In the world of pharma manufacturing, precision is key. To execute flawlessly, pharmaceutical scientists and operators need the proper training and tools to accomplish the task. User-friendly augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (XR) technology that can provide workflow guidance to operators is invaluable, helping name brand companies get drugs, vaccines, and advanced therapies to patients faster.

AR has been a cost-effective way to improve training, knowledge transfers, and process execution in the lab during drug discovery and in the manufacturing suite during product commercialization. Apprentice’s AR Research Department is now seeing greater demand within the pharma industry for XR software capabilities that allow life science teams to use 3D holograms to accomplish tasks.

For example, operators are able to map out an entire biomanufacturing suite in 3D using XR technology. This allows them to consume instructional data while they work with both hands, or better understand equipment layouts. They can see and touch virtual objects within their environment, providing better context and a much more in-depth experience than AR provides.

Users can even suspend metadata in a 3D space, such as the entrance to a room, so that they can interact with their environment in a much more complete way, with equipment, objects and instruments tethered to space. Notifications regarding gowning requirements or biohazard warnings for example will automatically pop up as the operator walks in, enriching the environment with information that’s useful to them.

“It’s all about enhancing the user experience,” Linas Ozeratis, Mixed Reality Engineer at Apprentice.io. “At apprentice, our AR/XR Research Team has designed pharma-specific mixed-reality software for the HoloLens device that will offer our customers an easier, more immersive experience in the lab and suite.”

Apprentice’s XR/AR Research Team is currently experimenting with new menu design components for the HoloLens device that will reshape the future of XR user experiences, making it easier for them to interact with menus using just their fingers.

Apprentice’s “finger menu” feature allows users to trigger an action or step by ‘snapping’ together the thumb and individual fingers of the same hand. Each finger contains a different action button that can be triggered at any time during an operator’s workflow.

“Through our research, we’ve determined that the fingers are an ideal location for attaching AR buttons, because it allows users to trigger next steps without their arm or hand blocking the data they need,” Ozeratis added.  It’s quite literally technology at your fingertips.”

Why does the pharma industry want technology like this? Aside from the demand, there are situations where tools like voice commands are simply not feasible. The AR Research Team also learned that interactive finger menus feel more natural to users and can be mastered quickly. Life science teams are able to enhance training capabilities, improve execution reliability and expand the types of supporting devices they can apply within their various environments.

“Introducing these exciting and highly anticipated XR capabilities is just one stop on our roadmap,” Ozeratis adds. “There are bigger and bolder things ahead that we look forward to sharing as the pharma industry continues to demand more modern, intelligent technologies that improve efficiency and speed.”

AR/MR-assisted trading and data analysis platforms empower traders and investors with advanced fintech, which is capable of monitoring and visualizing financial markets with new depth. Holographic visualization presents a new enhanced view of dynamic data, with flat images evolving into 3D shapes and innovative heatmaps to reveal revolutionary new data insights. With an AR/MR-assisted user interface, users are no longer restricted by the physical size of a computer screen, mobile or tablet, and can get a true 360-degree view with unlimited applications.

Utilizing light portable MR headset technology or AR smart glasses, advanced holographic representations of financial data and feeds are overlaid on, and exist in addition to, the real-world view of the user’s workspace. The phrase “workplace everywhere” has new meaning with AR enabling users to simultaneously operate a laptop or smartphone, or speak with a physical person in the room at the same time as a virtual colleague via videoconferencing.

The AR financial landscape can remain completely private (safe from inquisitive eyes), or users can share data by mirroring their views to an external laptop and even enable “spectator view” for colleagues or clients who are also using AR/MR technology. Users can even invite clients or advisors located anywhere in the world to a virtual conference room, where they can collaboratively and seamlessly analyze and interact with their financial landscape.

The technologies behind the solution

Powerful AR/MR-assisted trading and market data analysis for the finance sector can be viewed through Microsoft’s MR HoloLens headsets, and new technology currently in development that will look and feel like ordinary eyeglasses. The inclusion of Unity, a powerful editor, enables the software to be transported to other wearable hardware. While the solution largely uses HoloLens gesture recognition technology, voice recognition is also possible using embedded Microsoft Cortana functionality, along with holographic object manipulation, which can be useful in certain scenarios.

The core of the AR/MR-assisted financial trading and market data analysis platform is built on an existing data solution called dxFeed, which is one of the world’s largest cloud-based fully-managed data tickerplants focused exclusively on the Capital Markets industry. dxFeed uses unique technology called QD, designed and built by Devexperts, for market data distribution. The result is a powerful tool that can transform and adapt any data feed into an AR/MR-assisted virtual market data infrastructure. Gathering and storing historical data from the key exchanges in the USA, Canada and Europe, every single change of price (tick-by-tick market data), is streamed live and can be accurately viewed and interrogated through the AR/MR headset.

What it means for traders and analysts

The advent of AR/MR-assisted trading and data analysis delivers many benefits to financial services firms:

• Organizations can replace multiple monitors in a fixed location with a lightweight wireless MR headset or AR  smart glasses, freeing users from the physical size restrictions of computers, mobile devices, and tablets.
• Companies can implement “workplace everywhere” – with a 360-degree view, users can work literally on any surface and even in the air.
• Colleagues and customers can collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world via videoconferencing; point-of-view capabilities enable users to monitor and jointly analyze financial data, limiting miscommunication and strengthening decision-making.
• Users can increase their productivity and dramatically improve market visualization with advanced holographic data representation – a key element for traders needing to make important data-driven decisions quickly.
• A more intuitive user interface makes it easier to view, analyze and manipulate large quantities of complex data.
• Users can gain rapid access to stored historical market data and use tick-market replay and back-testing while simultaneously keeping a sharp eye on current market activity.
• Users stay better informed with streamlined integrated news feeds and financial information, aggregated from multiple providers in text view – with support for live streaming of news channels.

Who are the target users?

Fintech is more than a buzzword. In order to stay ahead of the competition, banks, investment-funds, hedge funds, FX desks, proprietary traders, and exchanges are adopting AR/MR technology. The driving force behind AR/MR-assisted trading and data analysis, however, is individual traders, investors and advisors working for financial institutions across the globe, who will find ease of collaboration from anywhere hugely beneficial.

Some typical scenarios

• An investor can connect an advisor to a virtual conference room, enabling them to share their point of view and explain how a drop or rise affects the portfolio and what decisions they can make now.
• A trader can take action faster as a result of a more intuitive interface highlighting hotspots and revealing opportunities.
• An investor looking to enter new markets can accurately view historical data, use tick-market replay and back-testing and make informed decisions based on the hard facts.
• A financial analyst required to monitor a particular stock on a major exchange can access and visualize full-depth data, explore how well the stock has performed in the past, and instantly communicate that information to a client, in the form of a holographic data representation.
• Students or new employees learning to trade can use AR/MR-assisted fintech to study and analyze patterns using historical data and market replay, and immerse and interact with the financial market.

Dmitry Parilov is Managing Director of Data Products at Devexperts and Simon Raven is a technical writer.

This two-day Emerging Technologies event was organized by Chariot Solutions, an IT consulting company located in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. It included a keynote by Augmented Reality Pioneer Blair MacIntyre.  Other speakers were:

Monica Beckwith (JVM performance consultant at Oracle)

Andrea Goulet (CEO at Corgibytes)

Yehuda Katz (Co-Creator of Ember.js)

Jessica Kerr (lead Engineer at Atomist)

Jake Wharton (Android Engineer at Square)

Augmented Reality Pioneer, Blair MacIntyre, kicked off the day one activities with a keynote address entitled The Web as Platform for Augmented Reality Experiences. MacIntyre defined Augmented Reality as “mixing media with a person’s perception of the world registered in 3D, in real time.”  MacIntyre explored the past, present, and possible future of augmented reality from Ivan Sutherland’s The Ultimate Display in 1968 to head mounted displays that could one day look like regular glasses.

For a full recap of Day 1, the article by InfoQ can be read here 

With over 90 people and 45 companies present, the first day of the first Augmented Reality Requirements workshop was an amazing success!  The workshop was hosted at the DMDII/UI Labs in Chicago.

Mark Sage, Executive Director of the AREA, shares his views on day 1 of the AR Workshop: Hardware / Software Functional Requirements for Industrial Applications.

Day 1 started with an introduction from Tom McDermott (DMDII) Mark Sage and then focused on hardware requirements. The session was expertly managed by Lonny Johnson, who stepped through the benchmark requirements defined by Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar and Proctor and Gamble.

For every requirement presented, there were lots of useful and interesting comments from the audience. The engagement was amazing and there was a real buzz in the room.

The day finished with a networking session and demo event with many of the AREA members showing their solutions. Everyone commented on how successful and interesting the day had been and that it was the first-time people the industry have come together to discuss Global Enterprise Requirements.

Day 2 will focus on software and finishes with an open session hosted by the AREA to discuss next steps and how to continue developing these global AR Enterprise requirements.

Lockheed Martin Joins Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance Board

Lockheed Martin Brings Industry Expertise to AREA Board of Directors to Help Build Augmented Reality Ecosystem and Best Practices

WAKEFIELD, Mass., USA – December 13, 2016 — The Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) announced today that Lockheed Martin has joined AREA at the Sponsor level and accepted a seat on its Board of Directors.  According to AREA Executive Director Mark Sage, Lockheed Martin, along with other AREA Enterprise members Bosch, Boeing, Huawei, and Newport News Shipbuilding and many others, have pledged support to drive ecosystem development and best practices for Augmented Reality (AR).

With over 30 members, the AREA is the only global membership funded alliance, helping to accelerate the adoption of Enterprise AR by creating a comprehensive ecosystem for enterprises, providers, and non-commercial institutes.  It supports innovative companies, aspiring to invest in AR who need a better understanding of the tools available, application possibilities, methods of implementation and return on investment.

The AREA provides a free and open exchange of best practices, lessons learned, and technological insights which can help enterprises effectively implement AR technology, boost operational efficiency and create long term benefit.

“Lockheed Martin is another strong and significant addition to the AREA Board of Directors,” said Sage. “They bring long experience with and a keen understanding of the tools, applications, and implementations of AR in the enterprise.  Their collaboration with AREA members in defining this emerging industry through research, networking, education and best practice is a welcome addition.”

The AREA’s membership benefits include access to high-quality, vendor-neutral content and participation in various programs, a research framework to address key challenges shared by all members, discounts for fee-based events, and more. Sponsor members have a direct role in shaping the rapidly expanding AR industry and demonstrate their companies’ leadership and commitment to improving workplace performance.

About the AREA

The Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) the AREA is the only global membership funded alliance, helping to accelerate the adoption of Enterprise AR by creating a comprehensive ecosystem. The organization provides high-quality, vendor-neutral content and programs. Discover the benefits of joining the AREA by visiting our membership information page.