What do you want to achieve? And how does AR contribute to this? To get an overview of this, it helps to make a business case. It starts with discovering the value of AR. This blog helps you to get that clear.

The writer suggests starting at the value chain: a good start to discover your business case for AR is by first drawing up your own business processes and identifying where there is room for improvement. A good model for this is the Value Chain devised by Harvard professor Michael E. Porter. This model offers a schematic representation of the various departments. As the examples will show, augmented reality allows you to profit throughout the value chain of your company.

Questions to ask include what would you like the accomplish and does AR help with this?

The next section asks a series of questions to help you identify when AR can yield a profit.

• Do you want to convert poorly accessible teaching material into interactive 3D visuals?
• Do you have a shortage on technically qualified personnel and would you like experienced people to be in several places at once or watch juniors.
• Do you want to make it easier for R&D to bring prototypes to life and thus shorten the time-to-market of products?
• Are you looking for a tool that speeds up the sales process?
• Have you lost orders in the past because customers couldn’t clearly see if the product would fit before purchasing?
• Do you think storytelling is important? And do you want to take the user on a journey through unique features and show interesting details of your product that normally remain hidden to the naked eye?
• Do you want your measurement process to be easier and faster and have the measurement results immediately saved to a computer without noting down?
• Do you want to watch your customers remotely when your product has failed?

The author suggests that if the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then AR can help in your organization.

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies in the mechanical sector are designed to offer contractors a leg up, namely saving time in the field.

Edmonton, AB-based ScopeAR has developed AR technology that lends itself to the mechanical industry–though, the company’s clientele is primarily in manufacturing and aerospace, according to Scott Montgomerie, the founder, CEO and chief technology officer. Despite the benefits, he said the HVAC industry has been less receptive.

“Businesses that don’t adapt to new technologies are going to get left behind by a company that is,” he added.

Since 2011, ScopeAR has rolled out two augmented reality products in the space: Remote AR and WorkLink. The former has the ability to connect remote workers, such as a contractor in the field troubleshooting a piece of HVAC equipment, with an expert through a digital app.

“With our tool, you would be able to circle [a] red wire with a line in 3D space [for example],” Montgomerie explained. That circle is then visible to the expert in real-time. “It enhances that ability to communicate between that person with knowledge and technicians,” he added.  WorkLink, on the other hand, allows the user to create “smart instructions,” as opposed to paper instructions, in augmented reality

“What that means is essentially overlaying rich 3D models on top of a piece of equipment to show you step by step how to do something,” Montgomerie said. “If you’re looking at a wiring panel on a furnace, you can actually see a 3D illustration of the circuit board with 3D representations of the wires, the layout. It’s really intuitive.”
In a 2016 study out of the University of Connecticut, former PhD candidate Rajeev Ghimire–now an electrical engineer–found that augmented-reality based troubleshooting of HVAC systems allowed technicians to improve efficiency on the job.

At the time, he said the school had difficulties troubleshooting equipment, with technicians often unable to determine the cause of malfunction or failure. For the study, technicians performed tests and repairs on equipment while wearing the Epson Moverio BT-200 and Google Smart Glass AR glasses.

“The idea was to use augmented reality-based smart glasses to help the repair technicians collectively do the guided troubleshooting first,” Ghimire said, with the second component of the study being the repair process.
The technology allowed technicians to be more efficient, ultimately minimizing the system’s downtime and eliminating the need for manuals and other paperwork.

“There is a lot of attention on this one in repair and maintenance industry, whether it be HVAC system or any other complex cyber-physical system, complex engineering system,” Ghimire said. “I hope to see this one come to industry sooner than later. This is a very promising technology.”

Read the full article here.

Read Scope AR’s member profile.

This award is part of a multi-year, follow-on agreement with a ceiling of $60 million of government funding.

“Since our founding, the opportunity and urgency to lead the charge to digitize U.S. manufacturing has only grown,” said Caralynn Nowinski Collens, CEO of UI LABS, DMDII’s parent organization. “It is essential for our national security and our prosperity that DMDII ramp up its efforts to pull manufacturers into the modern era.”

DMDII’s mission is to enable U.S. manufacturers to make every part better than the last. That requires production lines to be embedded with software and sensors that connect to the Internet. Only with this ability to send and receive data can the equipment improve itself and learn from every part produced in real time.

It is a goal far too big for any one company to solve on its own, which is why the Institute has attracted more than 300 partners, including Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, Siemens, and McKinsey & Company.

Read the full press announcement from DMDII and UILabs.

PTC is a technology company that made a name for itself in the CAD and PLM markets over the past 30 years, but it’s also a leader in the emerging technologies of industrial IoT (IIoT) and augmented reality (AR). On the top floor, the Customer Experience Center (CXC) highlights PTC’s breadth of experience with demonstrations of real-life customer use cases and applications.

Tucked into its own space is the PTC Reality Lab, the forward-thinking team of engineers and researchers charged with pursuing uncharted technology. The team of five – all alumni of MIT Media Lab – are at the forefront of industrial innovation, and spend every day exploring concepts and developing technologies that will enhance people’s interactions with the physical and digital worlds.

Valentin Heun holds a Ph.D from the MIT Media Lab and has long been interested in how to foster better connections between technology and humans – and how user interface design, particularly with augmented reality, can empower workers.

The full interview is worth a read in its entirety. Here is a snapshot of what is covered:

What is the vision for PTC Reality Lab?

What are some of its special features?

What are the benefits of the co-location of the PTC Reality Lab within the Customer Experience Center (CXC)?

Interview highlights from an enterprise AR perspective:

The former Media Lab motto, “demo or die” – or nowadays, “deploy or die” – permeates our lab here at PTC. What that means is that one must make something a reality and not just innovate into the blue. When we research and develop technology, we do so with a focus on the needs, problems, and applications of industrial companies.

We’re using augmented reality, generative design, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, industrial IoT, robotics, digital twin, just to name a few technologies, all in the context of the physical reality. These are technologies that influence or empower at least one version of what we call “reality.”

To me, this is the essence of what PTC and the PTC Reality Lab does – to shape a seamless and intuitive user experience that is only one reality.

The panel comprised:

1. Nikki Jones (NJ) Director of the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre.
2. Donna Edwards (DE), Programme Director for the Made Smarter North West Pilot
3. Brian Holliday (BH), Managing Director for Siemens Digital Factory

Questions answered by the panel include:

• How is Industry 4.0 shaping the manufacturing sector’s skills requirements?
• What is your organisation doing to address this skills gap?
• What impact are these measures having?
• What advice would you give to other organisations looking to build their in-house Industry 4.0 expertise?

To read their full responses see the original Q&A transcription.

“Driven by the acceleration of e-commerce along with customer’s heightened expectations and more focus within companies on differentiating service levels, the field operations industry is rapidly adapting the way it looks at its mobile technology investments,” said Jim Hilton, Director of Vertical Marketing Strategy, Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics, Zebra Technologies.

“Our study shows how growing challenges related to the on-demand economy drive organizations to adopt transformative, disruptive technologies such as augmented reality and intelligent labels to provide visibility and integrate business intelligence for a performance edge.”

KEY SURVEY FINDINGS

Equipping front-line workers with enterprise mobile devices remains a priority to stay competitive.

• The survey shows today only one-fifth of organizations have a majority of their field-based operations using enterprise mobile devices. This is estimated to reach 50 percent in five years.
• Respondents indicate most organizations intend to invest in handheld mobile computers, mobile printers and rugged tablets. From 2018 to 2023, handheld mobile computer usage with built-in barcode scanners is forecasted to grow by 45 percent, mobile printers by 53 percent and rugged tablets by 54 percent. The higher levels of inventory, shipment and asset accuracy provided by using these devices is expected to increase business revenues.
• A key driver of productivity, efficiency and cost-savings in field operations is ensuring ruggedized enterprise devices replace traditional consumer ones. Nearly 80 percent of respondents usually or always conduct a total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis of business devices prior to making a capital expenditure. Only 32 percent of respondents believe that consumer smartphones have better TCO than rugged devices.

Tertiary concerns and post-sale factors are important for organizations when evaluating front-line worker enterprise mobile devices.

• The survey reveals these TCO considerations when investing in new front-line enterprise technology: replacement (47 percent), initial device (44 percent), application development (44 percent) and programming/IT (40 percent).
• Almost 40 percent of respondents say device management and support costs are important as well as customer service (37 percent), device lifecycle cadence (36 percent) and repair costs (35 percent). Such factors increasingly influence the purchase cycle, showing that those who do not provide clear value or cannot control these costs will quickly be overtaken by those who do.

Emerging technologies and faster networks are disrupting field operations.

• The survey shows seven in ten organizations agree faster mobile networks will be a key driver for field operations investment to enable the use of disruptive technology.
• Significant industry game-changers will be droids and drones, with over a third of decision makers citing them as the biggest disruptors.
• The use of smart technologies such as sensors, RFID, and intelligent labels also play a role in transforming the industry. More than a quarter of respondents continue to view augmented/virtual reality (29 percent), sensors (28 percent), RFID and intelligent labels (28 percent) as well as truck loading automation (28 percent) as disruptive factors.

KEY REGIONAL FINDINGS

• Asia Pacific: 44 percent of respondents consider truck loading automation will be among one of the most disruptive technologies, compared respectively to 28 percent globally.
• Europe, Middle East and Africa: 70 percent of respondents agree e-commerce is driving the need for faster field operations.
• Latin America: 83 percent agree that faster wireless networks (4G/5G) are driving greater investment in new field operations technologies, compared with 70 percent of the global sample.
• North America: 36 percent of respondents plan to implement rugged tablets in the next year.

Augmented reality (AR), which puts digital representations of objects into your physical space, could be the key to changing how we think about work. AR has quickly evolved from a laboratory experiment to a staple in pop culture, entertainment, and media, and 67 percent of organizations are considering incorporating it into their procedures.

Augmented reality is already being used in an immersive technology called holoportation.

A special set of cameras captures an object or person in 3D, which (or who) can then be placed in a physical space anywhere in the world as a hologram. You can then hear, respond, and interact with that person as if he or she were in the room with you. Health-care innovators have already used the principle to create simulated, realistic anatomical human models that students can summon in their dorm rooms and use to practice surgical procedures.

With 43 percent of Americans working remotely at least some of the time, holoportation could be transformative. Meanwhile, for companies, it could allow them to connect with rare, specialized expertise instantly, no matter where they are based. And it could completely change standard office processes and interactions.

For example, DAQRI, an L.A.-based company, is bringing AR into the workplace with its Smart Helmet and Smart Glasses, which employees at companies like Space X and BMW are already using to improve their workflows, according to DAQRI co-founder Gaia Dempsey.

“You have all that intelligence and tools in your AR device and you can pull down the 3D models and use them for an inspection, or assembly workflow or design process as you’re going through your job building a Space X rocket or building a BMW car,” said Dempsey.

Training employees for new roles could also be made easier with augmented reality. In one case study, a Siemens employee learned how to assemble a gas burner—a process that usually takes about a day—in just 45 minutes. And Dempsey believes AR can help them retain the information better, too. “It’s not just the fact that you’re following step-by-step work instructions and you only know how to do it when the information is there,” she said. “It’s also because it’s an intuitive and kinesthetic way of conveying the information. The parts of your brain responsible for spatial awareness and pattern matching and building intuition are all getting activated so that is staying with you after the fact.”

Beyond just training lone employees, augmented reality could play an important role in team-oriented, high-stakes occupations—like teaching firefighters to work together under pressure, bandmates being able to practice together even if they’re miles apart, or high-level executives being able to really feel connected and collaborative in the event of a PR crisis that must be addressed.

An augmented reality office could also attract specialized talent from anywhere and could cut down on the overhead costs necessitated by a physical office or the transportation of employees or talent. Dempsey said that DAQRI’s Remote Expert can connect your field of view to an expert anywhere in the world who can give you guidance at any time, whether you’re a driver changing a tire or a plant employee manufacturing a part.

And this new way of approaching work could also allay increasing anxiety about robots taking over human jobs, per Dempsey. “If you can imagine putting on a pair of glasses and learning how to do anything, that could transform the dynamics in the economy and the workforce,” she explained. “It means that you will never be automated out of a job, because you can learn anything.”

When you deal with business to business (B2B) sales, all properties of your product or service must persuade the potential client that it will increase their company’s profit. There should also be something impressive in your offer that makes it stand out. This is where AR can enter the stage and become a handy sales and client engagement tool that you can create with the help of your company’s developers.

Kostusev explores three potential AR use cases he has noticed for B2B sales in his role.

Product Presentations

By enhancing your presentation with AR, you can visualize and highlight the aspects of your offer that require special attention in the most realistic and immersive way. It can be especially useful when displaying real property, like Realtor.com does, or large products such as industrial machines (think CAT). But the most well-known example is probably IKEA, who used augmented reality to allow clients (both consumers and businesses) to try furniture in their offices and apartments by superimposing it on the surroundings with the IKEA Place app.

There are two key advantages to this approach. First, it can make interacting with the client remotely easier and more enjoyable. Second, the clients can see all the perks of the product without physically interacting with it.

Exhibitions

When you talk to your client in private, you’ve already gained an advantage — the client is talking to you instead of your competitors. Exhibitions are a completely different environment. You need to stand out among dozens of other companies. And this is another marketing application of AR — you can use it to attract visitors to your stand.

Considering the hype around AR, which still won’t cease, just mentioning it in your flyers or on the banner can be a hook for exhibition visitors. Take the example of Ford. The company used AR to attract visitors during the 2017 North American International Auto Show. The visitor could sit inside the car and at the same time see what was happening under the hood on a big screen. The exhibit not only impressed visitors but also made headlines and increased the company’s visibility.

Another example is Motorex — an oil company that amazed guests using an AR-powered interactive factory tour. The tour video shows AR stopping points where visitors could enjoy hidden content using their smartphones.

Data Visualizations

When you’re presenting something more abstract than an excavator or a next-gen Ford Focus, it may be hard to convey the value of your offer, especially when it involves complex data that’s hard to visualize. Here, AR can come into play in the form of an interactive three-dimensional visualization.

This use case for AR is only emerging in B2B sales, but there’s already a solid technical background for it. According to a project participant’s description, IBM Immersive Insights is a visualization tool that presents data in 3D space, making it easier to explore data and grasp the insights it provides. In an experiment detailed by an IBM representative, IBM engineers used the tool to visualize Instacart’s data grocery purchases and thus better understand user purchasing patterns. Although it’s not related directly to B2B sales, I believe this case shows the potential AR has in complex data visualization both for internal use and for presenting your value proposition.

Next the author looks at AR Challenges To Overcome, such as considering hardware that is specifically designed for AR support and with high image processing speed.  He warns against the pitfall of too-high anticipations often associated with this technology.

The article concludes by the author looking at what is next for AR Solutions For B2B Sales.

You can read the article in full here.

Heather Humphreys, the enterprise minister, is launching the plan at Dogpatch Labs in the CHQ Building in Dublin’s docklands today, alongside the taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the finance minister Paschal Donohoe.

The new multi-year strategy is designed to ensure Irish businesses are prepared for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and advanced manufacturing.

For further information about growth in Ireland and how emerging technology is playing a part in the Irish economy see:

IDA Ireland 

Enterprise Ireland 

Future Jobs Ireland 

While that primary objective doesn’t change much year to year, digital transformation.