’s not just a wild idea to test out in a sandbox. Companies are using AR to solve real business problems. They’re giving their workforce access to critical, specialized knowledge when and where they need it. After seeing impressive use cases, and talking to the enterprise innovators that now use AR for real-world applications — I can safely say: the emerging-tech phase is in the rearview mirror.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking with executives ready to test AR in parts of their business. They’re typically optimistic, but cautious: I get it — but where do I start, and how do I get my team on board?

There are definitely use cases that AR is better suited for than others in an enterprise setting.  In order to ensure you’re choosing the right use case for your organization, here are three mistakes to avoid as you prepare your business for AR adoption:

1) Don’t plan to rewire your entire business. You can’t expect AR to replace a process across your global operations overnight. Start smart. Find a discreet project where you can address a real-world business problem. Ensure it’s a process that can be enhanced by real-time knowledge transfer. And above all, ensure it’s a use case where you can measure and share quantifiable results.

What scenarios might be a good candidate for your business’ first use case? Be sure to consider workflows and teams that would benefit from augmented knowledge like step-by-step instructions, contextual digital overlays, and even live video support from a remote expert. For instance, imagine how impactful on-demand expertise – by way of real-time remote assistance or pre-built guided instructions – could be for a field service team or remote workers managing highly-specialized manufacturing tasks.

2) Avoid complexity and embrace efficiency. From the outset, it’s important to understand where AR will most benefit the people and processes that are the lifeblood of your business. You need to make sure it brings instant expertise and context to the task at-hand. You don’t want to add another layer of process; you want to ensure workers can access knowledge from subject matter experts or resources, wherever they are and whenever they need them.

Some questions to ask along the way:

• What direction or communications do your remote workers need most while they are in their workstream?
• Where can real-time expertise help them complete tasks most efficiently and effectively?
• What tasks in physical space — such as locating repair points, modeling, assembly or QA — could benefit from real-time guidance or visual, intuitive instructions?
• What situations might benefit from live assistance or access to a support recording of the same scenario, versus specialized standalone training?
• What do your senior-staff subject matter experts know that new hires don’t — and can AR-enhanced support, communications or replays help bridge the gap?

3) Don’t lose sight of business realities. At the end of the day, if your first AR use case fails to provide ROI, you might not get a chance to kick off a second one. Ensure you’ve allocated ample budget to complete a project successfully. But don’t burn budget on proprietary hardware or a closed software platform. You likely can build out an initiative with an agnostic AR platform that extends across devices and operating systems your team already uses. Creating a smart budget will help you more quickly achieve ROI.

Beyond planning for cost, you’ll need to navigate another business reality: you’re rarely in it alone. Your AR project will need buy-in from two additional critical sets of stakeholders: your leadership and your IT department. An advocate inside the business can help make the case to leadership for the investment, and ensure they see the hard-cost savings potential in the unprecedented levels of knowledge sharing that AR allows.

Just as critically, however, IT needs to be on board, as early as possible. IT can help you clear hurdles around security, governance or other compliance protocols, like limited-access to intellectual property you might need to share over an AR platform. Approach your AR use case with IT as a full deployment partner, so you’re integrated with the existing systems and infrastructure that knowledge and communications already flow through.

From conversations with business leaders, I know it can seem daunting to get an AR project deployed. With the right use case, you can unlock expertise, share knowledge and add value well beyond the objectives of your initial project. Ready to get started? Download our free eBook, “Building the Perfect AR Use Case” for a step-by-step guide to launching an enterprise AR initiative.