ABI Research’s ranking system, “Smart Manufacturing Platform Ranking”, saw 11 major companies in the industry analysed on a variety of different factors.

The platforms were reviewed on its innovation, originality, plans to deploy and support transformative technologies, digital twins, edge intelligence, protocol adaptability, robotics integration among other transformative technologies like blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.

The assessment also saw the platforms studied on its progress in establishing partnerships, connecting assets, integrating with enterprise and cloud systems, security, regional coverage, in addition to its upfront costs and current business model.

PTC, SAP, Schneider Electric and Siemens all tied for first place in digital twins, and PTC and Telit drew for highest in protocol adaptability and connectivity.

However, it was confirmed that PTC was considered the best platform overall.

“PTC emerged as the leader, excelling with its innovative initiatives across transformative technologies, and GE Predix came in second,” said Pierce Owen, Principal Analyst of Smart Manufacturing at ABI Research.

Last month, it was confirmed that Rockwell Automation would partner with PTC in an equity investment and strategic partnership believed to be worth $1bn.

What signs should enterprise customers look for that an AR platform is truly enterprise-ready? We’ll look at that question in more detail in the second part of this series, but here’s a sneak peek at what’s on that list:

1) Security – A great AR platform needs to provide you with a way to secure the data that will flow through it, whether that data is the content of a video call, a set of proprietary work instructions or data from IoT devices. The security solution could be supplied on-board by the hardware vendor, be a feature of the operating system or be third-party technology that works with your AR productivity software.

2) Ability to scale – You don’t want an AR platform that is stuck on a particular make or form factor of smart glasses, smartphones or tablets. To be really useful, your AR platform needs to be able to “scale up” to match the changing needs of your organization and not be limited by fixed numbers of allowed users or supported mobile operating systems.

3) User management – People work in your organization, not machines. You want to have information stored with each user profile that ensures that a given employee gets the information that matches their needs, job role and task – and gets context based on previous work.

4) Integration – Just as no person is an island, you don’t want your AR platform to act like one. It needs to integrate appropriately with your existing  enterprise infrastructure, tools and device management.

5) Ease of deployment – A great AR platform shouldn’t be tough to deploy. You are more likely to have success with something that can deliver real, measurable ROI quickly and easily – and achieve greater adoption by the workforce – if it’s as simple as possible to roll out and use.

6) Interaction flexibility – To deliver the best and broadest possible solution for your enterprise, your AR platform should support modes of interaction that match the scenarios faced by your workforce. In many cases, that will mean supporting hands-free interaction using technologies such as gestures, head motion, gaze tracking and voice recognition.

7) Technology partnerships – Who does your AR platform provider work with? To be broadly successful, you want a provider that tightly partners with industry leaders, innovates around standards and can bring the right team to the table when you tackle sometimes complex and thorny integration issues.

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“68% of Aviation industry survey respondents will be making investments into wearable or handheld devices over the next three years – suggesting that the industry is already aware of the value that these technologies can provide.”

The ebook can be downloaded here.

The Upskill team sat down with Eric Mizufuka, Product Manager for the Moverio business and Jay Kim, Upskill’s Chief Strategy Officer to talk about the history of Upskill’s partnership with Epson, and what the launch of these new smart glasses means for enterprises looking to adopt AR.

The interview covers:

1. How did it all start?
2. What went into getting the second generation Moverio, the BT-200 to market?
3. In what ways does this new Moverio BT-350 ANSI Edition really amp things up for enterprises?

You can read all the answers in their Q&A Session here.

At the beginning of 2017, Scandit’s aim was mainly focused on providing technology to enterprises to leverage standard smartphones with custom software on top instead of businesses having to use expensive proprietary scanning hardware.

To help streamline warehouses, Scandit have used wearable displays such as Microsoft HoloLens. One example posted on their blog in 2016 described how a warehouse employee using a HoloLens headset could be steered towards the correct objects with virtual markers, and the camera could be utilised for a hands-free experience. The blog is also quoted to have explained that HoloLens can direct users to where items should be placed once scanned and provide additional information about them.

The latest round of funding will contribute towards Scandit’s global growth and also introducing its technology across a range of mobile platforms and “camera-equipped device[s]” as quoted from a press release.

Samuel Mueller, CEO, is quoted to have said that the raise will allow the company to maintain their rapid growth as well as increase adoption of Augmented Reality and mobile computer vision in the enterprise, leading to reductions in cost.

The order includes XMReality Remote Guidance software to expand the use in several business areas within the defense company group.

“I’m pleased our order intake outside of Europe is growing and that our new generation of software has a strong demand in many different industries. Defense company groups are managing implementation projects thoroughly and for each follow up order we are getting closer to a roll-out within this company group”, says Johan Castevall, CEO at XMReality.

The order includes XMReality Generation 6 software, the value is approx. 0,6 MSEK which will be recognized during 2018. Including this order, the total order intake from this customer for the previous 12 months amounts to approx. 1,2 MSEK.

“Our first AR/VR standard represents an important step in addressing key emerging technology areas,” said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president of research and standards, CTA talking about the inclusion of the AR/VR standards: “The industry created this standard to build upon definitions created by CTA’s AR/VR Working Group that provide consumers insight on the broad range of technologies and experiences available. With this standard, the industry has created a blueprint to more effectively support AR/VR technologies and bring them to a broader market.”

Scope AR, known for their work on an industry AR platform for real-time remote assistance and AR guided smart instructions, have been actively involved in pushing the limitations of the technology further. Montgomerie, commented on the CTA standards saying: “While the enterprise is currently where the use cases and initial revenue are coming from, it will be advances in consumer hardware that have the economies of scale to pay for the innovation.

“However, there is still a lot of confusion among everyday consumers when it comes to understanding the differences between ‘mixed reality’ vs. ‘merged reality’ vs. ‘augmented reality’ vs. ‘virtual reality,’ not to mention the various capabilities of different HMDs.” Montgomerie explains: “This is why we 100% applaud the CTA for taking a stance and offering to standardize such terms, since eliminating this confusion in the industry can only help drive adoption from consumers and enterprises alike. It’s a big step forward for the industry overall and a sign of its growth and maturity.”

Back in June of this year Montgomerie talked about Apple’s ARKit 2.0 commenting on how the advancements in the platform and technology were steps in the right direction helping to move the industry towards the dream of delivering the full potential that AR has to offer.

The CTA free standard library is available online for free and will continue to grow to provide further support and transparency for users on the rapidly growing technologies that it covers. This year’s CTA Sales and Forecasts reported that VR has become a $1 billion (USD) sector within the U.S alone with a projected 4.9 million units to be sold within 2018.

With AR spending expected to hit an estimated $60 billion in 2020, organizations across industries are seeing the value in implementing more interactive technology. Showpad is the first and only sales enablement provider to offer AR functionality, enabling salespeople to deliver more immersive buyer experiences. Using Augmented Reality, sellers can transform how buyers learn about their product portfolio by projecting virtual products within the context of their actual environment.

Our Augmented Reality functionality delivers the buyer experience of the future – it’s visual, interactive and immersive,” says Pieterjan Bouten, CEO and co-founder of Showpad. “We’re empowering salespeople to not only tell buyers about their products, but also to virtually engage with them for a deeper level of understanding. We’re excited to be the first to deliver this functionality to the sales enablement industry and support our customers as they compete in the digital world.”

Showpad will use Apple’s ARKit in the Showpad iOS app, allowing users to project 3D models in a real, physical environment. The Showpad iOS app enables sales teams to demonstrate the actual dimensions and features of products within the context of their environment, anywhere and anytime. Marketers reduce cost and time managing content by centralizing and managing models all within the app.

“We wanted to help our customers with large complex physical products not only tell prospects about their solutions through great digital content, but be able to show them through a truly immersive buying experience,” adds Louis Jonckheere, CPO and co-founder of Showpad. “Buyers want greater context and more information in their purchase experience, and AR enables them to see exactly what they’re getting. Now, they can have deeper, more interesting conversations about even the most complex products by seeing them in the context of their own environment.”

Employees whose jobs affect every aspect of one’s trip, including aircraft maintenance workers and flight crew can make use of wearable XR technologies to ensure the end goal: A safe and satisfied traveler. Find out how XR might be used on the ground and in the air when you go on your next business trip or vacation.

The article goes on to walk the reader through a variety of applications in the aviation industry:

On the Ground: AR for Assembly

Both Airbus and Boeing employ augmented reality (AR) glasses in the aircraft assembly process. Airbus workers follow plans directly in their field of view, superimposed on the plane’s interior during cabin installation. They use the same solution to check the accuracy and quality of their work (image recognition technology and artificial intelligence at work); while Boeing employees use smart glasses to view a heads-up, hands-free roadmap for wire harness assembly over their real-world view. In each case, AR functions to form a stronger connection for the user between textual or diagrammatic instructions and the real working environment.

Other areas of wearable AR and VR in aviation and aerospace discussed include VR for Training, AR for Guidance in the air and XR in Flight Service.  This comprehensive and digestible article is a great resource for those interested in how wearable technology is being used in aviation.

I2 will now deliver its suite of AR products on Upskill’s Skylight AR software platform, enabling enterprises across Europe to benefit from more flexible, scalable and secure AR deployments that support their Industry 4.0 initiatives.

I2 selected Upskill as its platform software provider due to both the company’s strong reputation and market traction globally, and its product leadership with the most recent release of Skylight. With Skylight, I2 can now configure AR applications more securely, and deploy them quickly on its AR Suite of solutions. This will, in turn, enable I2 to scale up the impacts it is already delivering customers, including operational efficiency, quality control, maintenance, safety management and training.

The full press release can be read on Upskill’s website here and Upskill’s AREA member profile.