The PTC products being adopted include the ThingWorx IoT platform, Windchill product lifecycle management and ThingWorx Studio augmented reality solutions. RMIT is also expanding its relationship with PTC value-added partner LEAP Australia.

RMIT has identified a recent surge in demand for graduates with skills in Industry 4.0, including the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and augmented reality (AR) for the enterprise.

Pier Marzocca, Professor and Associate Dean in the University’s School of Engineering, said RMIT believed insights from industrial IoT data, combined with AR for in-context display, would be critical to the business transformations that will arise from Industry 4.0.

RMIT also plans to use its ThingWorx technologies to expand its collaboration with local industry partners, especially companies without sufficient resources to comprehensively harness the transformative nature of Industry 4.0 for their business, according to PTC.

The article can be read in full here.

Apple and Accenture have joined forces to help businesses build better applications for iOS, the operating system that powers Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, according to an article on 1reddrop.com.

Apple is pushing hard towards making its software even better for the enterprise sector, and already has an ongoing partnership with IBM. Now, Apple is teaming up with Accenture to bring a new service offering for the business segment.

The plan is to launch a new platform for businesses and to help enterprises unlock new revenue streams, improve customer service and increase overall productivity, all at a reasonable cost. The duo’s plan is to increase the number of tools and services that will help businesses operate more efficiently with iPhones and iPads.

These include IoT-specific tools, templates and pre-designed code that will allow companies to create custom software for their specific needs. There will also be a migration service which will speed up the process of transferring apps and data to iOS, and will help quickly integrate iOS into back-end systems.

The engineering team will largely focus on frontline apps – the apps that will run on iOS, especially in the retail and banking sectors.

It will also focus on augmented reality through its ARKit that was earlier unveiled at their developers conference.

Executive Director of the AREA, Mark Sage, was recently interviewed for Manufactura Magazine in Mexico. The article from this interview describes the advantage of Augmented Reality technology in the aerospace and automotive industries.

The advancement of smartphones and their popularity in the last ten years has allowed them to be used as data processing units and AR displays. Sage is quoted to have said that the development of technology such as Microsoft Hololens and Google Glass has fuelled consumer tech companies making AR available to the public. Even consulting a map on a cell phone is utilising AR, despite the misconception that AR is only available via smart glasses or helmets.

Although some organisations are already starting to implement AR or developing solutions that will help AR adoption, it is only just the beginning. Sage also said that industry will adopt AR technology as the cost of it becomes reduced; it currently costs approximately €25,000 for the most professional and economical AR solutions. 

Is your business’ IT department ready for integrating Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality into the workplace? A recent article on Computerworld.com addresses this question, describing the differences between each of the technologies and the benefits they provide for enterprises.

Many industry experts are interviewed and quoted throughout the article, including the AREA’s Executive Director Mark Sage. Other organisations mentioned include:

• AREA member Boeing
• AREA member Bosch
• Microsoft
• Gartner
• G2 Crowd
• EY
• Apple
• Case Western Reserve University
• Cleveland Clinic

Significant points mentioned in the article include:

• Companies generally utilise AR technology to solve certain business problems or for particular use cases
• Both AR and VR are potentially useful for collaboration and design in the construction and engineering industry
• The technology is a big investment due to the need for old legacy systems to be improved to allow it to function as it should
• Security and privacy issues are a current concern due to constant, wireless sharing of information
• AR for B2B is said to be ahead of AR for B2C, but VR is the opposite, and this is expected to continue over the next three or so years
• In the next two to three years, it is anticipated that AR will go mainstream for jobs such as repairs, design, logistics, field service, and warehouse
• Recruiting staff with the right expertise for using the technology is important for implementing an AR strategy

You can find out more about how some of the companies mentioned (Boeing, Cleveland Clinic, and Bosch) have been using AR technology. There are further details about how you can get started and become ready for AR VR and MR for your business in the full article here.

A recent article on ZDNet discussed how emerging technology is proceeding so far this year, particularly for enterprises rather than consumers. The range of Enterprise Technology which is valuable for integration is on the increase despite IT budgets only rising slowly, which is putting pressure on organisations. ZDNet has another article on this specific topic here.

The article includes a list of technologies that are expected to increase in double digits each year for five years or more into the future, in addition to new tech categories which appear significant despite not having yet been forecast. ZDNet claims that organisations should pay attention to the uses of the technologies listed; for example, their influence on strategy, skill-building, experimentation, and preparation for a larger-scale adoption.

Enterprise Technology included are Augmented Reality, Machine learning, Virtual Reality, 3D and 4D printing, wearable technology, mobile business apps, Edge / Fog Computing, Marketing Integration, Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE), Big Data, Blockchain and distributed ledgers.

The article concludes by mentioning that a fixed strategy can no longer take rapidly changing technology cycles into account, which means enterprises now require new ways of approaching tech adoption. Although emerging tech for the enterprise is on the rise, we are still only at the beginning of emerging technology being utilised for businesses.

A recent article on BrainXchange lists a number of enterprises that are utilising wearable technology in order to create beneficial customer service schemes.

The list includes the following companies:

• Audi = using Virtual Reality headsets to allow potential buyers to visualise the cars in a range of simulated landscapes. They partnered with Zerolight to produce virtual scenery that wouldn’t be possible to see in real life, e.g. viewing cars on the moon. Ford is also developing a VR platform in addition to AR of hologram display cars.
• Lifestyle Home Builders = a Virginia-based company that is using VR in custom home building and buying. They provided customers with the experience of virtually viewing versions of completed houses via a VR headset by adapting building information modelling and off-the-shelf software.
• Cincinnati Airport (CVG) = recently trialled Samsung Gear S3 Smart Watches to aid janitors in keeping ahead with clean-ups and supplies. They partnered with Hipaax to integrate data from sensors in restrooms with their TaskWatch application; if successful, this will be released in 2018.
• Norden Machinery = a Swedish company that provides tube filling for cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. They partnered with XMReality to enable employees to provide remote support for their customers via use of Smart Glasses.
• Air New Zealand = the airline partnered with Dimension Data to produce an AR solution using the Hololens to help stewards to anticipate passengers’ needs. Emirates is also considering how their staff can use AR glasses to enhance the passengers’ experience.
• PulteGroup = one of the US’s largest homebuilders. They are utilising VR headsets to enable customers to take virtual tours of potential future homes where the model houses are as yet unfinished.

AREA member Atheer, announced recently that they have developed an Android tablet version of their own AiR Enterprise Augmented Reality application.

This new tablet version of Atheer’s AiR Enterprise, currently is in use by members of their Early Adopter Program. This new technology was initially designed for use with the popular Samsung S2 tablets. AiR Enterprise will support a broad range of tablets and handheld Android devices.

Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atheer, Soulaiman Itani said: “The release of AiR Enterprise for Android tablets is another important step towards delivering on the promise of Augmented Reality for all our industrial enterprise customers. It provides our customers with the flexibility, scalability, speed and choice they need to bring together their physical and digital workspaces – using assets and technology they already have.”

Getting AiR Enterprise for Android tablets into the hands of customers allows Atheer to be able to offer and refine AR solutions that seamlessly integrate tablets and smart glass experiences into a single, cohesive working environment.

AREA member Boeing has announced that its venture capital arm, HorizonX, will be investing in C360 Technologies, a startup that focuses on Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and 360-Degree videos.

Boeing Vice President for Horizon, Steve Nordlund, said the investment is a ‘win-win’ due to C360s video capabilities it will bring to a new market while providing an outlet for Boeing to further some of its own technological initiatives. “Our C360 investment is a powerful example of how HorizonX can access rapid advances in innovation outside aerospace and bring them to our Boeing customers.” Says Nordlund.

Mike Sinnett, Vice President of Product Development at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said current trends in the aviation industry could push Boeing to look into autonomous options, provided that they are equally as reliable as human pilots. “There’s going to be a transition away from the requirement to have a skilled aviator operating the airplane tactically, to having a system that operates the vehicle autonomously.” States Sinnett

According to the article on Geek Wire, C360 joins three other companies in HorizonX’s investment portfolio: Virginia-based Upskill, another AREA member, (provider of Augmented-Reality solutions for industrial settings); Kirkland, Wash.,-based Zunum Aero, which is working on a new class of hybrid electric airplanes; and Texas-based SparkCognition, which focuses on artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

We’d like to draw our readers’ attention to an article on Medium.com by Amitt Mahajan “How Augmented Reality will put people back to work”.  Augmented Reality has the potential to help transition displaced workers who have lost their jobs due to increasing automation. By providing a worker with just-in-time information, AR enables them to perform a variety of tasks that they may have no prior experience with. This allows workers to fluidly move from one type of job to another to maintain a stable income.

Research shows that through a combination of robotics and artificial intelligence, a large number of jobs may disappear soon. Augmented Reality (AR), however, may become the tool that delays this fate by evolving the role of workers in a post-automation world, creating opportunities for continued employment across a more diverse set of occupations.

The article talks through how AR can enable people to perform a variety unfamiliar and complex tasks. At scale, this can take a displaced workforce and immediately put people back to work performing jobs guided by AR.  Many examples are provided in the article of how AR is currently being used in workplace contexts and how it might be used in the future to bring huge benefits to the world of work. Applications already exist that make it easy for remote knowledge workers to draw and instruct within an on-site technician’s field-of-vision.

AREA members ScopeAR and DAQRI are mentioned in the article for their work in bringing AR solutions to the enterprise.

AR knowledge also has the ability to adapt immediately whereas traditional training does not.  The article concludes by offering the opinion that while AR isn’t a permanent solution to unemployment, it is one that could ease the transition of displaced workers.  Long term, even these sorts of jobs may be automated by specialized robots. That level of automation, however, could be decades away or may never become economically viable. In the meantime, augmented reality can provide a way for the human worker to continue to be productive and a value to society.

AREA member RealWear has created a hands free head-mounted tablet the HMT-1. The HMT-1 is a discreet small screen, hands free, head-mounted tablet that is designed to be worn with an industrial helmet for workers in the field, factory or warehouse without obstructing the user’s vision.

RealWear they released this product in March 2017 to a limited audience selling to 65 companies. In May 2017, an additional 240 units shipped, and 60 were kept to test in a lab setting at RealWear. The beta program will shut down after these pilots are completed, and production will begin for August 2017 shipments to the general public at less than $1,500 per unit.The HMT-1 supports 10 languages and is designed for industrial workers who need to be hands-free while talking to consultants at a home office or other location.

Andy Lowery, CEO of RealWear, describes the voice recognition system as “our special sauce” because it incorporates two different algorithms and two different microphones.

To read this article in full click here.