Historically, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have teetered precariously on the edge of practicality (outside of gaming), with limited perceived benefits and functionality, prohibitive costs, and developmental roadblocks. However, new key applications will drive utility interest in digital reality deployment in operations, training, marketing, and other departments. Meanwhile, hardware and device characteristics will either drive or slow the deployment of AR and VR devices. Navigant Research has identified six critical characteristics that a digital reality device must possess for significant penetration into utility operations, and each is identified and discussed in detail in the report.

This Navigant Research report discusses the latest market trends in digital reality for grid applications and explores current and potential applications for small- and large-scale utility deployment. It provides detailed and actionable recommendations on how utilities and device vendors can address the fast-changing market. The study also provides an analysis of key market developments and identifies several prominent AR and VR devices in the market today.

Key Questions Addressed:

• What are augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) devices?
• What are the AR and VR applications for utility offices?
• What are the AR and VR applications for utility field operations?
• What are the benefits of digital reality?
• What are the key challenges related to AR and VR deployments?
• How can utilities implement digital reality into operations?

Who needs this report?

• Utilities
• Software companies
• Augmented reality (AR) device manufacturers
• Virtual reality (VR) device manufacturers
• App developers
• Utility solutions providers
• Investor community

Deloitte’s survey finds executives optimistic about the potential impact of Industry 4.0, few are confident they are ready to lead its implementation.

Only 14 percent of CXOs are highly confident their organizations are ready to fully harness Industry 4.0’s changes.  Deloitte surveyed 1,600 C-level executives across 19 countries to explore a core question: How ready are the leaders of businesses and government agencies to harness the full potential of Industry 4.0 to benefit their clients, their people, their organization, their communities, and society more broadly?

Just 14 percent of respondents are highly confident their organizations are ready to fully harness the changes associated with Industry 4.0

Only a quarter of CXOs surveyed are highly confident they have the right workforce composition and skill sets needed for the future, despite 84 percent saying they are doing everything they can to create a workforce for Industry 4.0

CXOs overwhelmingly (87 percent) believe Industry 4.0 will lead to more equality and stability, and three-quarters say business will have much more influence than governments and other entities in shaping this future

Yet less than a quarter of those surveyed believe their own organizations hold much influence over critical factors such as education, sustainability, and social mobility

Deloitte’s research found that while CXOs see new business or delivery models as the biggest threat to their organizations, they are largely using Industry 4.0 technologies as a tool to make existing operations more efficient and cost-effective. That leaves untapped tremendous opportunities to pursue innovative business models that may not only drive value for direct and indirect stakeholders, but better protect them from disruption.

The report then goes on to share details of the four major areas of impact in more detail: society, strategy, talent and technology.

This article on enterprise AR trends was authored by Brian Ballard, CEO of Upskill, and member of The AREA and appeared on IoT Agenda Network.

If the record-setting growth of AR/VR technology at the Consumer Electronics Show is any indication, we are in for an exciting year for augmented reality in the enterprise. But as with any fast-evolving technology, it is challenging to differentiate hype from reality (no pun intended) — especially when everyone is eager to weigh in on the road ahead. To make sense of this noisy, yet exciting, market, my team at Upskill and I have sifted through the countless AR predictions out there and compared them to what we are seeing and hearing from our customers and partners. The result is a definitive list of the top five enterprise AR trends for 2018. Here’s what you need to know:

Prediction #1: Enterprise AR will become essential to the creation, delivery and service of the world’s best-known brands.
We are now seeing competitive pressures for greater brand differentiation, faster time-to-service and first-time quality as the biggest drivers of AR adoption in nearly every step of the supply chain. Use cases are emerging throughout the product lifecycle that are impacting large, consumer packaged goods companies — not just manufacturers and heavy-duty service organizations. In fact, Gartner predicted that AR will be adopted across multiple business lines in 30% of large enterprises by 2020. The operative piece here is not the percentage, but rather the prediction that AR will be deployed across organizations as part of a broader digital transformation strategy. We should finally see large enterprises moving out of “pilot purgatory” and scaling their deployments into new areas that deliver even greater ROI.

Prediction #2: Service and logistics will take pole position in the race for broad adoption of AR.
While the use of AR in manufacturing remains a significant growth and investment area, we’ll see service and logistics’ growth rate pull ahead in 2018. If you look at the isolated use cases in these markets, there is a lot of intrinsic repeatability of high-value applications, like warehouse picking or field service troubleshooting. IDC reinforces this point, as the analyst firm believes 25% of field service technicians will use AR by 2020. This adoption growth echoes the move toward service monetization, which is becoming a huge business driver for those trying to differentiate in the field service market. The faster you can service your customers — and with first-time quality — the better.

Prediction #3: AR will become increasingly more accessible for enterprises.
This prediction is driven primarily by vendors in the enterprise space that are adapting to how customers develop AR workflows. For large organizations, it’s typically process or manufacturing engineers — not software developers — creating these workflows. Fortunately, application development tools are emerging that allow people who are not necessarily technical in nature to develop custom workflows and translate them into AR experiences. IDC even suggests, “Improvements in simple (“low-/no-code”) development tools will expand the number of non-tech developers, and by 2021, these non-traditional tech developers will build 20% of business applications and 30% new application features (60% by 2027).” The resulting lower entry barrier to AR development will accelerate broader adoption and empower those who are closest to the work at hand.

Prediction #4: Advances in speech will accelerate and make voice a vital interaction paradigm.
Delivering information via AR-powered wearables is an extremely effective way to communicate actionable, pragmatic work instructions. And, in hands-on work environments, speaking to the device is by far the most compelling way to exchange this information. As Forrester predicts, “We’ll see increasing demand for developers that know how to build augmented reality- and natural language processing-based experiences.” Although voice is still limited by how many words a user can say at a certain time and in a natural manner, it will still be a top interaction paradigm for AR in 2018.

Prediction #5: Tech giants will drive 3D content for both consumer and enterprise applications.
We’ve seen Facebook acquire Oculus, a VR company, and Microsoft acquire Simplygon, a content conversion decimation tool. We also saw Google and Apple unveil AR toolkits, which sets us up for a near future where, as Wiredpredicts, “a set of always-on glasses that will blur the line between the physical world and a digital contract made of pure information.” Such investments by tech behemoths will lead to the explosion of ready-to-go AR content, as well as the emergence of toolsets that make creating that content easier in both the consumer and enterprise spaces. At the same time, this raises the bar for how enterprises engage with their workforces through content-rich, bidirectional communication between people and systems of record.

As 2018 progresses, we will keep a close eye on these trends and how they not only impact the enterprise, but also the future of work. With expanded use cases, rapid content creation, advances in speech and new development toolsets, AR will empower workforces to drive real ROI and lead us to greater adoption — at last.

Upskill’s member profile can be read here.

A few of the trends featured in the report include:

• No-collar workforce – humans and machines working together as equals.
• Digital reality – the next phase in the Augmented and Virtual Reality revolution.
• The new core – how core systems are driving digital convergence and destroying traditional boundaries of operation.
• Blockchain – Blockchain is moving from exploration into production scenarios, driven by increased adoption and advanced use cases.

This year’s theme of ‘the symphonic enterprise’ is focused on; this encompasses strategy, technology, and operations working together across domains. Also included in the report is the ‘Exponential Technology Watch List’, which discusses strategies for innovation ideas that may not manifest for five years or more in addition to the longer-term tech trends artificial intelligence and quantum encryption.

Bill Briggs, Chief Technology Officer and Principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, is quoted to have said that many organisations ahead of the game are approaching disruptive change in relation to strategy. They are thinking more about use cases, deployment, and exploration more holistically, and how various disruptive technologies can join to fuel meaningful impact in the enterprise.

Briggs is also quoted to have said that traditional boundaries of organisation and technical scope is being transcended. New tech trends are enabling problems to be solved in a new way and for business opportunities to be uncovered.

Technology and Digital Transformation continues to shape the service industry. Most of the respondents said, their strategy was ‘mobile first’. Growing emphasis on mobiles and abundance of data is enabling organisations to focus on mobile technology and transformation.

Key take-aways from the report

Breed-solutions are the fad, as opposed to single platform solutions. The idea is to achieve maximum efficiency to embrace digital transformation.

Most respondents said – they’ve been prioritising a mobile first mindset due to the increasing accessibility and growth of mobiles.

To bridge the gap between knowledge and digital transformation – seems to be the quintessential need of the hour for enterprises.

Technology adoption

Among many booming technologies this year, 72% respondents said they’ve adopted or planning to add the ropes of cloud to their business. 30% of the businesses have added or planning to add the ropes of Augmented Reality (AR).

“I was quite surprised to see that technician adoption of new solutions ranked so highly as a challenge. With today’s technology, equipment comes to consumers, employees, and to businesses more and more without a real need to instruct on its use. The perception of complexity is really what holds technicians back. We invest a lot of time and energy into making technology easier to understand, and we deploy tools in the field that are as easy to operate as common applications you can run on IOS, Android, or a Windows device,” says Martin Knook, CEO Gomocha

 Need to evolve digitally

Surprisingly, 42% of the respondents said they initiated/ adopted digitisation and automation of field service activities to reduce costs. 34% of them wanted to go digital to increase transparency and ensure viability as a business.

Digital transformation trends

Technology is ever evolving. There is constant need to adopt to these innovations. The question here though, is how adoptive are businesses? 35% of the respondents said they’re agile enough to adopt an innovation cycle every three years. While, 28% of the enterprises preferred to work with solutions that were scalable and relevant for at least ten years.

Appearition’s AREA member profile can be read here.

Some key areas explored in this article are issues connected with AR and VR for enterprises as well as those providing AR for consumers.  Topics that are on the agenda for enterprises that we are working with at The AREA.  The summary below gives an overview of topics addressed in the article on TechRadar.

Content needs to keep you coming back for more

it’s not about creating content for a completely new category, but consistency. And getting people hooked in an ethical way is still key.

Samantha Kingston, Client Director at VR content and event planning agency Virtual Umbrella explained: “If you concentrate on the game side, I believe that we still are tackling the ‘normality’ of using AR as a medium. The ‘normality’ has come through things like snapchat and Pokemon go for the public so far.

“However for it to be used every day and consistently it’s down to creating content that really works with AR, not just because it’s a new and exciting medium.”

Privacy issues need to be addressed and regulated

Important discussions about ownership and data are already rife in the tech industry right now. But these conversations, and the regulations that come from them, need to be translated into AR as well.

Advertising and the battle of the brands

But for that to work there needs to be more transparency, lots of regulation and a big focus on quality content rather than making a quick buck. Although these may seem like concerns for the future rather than the present, it’s going to become increasingly important to have legislation in place sooner rather than later.

Considering real world safety

But unless we consider where responsibility lies, how to educate users and how to keep everyone safe, they’re problems that are likely to come up time and time again, leaving users injured and tech companies out of pocket.

Research conducted by The AREA last year looked at a range of security issues connected with wearables in the enterprise. More information can be found here.

More inclusive and thoughtful development

In a paper called A Value Sensitive Design Approach to Augmented Reality, researchers Batya Friedman and Peter H. Kahn from the Dept. of Psychology at the University of Washington explained: “At times, augmented reality attempts to create a system such that the user cannot tell the difference between the real world and the augmentation of it. Yet, when all is said and done, and the technology is turned off, many users will want to know what was ‘real’ and what was ‘augmented computation.’

The three most prominent hardware devices found in the enterprise mobility space include smartphones, tablets, and wearables. While all three are growing steadily and have strengthening adoption rates, one is falling far behind.

While the tablet market is growing at 9% CAGR now through 2021, according to Technavio research, it’s far short of its smartphone and wearable brethren. As previously reported by Enterprise Mobility Exchange, thanks to industries like healthcare, wearables are boasting a 25% CAGR through 2022 will see incredible growth rate in the number of devices shipped over the next half decade.

As for smartphones, well … just about everyone you work with has one, and most are used for some kind of business functionality, so that market explains itself.

So what’s driving the tablet market, and why is it moving at such a slow rate?

Research suggests the BYOD boom is helping businesses move in this direction, but COPE tends to fuel the rise in adoption, i.e., user adoption is higher when companies are providing or mandating use of specific technologies.

Interestingly, the market is segregated by one particular metric: tablet size.

“The enterprise tablets segment with a screen size <9 inches accounted for the majority market share during 2016 and will continue to dominate the market for the next four years,” the report said. “Since enterprise tablets with a screen size of less than 9 inches are equipped with SIM slots that enable enterprise consumers to use them like cell phones, the rate of shipment of these devices is growing in comparison to devices with more than 9 inches because devices with a screen size of less than 9 inches are more user-friendly.”

As it goes with all technologies, user friendliness and operability will be the lynchpin of adoption. Tablets are currently fighting that same battle, and only time will tell if the market is able to overcome.

Issues with accelerated degrees and solutions provided by technology mentioned in the article include:

• Higher cost of developing and delivering the degree – The Times Higher Education 2017 report published with the Higher Education Policy Institute, offers research evidence to show that tech-centred curriculums reduced cost as well as improving learning outcomes.
• Teaching over summer period between first and second years – Augmented Reality applications can be used outside classrooms to give students access to learning facilities over the summer.
• Difficulty of fitting three years’ worth of content into a limited space of time – The ‘flipped classroom’ approach can be applied. Before class, students complete online work so that lecture time can be used more efficiently.

Augmented reality, along with other emerging technologies are mentioned in the article within examples of how new technology is already being used to enable education providers to overcome the barriers mentioned above.

The article concludes by claiming that, despite the barriers of accelerated degree courses, universities are already making use of technology to aid learning. Staffordshire University is a UK pioneer of accelerated courses, and claims that this type of degree is a “catalyst for the development of technology enhanced learning.”

Important points mentioned in the article include:

• The biggest priority for the manufacturing sector is currently incorporating transformative technology to increase GDP.
• Industry 4.0 has made a gap for talent, particularly in Augmented Reality, Big Data, analytics, 3D printing, and automation.
• The percentage of Gen-Y (under 35 years old) employees in manufacturing is 57%, compared to 78% in IT.
• Discrimination against younger employees is more prevalent in the manufacturing industry, as revealed in a study by Great Place to Work Institute involving 106 manufacturing organisations in India.
• The best workplaces in manufacturing consist of 61% Gen-Y employees, compared to 55% in other industries.
• As a result of ‘Meet the Lead’, a platform for mentoring young manufacturing employees led by Mahindra Susten Pvt. Ltd, the number of young manufacturing employees expressing interest in staying with their company is 79%, compared to 69% for other workplaces in the same sector.
• As the manufacturing industry in India rapidly evolves, strengthening workplace culture is just as important as adapting to tech trends.

According to the article the top ten workplaces in the manufacturing industry in India are listed as follows:

• Apollo Tyres
• Gabriel India
• Godrej Consumer Products
• Indian Oil Corp.
• Indofil Industries
• JK Lakshmi Cement
• Mahindra and Mahindra Automotive and Farm Equipment
• Marico
• NTPC
• Spicer India

The purpose of the Centre is to promote research, product development, and technology incubation to benefit the tech industry as well as society in general. It will also provide facilities to ARVR entrepreneurs and startups, in addition to ARVR courses and skill-specific development programs for students.

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Odisha. It is the largest city in Odisha and is a centre of economic importance in Eastern India

Prafulla Samal, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister, is quoted to have said that Bhubaneswar will pay most attention to AR and VR, and that the MSME Department and State Government will both work towards their goal of meeting the needs of 1000 startups by 2020.

The article concludes by stating that the initiative will give enthusiasm and encouragement to startups graduating from IIT Bhubaneswar.

A view of the main gates to the campus of the IIT – source is the IIT website.