PTC’s global survey of industrial companies supports this sentiment with 92% already on their DX journey. However, the analysis exposes critical nuances to DX strategies based on their maturity, which fall into three distinct stages: Planning, Piloting, and Rollout.

The evolving mindsets for attainable value shifts for each stage from understanding where value is (planning), proving value exists or is realizable (piloting), and scaling value across the organization (rollout).

Companies at these different stages have distinct needs, project priorities, and potential blind spots.

In this report, PTC complements data-driven insights and key takeaways from their global survey with case-study driven recommendations for each of these stages.

The result is a framework for industrial organizations to use as a benchmark for where they are in their DX journey and how their priorities compare with the market.

PTC has surveyed over 360 global Senior-level leaders at industrial companies annually to define their state of digital transformation. Respondents have DX decision-making and influencing roles in their respective companies. These DX leaders represent an array of discrete and process manufacturers across regions and organizational functions.

See the findings of the PTC report here. 

Read PTC AREA member profile here.

A press release dated March 16, 2021, London, UK reveals that AREA member RealWear, Inc., the global leader of hands-free head-mounted wearables, today announced that Mace Group (‘Mace’), a global consultancy and construction firm headquartered in London, deployed RealWear’s assisted reality wearable computers running voice-enabled Microsoft Teams, paving the way forward for the global construction industry. For the first time, the voice-activated RealWear HMT-1 wearable device has enabled hundreds of its workers and clients to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its carbon footprint via using the device for remote inspections during the construction process.  The wearable deployment marks a first for the construction industry.

Mace works on a number of construction projects both in the UK and across the globe. When the pandemic hit and travel restrictions came into effect, Mace envisioned an entirely new and safer way to inspect building façades. To operate as effectively and as safely as possible under seemingly indefinite social distancing restrictions, it needed a solution that would enable inspection work to still be carried out but with minimal people onsite than normally permitted.

RealWear’s assisted reality head-mounted wearable computers require only a single site inspector to be physically present, while multiple others ‘view’ the site clearly and remotely from their own location, via a feed that streams from the innovative headset directly to the viewer’s handheld or laptop computer. The technology negates the need to physically travel to a site, while also delivering on Mace’s requirement for its workforce to be fully connected through remote collaboration. Furthermore, the deployment has banished the logistical and planning complexities of trying to coordinate the diaries of several site inspectors to be present at the same time on the same day. Since the completion of the deployment this month Mace has been able to reduce in-person site visits, and its Façade team has seen a 75% reduction in travel; not only has this resulted in a reduction in carbon emissions, but the time saved has freed up staff to be more productive during the course of their day.

“With its willingness to embrace the future, it’s appropriate that Mace is at the head of the curve within the construction industry with respect to deploying wearable technology,” commented Phil Sedge, Head of Facade, Mace Group. “Since the deployment, we have seen improvements in the decision-making process, and we’re able to share real-time information instantaneously. The technology has enabled us to reduce the number of staff travelling to site, without any compromises to the quality of our work. The time saving and environmental benefits deliver further advantages.” He added: “RealWear’s reinvestment back into product development has also impressed us, which means that the foundations of this technology are future proofed. We only wish we had deployed it sooner.”

Following an in-depth consultation with RealWear partner, SystemActive, which involved various demos via video conference, Mace selected RealWear’s purpose built, voice enabled HMT-1 over other solutions available in the market, including smart glasses. The RealWear headsets met Mace’s requirements for no compromises on safety, for hands-free operation and the ability to clip to the side of hard hats. Its other requirements included durability and functionality at the right price point; two other areas where RealWear excelled.

The deployment began in June 2020. SystemActive worked with Mace’s IT team to create a bespoke operating system for the HMT-1, which was tailored so that many of its out-of-the-box features could only be used for collaborating with clients and colleagues who were not physically present on site. Once the operating system was set up, the wearable headsets arrived on site and were ready to use. Training from both RealWear and SystemActive included on-boarding sessions to bring Mace’s personnel up to speed on how to log on to video conferencing and join meetings, and a walkthrough of the functions of the camera and video stream.

“From a health and safety, durability and price perspective, RealWear’s device ticked a lot of boxes. We worked with the senior teams at Mace to ensure the device was as easy as possible for everyone to use and that the bespoke operating system met Mace’s needs. We’re thrilled with the positive feedback from Mace on the deployment and look forward to working with the team in a continued rollout,” added Ross Riley, Head of Immersive, SystemActive.

“RealWear’s HMT-1 is purpose built for productivity, even in extreme environments due to its ruggedness, durability and functionality,” said Jon Arnold, VP of Sales, RealWear Inc. “With software updates to come in March that will further improve the user experience, the HMT-1 is set to be a central part of Mace’s workflow, both now and in the future,” he added.

Based on this level of success, Mace plans to surpass the 150-unit mark over the next few months as it ramps up deployment of RealWear’s HMT-1 globally. The company has recently procured more units to go out to one of its sectors in Peru to help with monitoring of a project and its various phases, including safety inspections. It has also increased awareness through its supply chain who have started to adopt the technology.

Read the original press release and RealWear’s AREA member profile.

Through this partnership, California’s next-generation manufacturing plants will have access to education programs that will enable them to incorporate Taqtile’s cutting-edge enterprise expertise into their day-to-day operations. Opportunities for members to learn about Manifest, Taqtile’s augmented reality (AR) training and upskilling platform, will be offered by CMTA over the coming months. Insights on leveraging AR to access the expertise of knowledgeable frontline personnel, including step-by-step maintenance procedures and repair instructions, will empower manufacturers and their frontline staff to improve efficiencies, accuracy and productivity.

“Innovative partners like Taqtile help us deliver state-of-the-art technologies that will tangibly benefit emerging and fast-paced manufacturing processes,” said CMTA President, Lance Hastings. “Bringing solutions like Manifest to our members allows us to ensure we’re fulfilling our mission of helping California’s manufacturers grow and remain competitive globally. We owe it to our membership and the more than 1.2 million California manufacturing workers to provide access to emerging technologies that empower them in their jobs and create better efficiencies across their organizations.”

“CMTA is providing world-class support for California’s manufacturers and introducing cutting-edge technologies that will help these companies increase their competitiveness,” said Taqtile cofounder and CEO, Dirck Schou. “The intuitive Manifest platform delivers to organizations the ability to leverage the expertise of their most knowledge employees, empowering frontline personnel to perform complex tasks more safely, efficiently, and accurately. We anticipate that a significant number of CMTA members will explore Manifest and apply it to their long-term advantage.”

About Taqtile
Taqtile, winner of the 2020 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award in the Mixed Reality category, builds enterprise software that leverages augmented reality to make Everyone an Expert, capturing the unique knowledge of company experts and sharing that knowledge with frontline workers. By virtually transporting the knowledge of experts when and where it’s needed, sometimes under the most urgent circumstances, Taqtile customers enhance operational capabilities and improve performance. The Manifest platform allows company experts to easily document and record tribal knowledge, and distribute it across an entire workforce, enabling less experienced operators to easily follow instructions and complete complex tasks safely and consistently. For more information on Manifest, please visit www.taqtile.com.

About CMTA
The California Manufacturers & Technology Association works to improve and enhance a strong business climate for California’s 30,000 manufacturing, processing and technology-based companies. Since 1918, CMTA has worked with state government to develop balanced laws, effective regulations and sound public policies to stimulate economic growth and create new jobs while safeguarding the state’s environmental resources. CMTA represents 400 businesses from the entire manufacturing community – an economic sector that generates more than $300 billion every year and employs more than 1.2 million Californians.

As discussed in Rio Tinto’s 2020 Annual Report, Rio Tinto has been focused on working safer and smarter and as part of that effort they increased their use of drones and mine pit cameras and introduced video headsets (including smart glasses) to conduct visual inspections of tailings facilities and equipment while complying with travel restrictions and physical distance requirements. At the Oyu Tolgoi underground project, Rio Tinto used Vuzix Smart Glasses to enable technical experts from all over the world to work with local teams on the project site.

“Vuzix Smart Glasses usage continues to expand across an ever-widening array of industry verticals,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer. “Companies like Rio Tinto, which is a global leader in its field, continue to provide validation of the value and effectiveness of our products in real world situations.”

Read Vuzix AREA member profile

Read original press release on Vuzix website.

Theorem’s ARR solution delivers streamed data from the ARR server to the HoloLens 2, enabling users to add locally rendered content, by combining streamed data with existing managed assets. This is all facilitated by the seamless integration between Theorem’s Visualization Pipeline and the ARR Server, providing an easy to use mechanism to deliver content.

Theorem CTO Mark Stowe explains “With ARR, the constraints of large data sets and high-quality rendering are swept away, enabling Engineers using Theorem’s collaborative HoloLens 2 solutions for Visualization, Design Review and Factory Layout to further increase their productivity.”

Theorem’s ARR focus is driven by the needs of our Engineering and Manufacturing users, whose focus is on improving their product quality and delivering manufacturing improvements by using HoloLens and ARR.

Using Microsoft HoloLens 2 device to visualize data collaboratively, in context, and at scale in the real world is a game changer for those who currently experience their 3D data from the confines of a 2D screen.

HoloLens Mixed Reality has delivered unique productivity benefits to Engineering and Manufacturing businesses, and Theorem are proud to have delivered HoloLens solutions for those industries from the outset in 2016.

The Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner Program (MRPP) enables its members to build and deploy breakthrough industry solutions and identifies those who have achieved a high level of competency on the Windows Mixed Reality platform.  As a member of the Partner Program, Theorem have been given early access to Microsoft’s ARR software to enable us to deliver usable product at the point of release.

ARR is the obvious “next step” for existing XR users and anyone that has the requirement to deploy a Mixed Reality (MR) enabled use case.

We firmly believe that in the future remote rendering will be the default choice for XR Experiences.

For more information visit https://www.theorem.com/theorem-xr/microsoft-azure-remote-rendering

Press release 

Read Theorem Solution’s AREA member profile.

Upskill’s digital workflow solutions support workers especially in industrial manufacturing, inspection, and audit use cases through real-time interfaces with smart glasses and handheld mobile devices. With Upskill’s strong presence on the North American continent, an engineering hub in Austin, TX, and reputable blue-chip customers such as The Boeing Company, Merck KGaA and American Bureau of Shipping, TeamViewer strengthens its position as the number one global player in providing industry-specific AR solutions. The company had started to strategically invest in that space in 2020 with the successful acquisition of European wearable software leader Ubimax, serving global champions like DHL, Siemens and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company.

Oliver Steil, CEO of TeamViewer, said: “Joining forces with Upskill is expanding our footprint in the space of vertical augmented reality solutions in our largest market, the US. I am happy to welcome the Upskill team that adds significant technical and solution delivery know-how to our US organization. Our joint AR teams now represent the world’s most experienced workforce in deploying wearable computing technology to the shop floor. By acquiring Upskill, we strengthen our capabilities in enabling digital transformation across all verticals and parts of the value-chain as the company is focusing on complementary use cases and industries such as aerospace, pharma & life sciences, insurance & claims management and retail. The enterprise AR market is huge and growing rapidly, and we are perfectly positioned to tap that potential.”

Brian Ballard, CEO of Upskill, said: “We are very excited to join TeamViewer and to further shape the future of work. Combining with their strong sales and marketing capabilities and integrating with their AR and IoT solutions, we will reinforce our mission to upskill frontline workers and to enhance industrial processes through technology. Our existing customers will benefit from an accelerated product development roadmap, global reach, and additional solutions and features within the TeamViewer portfolio.”

Upskill, founded in 2010, has two locations in the United States in Tyson’s Corner, VA and Austin, TX. TeamViewer plans to keep and grow these offices to expand its presence within the US and to build on Upskill’s important partnerships within the US tech ecosystem.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Read Upskill’s AREA profile here.

Read Press Release here 

TeamViewer website 

This collaboration offers members of both Khronos and AREA, as well as the enterprise AR community at large, an opportunity to contribute to industry-wide discussions that will have positive impacts on the future of AR-enabled user and customer experiences.

During an AREA-hosted webinar beginning at 11 AM Eastern Wednesday 3rd March 2021, Khronos members will present initiatives on which they are working to reduce barriers to adoption of AR for enterprise and 3D Commerce.

To join, please visit: https://thearea.org/event/khronos-ar-3d-commerce-wider-industry-impact/

The following AR use cases for construction are addressed in the article:

• Project presentation: Details and elements can be layered onto a building plan using AR. It can also provide tours and showcase 3D models. This allows both stakeholders and clients a clearer idea of the project, building, and any installations before it is made.
• Progress capture: AR can track and document the progression of projects. Applications can use a device’s AR features to identify what progress has been made so far with the floorplan, taking automatic shots of each capture point. This allows for better accuracy and efficiency in progress capture.
• Better collaboration: Teams can share 3D images and videos with off-site members using AR. Stakeholders can remotely view videos or images in greater detail, allowing for error identification.
• Enhanced safety: If tags or labels are placed in specific hazardous areas of a construction site, AR can scan them to bring up text or 3D models detailing safety information.
• Construction training: AR can assist educators with life-like demos to teach workers on using heavy machinery or complex equipment. This allows workers to see the equipment in action prior to arriving on-site. Hazardous materials or environments can also be demonstrated using AR, preventing team members being exposed unsafely.

Since AR use cases in construction already exist, Mixed Reality is considered the next step forward. MR combines both Augmented and Virtual Reality so that users can interact with digital elements while still being aware of their physical environment. Teams can collaborate better; they can interact with one another in the same physical room while conducting a virtual tour together. On site, MR allows workers to view instructions and information overlay for installation and repair support.

Despite AR adoption in construction being behind other industries, ARVR use in the construction industry is said to see “strong growth” in the upcoming five to ten years. The two drivers of AR adoption are said to be:

• Willingness of construction professionals to go through digital transformation
• Maturity of AR technology itself

Examples of AR being utilised in construction already are:

• Akular AR: This mobile app brings 3D models into the physical environment, allowing walkthroughs in the real world. The app offers a solution for construction firms to show life-sized 3D building models to stakeholders.
• GAMMA AR: This app uses AR to overlay 3D BIM models onto the construction site. Errors can be detected before construction, limiting mistakes and back-and-forth between team members. Models and designs can also be visualised before building. It provides a solution for presenting and sharing construction models, as stakeholders can avoid errors, communicate effectively, and make smarter decisions.
• Arvizio: AREA member Arvizio is an enterprise AR and MR solutions. Features offered by them include processing, optimisation, import, and hybrid rendering of complex 3D models and LiDAR scans for sharing digital twins with multiple users. Use cases from this include spatial data management, QA inspections, on-site model alignment, design reviews, and marketing demos. Stakeholders can conduct synchronised collaborative AR and MR sessions.
• ICT Tracker: This AR software company helps contractors to streamline project installation reporting and tracking. It is an easy-to-use, model-based production app that digitises iPad data in the field. The data collected is delivered in easy-to-read reports, improving project knowledge across the entire team. BIM or 3D models can be compared against current installations, eliminating the need for manual tracking. ICT’s capture of real-time data helps to understand installation status and identify production, cost, and scheduling issues.
• The Wild: This is a collaboration platform that offers support for BIM 360 and Revit. An entire team can be brought into a virtual workspace to spatially communicate, add markups, and review designs. VR headsets, mobile devices, or desktop can all access it. Design reviews can be remotely sped up and aligned throughout the process.
• VisualLive: A range of applications shift BIM/CAD power onto the construction site with VisualLive. There are AR and MR solutions on HoloLens 1 and 2, iOS, and Android, so design models can be brought onto these devices. Plugins with Navisworks and Revit allow users to bring CAD build BIM onto the jobsite.

The article concludes by acknowledging that AR will be a big part of construction in coming years. Companies must leverage the technology by finding opportunities to use AR in projects, and researching solution providers.

The AR technology will be used primarily to support assembly skills and production transfer. This will help to kickstart new manufacturing facilities, enable a virtual sales and marketing approach, and provide remote technical support. There has been increased demand from the healthcare industry for tasks such as specialist pump supply to feed fermentation tanks used to provide COVID-19 vaccines. Alongside this, management must develop a new way of selling and marketing products.

Martin Johnston, Strategic Business Development Director at Watson-Marlow, stated that the company has been working with PTC for over five years now. He acknowledges that the pandemic has accelerated the requirement for digital transformation, AR in particular. The immediate priority for WMFTG was skills transfer; Vuforia Expert Capture enables recording of production line processes and editing in the cloud. Using wearables such as Microsoft’s HoloLens, this knowledge can then be imparted to new engineers in the form of a step-by-step guide.

Advantages of the technology mentioned by Johnston include:

• Faster set-up speed
• Significant cost reductions
• Ability to train employees to perform ‘out-of-core’ roles
• Eliminates risk of spreading COVID-19

General Manager for UK at PTC, David Grammer, added that AR is a “game-changer” for the industry when applied correctly. PTC’s Vuforia technology is said to play an important role in business. Grammer believes WMFTG’s digital transformation plan will create cost, safety, and operational benefits.

Johnston further stated that the ultimate focus will be on marketing and sales. Connecting to potential customers will be conducted via virtual shows, webinars, or demonstrating product capabilities in real-time AR.

Read the full article here, and see PTC’s AREA member profile here.

“By rendering each application remotely as a whole, ISAR enables visualization and interaction with highly polygonal, data-intensive content such as 3D objects, 3D CAD models or BIM data. The CPU and GPU of the end device are only required to a small extent, which in the long term will help to reduce the size of the end devices and optimize the form factor,” said Philipp Landgraf, Head of Technology at Holo-Light. “Remote rendering enables AR and VR content to be experienced in unprecedented detail and complexity, from the industrial sector to entertainment and gaming”.

A device-agnostic approach through deployed client applications also reduces the development effort for XR applications. New apps can be developed simpler and without limits and restrictions of individual end devices by just building a server application. Time-consuming prepping and reducing of data for performance reasons is no longer necessary. Streaming complete applications also increases data security. As soon as the remote rendering technology ISAR comes into play, the data remains on the server chosen by the customer. Data is merely streamed and not stored on the mobile device.

How Does ISAR Work?

Usually AR or VR apps are developed in a game engine, for example Unity or Unreal. The visual representation of menu structures as well as the interaction possibilities are individually designed by the developer according to the respective device (e.g. HoloLens 2, Magic Leap, Smartphone etc.). The app is subject to technical requirements and limitations (CPU, GPU, RAM) of the end device.

Now, the ISAR SDK is a new component that enables users to outsource demanding work processes such as application logic or content rendering. This means that the computing power does not have to come from, for example, the AR-Glasses themselves, but can be provided unlimitedly by a powerful local server or from the cloud.

Once the ISAR SDK is built into an application, the app no longer needs to be installed directly on an end device. Instead, the app is installed and run on the more powerful server or in the cloud. The user simply connects from a provided gateway (client app) on the mobile device to the XR application on the external server. Now, the rendering process shifts from the low-performance XR device to the high-performance server. The client app sends data – sensor data for room tracking, position data and hand gestures – to the server with the actual application. There, the data is processed and the to be displayed 3D content is sent back to the client app. The result is real-time streaming of XR content.

Read more in Holo-Light press release.

See Holo-Light AREA member profile page.