AREA: For our readers who aren’t familiar with ASME, could you tell us about its mission?

Reilley: ASME is both a professional development society and a standards development organization. As a professional development society, we encourage and nurture engineering from K through 12, up through university and throughout engineers’ careers. We operate education programs, learning and development, events, and conferences, and we provide all sorts of useful content. We look to nurture and develop the engineer throughout their entire lifetime. And we’ve been a standards development organization for 140 years.

Sanna: Our work as a standards developer started during the Industrial Revolution with boilers. Nowadays, we’ve branched out into a multitude of technologies and processes, such as verification and validation, big data, additive manufacturing/3D printing, medical devices, robotics, and much more. We’re accredited as a standards developer by the American National Standards Institute. Our real core competency is finding the need that exists in global industry or in research, finding the subject matter experts and the organizations with a grounded interest in that technology or the subject matter, convening them and applying a process to make sure that all points of view are considered so we can achieve consensus. I should also point out we’ve often pushed back against overemphasis of the letter “A” in our name because we don’t have borders, per se. Our committees that write and update standards for us and find new areas for standardization are populated by people from the four corners of the Earth.

AREA: How did ASME’s interest in Augmented Reality come about?

Reilley: A few years ago, we identified the need to focus on what we call digital engineering. As a society of mechanical engineers, we know full well that fluids engineering and heat transfer are the cornerstones of a mechanical engineer’s degree, but with the rapid evolution of technology, engineers also need to be very well acquainted with digital engineering technologies, which include AR and VR. We recognize that, increasingly, mechanical engineers will need to work with software engineers and Augmented Reality use cases across all industries. We just wanted to make sure that we have a seat at the table as we work towards a more multidisciplinary future.

Sanna: I would add that, from the standards perspective, we have an immediate need for our standards to adapt to new disciplines and new applications. For example, we have standards and a constituency that deal with oil and gas, for example, which includes remote inspection. Even though the technology around industrial piping systems and pressurized tanks is very well established and mature, the inspection and maintenance applications are continuing to progress. Hence our standards initiatives on remote inspection, a subject which, by the way, we’ll be hosting a virtual event about on December 8 and 9. But then we also have newer activities and standards, like mobile unmanned systems and remote-control hydraulic platforms with transport capabilities.

AREA: In terms of AR standards development, are you still in the early stages?

Sanna: We’re just getting started in exploring how to apply AR and remote concepts to our existing activities. The bigger question is for us to determine the state of the AR ecosystem. Is there a lack of consensus that could be ameliorated with some standardization or at least getting everyone on the same page? We’re very much in a learning process and trying to get steeped in what the AREA’s constituents are doing, what they want, what they’ve achieved so far.

AREA: Since AR does touch a lot of different areas, as you’ve already mentioned, how does ASME work with other organizations that might also be involved in working on interoperability and standards?

Sanna: There are occasions where we set out on a path of developing a joint standard, thus we have relationships with other standards developers on a technical level, such as the American Concrete Institute and the American Nuclear Society, to name a few. We also have relationships in which representatives from groups like the Canadian Standards Association and the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers sit on our committees. This ensures that when these organizations write something, they don’t go off in a completely different direction than us and the global industry can move forward.

Reilley: To give you another example, we’re also conducting an activity in regenerative medicine surrounding tissue-engineered medical products, or TEMPs. We are working with the Standards Coordinating Body, the SCB, which is under the auspices of the FDA and NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. ASME is working on standardizing the hardware for bioprinting technologies, IEEE is working on a standard for the electrical systems for bioprinting technologies, and ASTM is working on what are called bioinks for the actual cells that are being 3D-printed. So, again, we’re making sure that our efforts are complementary in this consortium.

AREA: ASME has already jumped into AREA activities by hosting the recent Digital Twin Summit. But tell us more about what you hope to get out of your AREA membership and what we can expect from ASME’s participation in the AREA.

Reilley: A large part of this is an education for ASME. We really want to connect with those in the enterprise AR industry to understand the needs and the gaps and learn how ASME can make a positive impact by lending our core competencies to the effort. We also are looking to expand our network and extend the opportunity for AREA members to collaborate on ASME event programming, webinars, and other content.

Sanna: We can also help the AREA to convene subject matter experts and thought leaders to get guidance out on the street fast, knowing that it reflects the consensus of the industry. That’s something we’re very good at. Our own constituents can also benefit through our interaction. We’re looking at how we can introduce our ASME members to the AREA so they can network, discover the state of the art and the benchmarks for various applications. We’re casting a wide net and it’s going to take us a bit of time, but we want to get the right ASME people plugged into the AREA activities that really move the needle for us.

Reilley: I wanted to add that our strength at ASME is our dedicated infrastructure for developing standards. We have degreed engineers on staff and it’s their role to manage committees and volunteers to get standards through the approval process. It’s something that we pride ourselves on, and a way that we can offer the AREA real value.

“Augmented Reality offers tremendous potential for enterprises. It promises to increase productivity, lower costs, improve safety, enable expertise sharing, and more,” said Mark Sage, Executive Director, the AREA. “OMG has years of experience in fast-tracking innovative technologies through member-led consortia. We’re excited to join forces with OMG to help accelerate the adoption of AR technologies in the enterprise.”

As an OMG program, the AREA will continue to offer resources and neutral, reliable guidance for enterprises to facilitate AR adoption. AREA will publish in-depth materials, such as developer guides on using open, AR-enabling technologies and best practices for enterprise AR safety, security, and quality. AREA members will continue to collaborate on solutions to the barriers to AR adoption. And the alliance will continue to host member and public meetings about AR-enabled enterprise systems and other programs.

“We’re excited by the growth and advancement of AR technologies on all fronts – including technology, standards, and general awareness,” said Bill Hoffman, President, OMG. “We share so much synergy with the efforts of the AREA that it just made sense to join forces. The resulting combination of memberships, resources, and shared knowledge will further the growth of AR technologies.”

About the AREA

The Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) is the only global non-profit, member-based organization that is dedicated to the widespread adoption of interoperable AR-enabled enterprise systems. Whether you view it as the next computing paradigm, the key to breakthroughs in manufacturing and service efficiencies, or the door to as-yet unimagined applications, AR will have an unprecedented impact on enterprises of all kinds. Visit https://thearea.org for more information.

About OMG

The Object Management Group® (OMG®) is an international, open membership, not-for-profit technology standards consortium with representation from government, industry, and academia. OMG develops enterprise integration standards for a wide range of technologies and an even wider range of industries. Visit www.omg.org for more information.

Industry Context for the Research

In showcases, Augmented Reality can be implemented to provide a highly sensitive, contextually-aware user interface to an enterprise’s facilities and assets. In such demonstrations, AR leverages prior investments to create and maintain “digital twins.” Having 3D models and maps of infrastructure and environments reduces the cost of AR experience development and discovery, and having AR-assisted devices continuously monitoring the real world permits updating the digital twins. Combining AR and 3D models and “spatially-anchored” or -aligned maps increases the ROI for several information technology stacks and reduces cost of operation and ownership.

Yet, in practice, enterprises seeking to expand their AR deployment in environments that can be captured in 3D are encountering significant obstacles. Even when available, AR experience authoring, publishing and delivery systems rarely connect to enterprise 3D environment maps, therefore, do not leverage existing investments. Developers must author or revise experiences every time there are changes in the environment. Users have to manually select AR experiences or AR-assisted procedures, instead of having a solution that automatically detects and associates procedures or other information with the user’s environment.

Practical knowledge about how to leverage existing spatial mapping for AR platforms and other tools/use cases is low. Knowledge of tools and techniques for creating and managing 3D environment maps (offline or in-situ) is also low. As a result, developers and engineers deploying enterprise AR miss valuable opportunities to:

• • • Choose when/how/with which partners to add 3D mapping to their tool chains
    • Integrate and leverage 3D mapping in their authoring platforms
    • Integrate feature detection from 3D maps into AR experiences
    • Quickly and accurately capture 3D environments
    • Leverage existing standards for rapid/future-proof AR solutions based on 3D mapping

Project Goal

The AREA seeks to provide its members knowledge and deep understanding of the current state of the art of continuous or periodic 3D mapping of enterprise and industrial environments for AR and the available tools to leverage this information for the development of spatially aware applications such as AR. The project will also provide actionable information which members can use to more effectively identify solution providers and partners, and to leverage prior investments made by their own organizations or by their customers and partners, in digital twins and 3D spatial maps.

Fixed Fee Project

The AREA Research Committee budget for this project is $15,000. Organizations interested in conducting this research for the fixed fee are invited to submit proposals.

More information

Full information on the project needs, desired outcomes and required components of a winning proposal, including a submission form, can be found here.

If you have any questions concerning this project and the AREA Research Committee, please send an email to the Research Committee.

AREA: How long have you been involved in standardization activities?

Perey: My role in standardization activities began in 1994 when I joined the ITU-T committee standardizing video conferencing. Seeing needs for interoperability in AR as early as 2010, I formed and led a grassroots community advocating for development of standards for AR. I have chaired dozens of meetings and workshops, and given dozens of webinars on the topics of projects and/or standards that could contribute to the advancement and adoption of open interfaces and AR interoperability. I work directly with a wide range of standards development organizations (SDO). As a member, a working group chair or co-chair, or as an invited expert, I currently contribute to nearly 20 standards. Outreach and coordination between SDOs is another passion of mine. On October 4, 2021, I chaired a tutorial coordinated with Khronos Group and ETSI ISG ARF about AR interoperability and standards in the context of the ISMAR 2021 conference. I encourage people interested in this topic and seeking to better understand what’s available to explore the tutorial website.

AREA: Tell us more about the AREA Interoperability & Standards program.

Perey: Through the Interoperability & Standards program, the AREA seeks to increase knowledge about the benefits and approaches to achieving interoperability and to advance the development of standards or other approaches to interoperability. That entails: informing AREA members and the enterprise AR ecosystem about existing standards for interoperable AR solutions through development of thought leadership content; supporting the identification of interoperability requirements in customer organizations; supporting the identification of interfaces in AR components that, through implementations, provide interoperability in enterprise AR solutions and services; engaging with organizations and members, including those dedicated to standards development and promotion of standards to provide requirements; and building a base of AR professionals who are well versed in the implementation of existing standards for AR, and promote the development and adoption of extensions to existing standards as well as new standards.

AREA: Why are standards so important to enterprise AR adoption?

Perey: The motivations for adopting standards depend on the segment of the ecosystem to which a company belongs. Let’s take the customer segment, because when technology buyers are successful, so are their partners and providers. Today, when companies begin evaluating enterprise AR use cases they do so with isolated projects (products are not integrated with enterprise systems) and using products of one or a few technology providers. In companies that are advanced in their study of AR, there can be partial or full testbeds of multiple AR technology providers, but they are often isolated from other AR projects and are not integrated with enterprise systems.

A company seeking to maintain and expand its testing within a specific technology segment (e.g., comparing multiple providers or models of hardware) or to implement at scale in their enterprise confronts significant obstacles. It has been demonstrated in other industries that when standards or open source interfaces and guidelines have been widely accepted and implemented across an ecosystem, higher technology interoperability can: reduce barriers to deployment of multivendor or multi-product solutions (also known as “integration”); lower costs of ownership; reduce risks of vendor lock-in; and increase innovation and opportunities for new sales through provider specialization. Barriers are removed and everyone benefits.

AREA: What’s on the horizon for the AREA Interoperability & Standards program?

Perey: We will continue to develop thought leadership content, through hosted webinars, white papers, and blog articles, as well as participation in relevant conferences and events. As the awareness of interoperability as a key to success rises, we will work with large enterprises deploying AR to develop their interoperability requirements and integration needs and bring them to the attention of SDOs and the AR technology providers. We will act as a conduit from SDOs to AREA member companies – providers as well as customer segment members – to share SDO draft specifications and gather and deliver feedback to them. And, where there are implementations and testing suites, we will work to support the testing of products and services that comply with international standards in real-world settings.

AREA: Why should AREA members consider participating in the Interoperability & Standards program?

Perey: This is a program that can only thrive when AR customers are actively sharing their requirements and real-world experiences. So we’re looking for AREA members to contribute to the program by preparing blog posts on topics that will share their thought leadership and raise awareness about specific or general challenges. Topics could include: key interoperability and standards requirements for enterprise AR; developing best practices for safety, human factors, and more; sharing their experiences in standards development; and recounting their experiences implementing one or more standards in specific use cases or products. AR component and solution providers will increasingly be able to showcase interoperability through AREA programs to advance interoperability such as plug-fests and testbeds. Now is the time, while AR standards are under development, to make sure your voice is heard, your needs are being considered, and your experiences are being shared.

If you’re an AREA member and would like more information about participating in the AREA Interoperability & Standards program, please contact Christine Perey. If you’re not yet an AREA member but want to see an AR ecosystem that derives the full benefit of standardization and interoperability efforts, please consider joining us. You can find membership information here.

That’s why, in early September, the AREA hosted a webinar entitled Sizing the Enterprise AR Hardware Market. The centerpiece of the event was a presentation by Tom Mainelli, VP of Devices at IDC, one of the IT industry’s most respected global analyst firms. We recorded the webinar and it’s now available here.

During the webinar, Mr. Mainelli explains how IDC sizes the current market and forecasts enterprise AR hardware growth. Along the way, he provides answers to such questions as:

• What are the different approaches IDC uses when estimating enterprise AR hardware market size and growth?
• What factors does IDC forecasting take into account when sizing the adoption of enterprise AR?
• What important developments in 2021 will make this year memorable in the annals of enterprise AR history?

Don’t miss this opportunity to get an exclusive presentation of valuable insights about market sizing principles shared by one of the world’s leading analysts studying the AR display hardware market. Go here to view this one-hour presentation.

You can watch the full webinar on Using Theorem-XR and HoloLens 2 for Engineering Reviews.

Key highlights

Theorem has also picked out 5 key benefits of using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 in Engineering which appear in full detail on their blog.

Visualize your models at full scale.
Work collaboratively with other engineers.
Make better factory planning decisions.
Work with large datasets using Azure Remote Rendering.
You can still work with colleagues that are using other XR technologies, or none at all.

The project will initially use Vuforia Studio technology to overlay live data – taken from the ThingWorx® industrial platform – to various points of the facility, so that operators moving around will be able to make informed decisions on changes to casting and melting lines or troubleshoot issues before they happen.

It is anticipated that Augmented Reality will make it easier for staff to hae the right information at exactly the right point they need it, whilst the use of HoloLens and RealWear glasses will mean the individual has both hands free to complete tasks.

This project will contribute to the sector’s longer-term desire to move towards a net zero steel works by 2050 and is part of the £22m PRISM steel and metals sector research and innovation programme being delivered by the Materials Processing Institute with funding provided through Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.

“The successful implementation of digital technologies has the potential to save tens of £millions every year,” explained Chris Oswin, Group Manager of Digital Technologies at the Materials Processing Institute.

“We are taking responsibility for exploring IIoT platforms and AR and working out how we can get the most out of them in a live steel plant, learning from testing and trials to identify best use cases.”

He continued: “This means we absorb a lot of the time and remove the initial expenditure that could act as a barrier to entry for companies in our industry, hopefully encouraging digital adoption as we will have proved it works and how it can be applied to businesses.

“PRISM is guided by a team of industry leaders on our Industrial Advisory Board, including the Aluminium Federation, British Manufacturing Plant Constructors’ Association, British Steel, Celsa Steel, Liberty Steel, Outokumpu Stainless Steel, Sheffield Forgemasters, Swansea University, Tata Steel and the UK Metals Council.”

The Materials Processing Institute has a long-term relationship with PTC, with the latest project following on from the introduction of ThingWorx as part of the £10m programme to explore how digital technologies can be implemented in brownfield manufacturing sites.

In addition to optimising processes and introducing new efficiency improvements, Augmented Reality will also be used to capture some of the traditional skills in the sector that could be lost if the knowledge of older workers is not retained before they retire.

This will be achieved by using PTC’s Vuforia ® software, with Vuforia Expert Capture allowing operators and technicians to film their daily tasks in step-by-step instructions, in situ of when and where they do their work.

This will be uploaded to ‘the Cloud’, which can then be accessed by new starters or people switching roles, using HoloLens or RealWear to get a real hands-on experience, or other devices such as mobiles, tablets or on desktop computers.

Furthermore, for problem resolution and live ‘on the job’ support, there is Vuforia Chalk. Using mobile devices, digital eyewear or seated at a desk – experts can connect with on and off-site employees and customers and collaborate in real-time. It combines live video, audio and the ability for remote and local participants to annotate their live shared view and mark-up the real-world environment.

“If we don’t act soon, we stand to lose so much knowledge from the industry and AR gives us a cost effective and easy way to retain skills and experience in a virtual library for generations to come,” added Chris.

“Working closely with PTC’s experts, we can tailor how we capture information, footage and skills in what is a very demanding and intense environment. We believe we’ve got the initial framework to start the roll-out and will continue to adapt the processes as we understand more about how digital technologies can play a role.”

David Grammer, general manager for UKI for PTC, went on to add: “Covid-19 has definitely thrust the digital thread into the spotlight, but there is still a resistance to adoption due to a lack of awareness of how it will deliver a genuine business benefit.

“This project with the Materials Processing Institute gives an entire sector the opportunity to explore how AR can be applied and developed in a real live steel plant without the potential disruption and cost of trying it in their own facilities.

“Businesses will be involved in the roll-out and informing some of the test cases and our team will be on hand to support experts at the Institute to get the most out of our technology and software.

“The end goal is that we will have proven business cases on how steel and metals companies can optimise processes using Augmented Reality and live data, not to mention protecting vital skills for the steel workers of the future.”

PTC, which has bases in the UK and Ireland, provides a host of technology solutions to help industrial companies create value for themselves and the rest of the world.

This is achieved through a combination of Augmented Reality, Industrial IoT, Product Lifecycle Management and CAD solutions.

Through the use of Area Targets, industrial organisations can create AR interfaces within their facilities to enable employees to better engage with machinery and understand how the environment is being utilised.

More information can be found here https://library.vuforia.com/features/environments/area-targets.html

PTC says that with support from Matterport and Leica 3D scanners, along with NavVis’s indoor mobile mapping systems, Area Targets users can generate “photorealistic, survey-grade digital twins, empowering them to create digital canvases of spaces such as factories, malls, or offices for advanced spatial computing applications”.

As one of the leading emerging technologies, spatial computing powers digital twin renderings to support the activities of machines and people, as well as environments in which they operate.

When deployed across the industrial enterprise, spatial computing enables seamless interactions between employees through AR, enabling companies to close the loop on performance management, improve machine learning capabilities with spatial analytics, and optimise design and factory floor operations,” notes PTC.

“Vuforia Engine Area Targets is a one-of-a-kind solution for large, persistent AR experiences,” said Mike Campbell, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Augmented Reality, PTC.

“Whether users are looking to add navigation to their office building or view in-context data on a factory floor, Area Targets is the answer. We’re pleased to be expanding such a key capability and component of PTC’s spatial computing vision.”

The release of Vuforia Engine Area Targets marks the second Vuforia offering to deploy spatial computing in the form of area targets within the industrial setting, the first being the Vuforia Spatial Toolbox platform.

Combined with the Vuforia Chalk, Vuforia Expert Capture, and Vuforia Studio AR products, the Vuforia AR Enterprise Platform provides what PTC says is a “robust set of offerings that enables users to increase workforce safety and efficiency, improve customer experiences, and reduce costs”.

As the Head of XR at PwC UK, Jeremy Dalton saw a fundamental problem in the marketplace: too many enterprises had misconceptions about – or simply didn’t understand – the tremendous potential of AR and VR to transform their businesses. So, Dalton took it upon himself to get the message out. 

The result is his new book, Reality Check. Reality Check dispels common myths about AR and VR and details how business leaders can integrate immersive technologies into their organizations to deliver more efficient, impactful and cost-effective solutions. Dalton backs up his argument with compelling case studies from organizations such as Cisco, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, LaLiga, and Vodafone. 

AREA Executive Director Mark Sage hosted a podcast with Jeremy Dalton recently to discuss the book and its findings. Go here to hear their conversation. To order a copy of Reality Check and receive an AREA 20% discount, go here and enter the discount code AREA20 before March 5, 2021.