In the aftermath of Upskill’s acquisition of Pristine, the AREA caught up with Upskill’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jay Kim, to get his perspective on the deal and what it means for AR.

AREA: What were the motivating factors behind this acquisition?

Kim: Both companies saw capabilities in each other that would be a force multiplier, especially at this stage in the AR market. The early AR adopters are piloting solutions and starting to figure out how to scale enterprise-wide, but for every early adopter, there are probably a dozen companies that are still experimenting with a variety of different projects and providers, trying to understand where smart glasses can provide the highest level of economic impact today.

What we saw in Pristine was a best-in-class video remote collaboration solution called EyeSight, which offers a number of unique qualities. It’s robust against some challenging environments with connectivity and bandwidth issues. It is a 100-percent cloud-delivered solution. It supports a number of different smart glasses devices to enable HD-grade video streaming. It is also easy to deliver and there is elegance in its simplicity.

Ultimately, we see this acquisition as a strategic advantage for a couple of reasons. First, it enables Upskill to engage the broader market with a lighter touch solution, using their portfolio of apps, to drive exposure to AR technology across a number of industries. That means we’ll be able to accelerate customers’ exposure to smart glasses and the benefits of our technology. Second, it provides us with an even stronger remote assistance and knowledge capture solutions than what we had previously available, which can be integrated into our core product, Skylight. And finally, with the acquisition, we have brought on more than a dozen new staff to our team in key areas where we needed to add talent. Culturally it was a good match and it also deepened our bench of industry experts.

AREA: So, you’re giving enterprises an easier entry point and a clear migration path to taking on more AR capabilities over time?

Kim:  Upskill has built a very powerful industrial AR platform – Skylight – that integrates quite nicely into large enterprise IT environments. Of course, Skylight is cloud capable, but can be delivered in any enterprise IT environment, which for most of the customers we work with, means it needs to be on premise. Pristine saw our platform as an opportunity to take some of the product capabilities that they had built, and now gain a logical growth path that enables them to scale AR enterprise-wide and deliver far more than just remote collaboration, assistance and capture capabilities. That’s what the acquisition means for both of us – the ability to have a much larger addressability of the market, as well as a greater range of use cases we can support.

AREA: Tell us about the use cases.

Kim: With EyeSight, we now have a product that is tailor-made to address field service applications in industries where cloud delivery of software is relatively common. There is a huge need for remote assistance and collaboration solutions. It’s done in a way where different users can almost perform self-service. They can just turn on the system, launch EyeSight and get going. That’s very, very impactful. And there are several examples of where this type of application is best utilized, some that we recently covered in an Upskill webinar.

We’re working with Coca-Cola, for instance, to provide remote support for technicians in one of their bottling facilities. The issue they face is that the suppliers for much of the equipment in the plant are based in Europe. So when troubleshooting or repairs are needed to fix machines on the line, previously the only way to solve them was to fly a technician in from Europe, which was costly in and of itself. However it only paled in comparison to the cost in downtime, which can equate to thousands of dollars for every second the line is not operating. Now with EyeSight deployed, when issues arise staff onsite can immediately initiate calls with their supplier counterparts in Europe. The remote experts can accept the call either from a browser or a mobile device and instantaneously see the equipment, diagnose the issue, and walk the Coca-Cola technicians through the process of repairing it without ever having to step into the path.

AREA: Can you give us some idea of potential new AR capabilities that will be enabled by this acquisition?

Kim: Pristine’s people are among the world leaders in engineering product design and UX design in this industry. We’re extremely excited about that. With those sharp minds on the team, it will enable us to accelerate some of the thinking around our next-generation product. That includes our ability to get into more complex augmented reality scenarios as we cement our leadership in the assisted reality category and look to a more immersive augmented reality world.

AREA: What does this acquisition say about the state of AR adoption in the enterprise?

Kim: There are two key points. One is the growing enterprise awareness around having solutions that span the entire value chain, from point solutions, such as EyeSight, to more holistic platforms like Skylight. A lot of the folks that have experimented with different point solutions are starting to evolve their line of thinking to say, “Okay. We’ve got it, it’s good. What’s next?” There is a greater need to understand how large enterprises are going to deploy their AR strategies to impact the greatest number of people in the organization. Skylight is an excellent fit for what they are trying to do. I think this acquisition signals that we’re looking at an era where point solution providers will need to understand how their solutions will scale across businesses and that is quickly becoming table stakes for providers.

AREA: Do you think this acquisition provides any clues about the future direction of the AR industry?

Kim: We see people taking multiple parallel converging paths in their approach to AR. You have a number of vendors that focus on handheld devices – the smart phone and tablet form factors – and delivering compelling, camera-based registered experiences. Then you have folks like Upskill that are entrenched in the assisted reality domain. This acquisition does signal the fact that the assisted reality domain is going to mature quickly. It centers on the fact that the fundamental value proposition of assisted reality is around delivering a hands-free user interface to the data and assets already available to industrial workers.

The third path is the hands-free immersive AR solutions. You’ve got companies that are trying to do that based on projection-based systems and devices like HoloLens that deliver that fully immersive registered experience. I don’t think there’s any question that eventually the world is heading towards this – immersive augmented reality solutions everywhere. We’re taking it another step towards making that vision a reality. Of course, I represent the software side, so there have to be corresponding hardware advances that enable us to get there, but it is clear that the augmented reality is quickly maturing to a solution that is scalable and impactful today, while laying down a foundation to allow even further advances in technology.

According to the latest study by ABI Research, revenue from Enterprise Wearable devices is said to hit $55 billion by 2022. This figure has risen significantly according to appstechnews.comas it was predicted to reach $10.5bn by the end of 2017 with a CAGR of 39%.

Stephanie Lawrence, research analyst at ABI Research in a statement said “Wearables have much less in-built security and authentication protocols than other devices and so require robust security platforms to ensure data safety. Supporting platforms allow managers and IT teams to determine what information the wearables have access to, monitor their usage, create customised applications, and remotely control the devices. This ultimately safeguards the data from being compromised.”

According to the article, Wearable platforms require specific applications that can support a wide variety of devices  ABI Research believe ‘most’  wearable platforms can be supported by enterprise mobility management (EMM). To read the rest of the article and read the full report, click here.

An increasing number of IT companies and startups showcased AR related products and this year’s CES and MWC.  Readers may be interested in a report that has also been released, providing an overview of the latest development of AR and VR Smart Glasses which also examines the potential of Smart Glasses in the future.

Some of the main points that have been listed in the report include:

• Analysis of key issues that are likely to affect the potential of Augmented Reality Smart Glasses
• Development timeline of key vendors in different development phases
• Latest development of Augmented Reality Smart Glasses and includes accumulated shipment volume forecast by market sector for the period 2015-2020

Main vendors that are mentioned in this report include:

• AREA Members; Atheer, DAQRI

Other vendors include ODG, Caputer, Epson, Facebook, Fujitsu, Glass Up, Google, Intel, Konia, Kopin and Magic Leap.

To read the report in full click here.

This is the third in a series of blog posts following the progress being made on the AREA’s first research project. Read the first two installments here and here.

In February 2016, the AREA performed a preliminary analysis of the field of enterprise AR security. We learned that there was virtually nothing available about the topic on the Web, low understanding among customers and suppliers, and only a few firms, such as AREA member Augmate, were exploring how to identify and address issues.

As has recently been demonstrated by the global “ransomware” attack and the Distributed Denial of Service attack caused by security breaches on webcams and IoT devices in October 2016, governments, businesses and consumers reliant on Internet-connected computers are increasingly more vulnerable to risk. In the final days of 2016, analysts and cybersecurity experts predicted that “2017 will be a critical year for security, starting with how it’s built into technology. DevOps and security will change the way they work together as they realize the need to integrate with each other in order to survive.”

Unfortunately, very little attention has been focused on enterprise AR security risks since the exploratory project in early 2016 but it’s my conviction that no one in the AR ecosystem can afford to continue ignoring or denying the security issues. Many AREA members agree that there is potentially a problem.

In April, the AREA kicked off its Research Committee’s first project with Brainwaive LLC. Brainwaive’s team of cybersecurity experts has been digging into topics pertaining to data security risks when introducing new, wearable Augmented Reality devices in the enterprise. I’m managing this project on behalf of the AREA’s members.

The project team is preparing reports to help AREA members understand the issues and prepare for the mitigation of risks. These reports are based on experience in security mitigation frameworks and tactics in IoT and other fields, interviews with different AR ecosystem stakeholders, and online research, as well as hands-on testing of wearable AR devices. The hands-on testing exposed many interesting risks as well as opportunities. The value these reports contain can’t be conveyed in a few posts on a blog. The reports will deliver practical approaches to those who will study them carefully.

What I can share that concerns me greatly as I have listened to interviews Brainwaive has recently conducted is the apparent desire by many of the stakeholders involved in wearable AR device development (and the greater AR experience design and development value chain) to pass the buck on security. There’s a widespread assumption that wearable AR devices will be managed similarly to or in the same fashion as other mobile devices. The weakness in this thinking is that, unlike wearable AR displays currently being furnished for developer use, mobile devices deployed for enterprise use are security-hardened.

Sooner or later, the prevalent “it’s not my problem” mindset must change if we expect enterprise IT managers to embrace new devices and support systems enabling the changes that AR promises to deliver. For the mindset to change we need:

• AR customers to put security mitigation as high on their list of requirements as low latency, wide Field of View and ease of use; and
• enterprise AR technology providers to collaborate with security community leaders to design wearable AR displays with security by default, not an add-on.

If you are an AR customer who has already put data security features on your AR requirements list, please use the comments section of this blog post to share with others in our community how you have stated those requirements.

If you are a wearable AR device manufacturer who has included security features by design, please make those features more clear so that the Brainwaive team, among others, can more easily evaluate and include them in the AREA’s upcoming security framework.

Those who wish to preserve their anonymity while contributing to this important project are invited to contact Tony Hodgson, CEO of Brainwaive, directly via e-mail at [email protected].

Read the first installment here.

The topic of security in enterprise AR environments is both under-addressed and vital. Our cybersecurity team at Brainwaive is excited about the opportunity to work with the AREA to protect companies’ information and assets through this first-ever AREA-funded research project. The objective is to develop and popularize a reliable, repeatable means of assessing security when adopting AR headsets/glassware solutions in industrial/enterprise settings.

With several weeks of R&D behind us, the Brainwaive cybersecurity team is beginning to finalize the scope and structure of an AR Security Framework and Testing Protocol. While most of our initial focus is on security threats and the defensive posture of wearable AR devices themselves, it’s important to recognize that the headset or smart glasses are just one element in an end-to-end AR “solution stack.” The Security Framework will eventually address all the unique elements of the AR stack, including wireless networking, data gateways, cloud services, applications, and more. Additionally, full enterprise protection requires development and governance of sound use policies and procedures, and training to develop end-user competence with the systems.

From a security standpoint, wearable AR devices may seem to be similar to common mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers. However, we’ve identified multiple important factors that make AR systems unique, and we’re mapping the new trust boundaries and roles of the users. The Brainwaive team will elaborate on these in the final report and in our presentation at the upcoming Augmented World Expo. Also, in this initial project, we’re focusing only on characterizing the inherent design characteristics of the wearable device hardware and software from a security perspective. In follow-on projects, we’ll perform active penetration testing to determine the robustness of device designs and their level of defense against malicious attacks.

Knowledge is power when it comes to protecting your enterprise assets from bad actors trying to break in and steal sensitive information or disrupt your operations. Employing the AREA AR Security Framework and Testing Protocol, enterprise users will be better equipped to select and use AR headset solutions providing the proper types and levels of security for their specific use cases.

Tony Hodgson is CEO of Brainwaive LLC.

Imagine an aircraft service facility where the maintenance crew has the actual performance data of each plane’s engine components right at their fingertips as soon as it arrives – including identification of faulty parts and step-by-step instructions on how to replace them.

That combination of IoT data and AR visualization is incredibly powerful. It promises to reduce downtime, ensure timely and appropriate maintenance, and prevent more costly repairs. And because these technologies can guide service technicians instantly to only the areas in need of repair – and provide hard data on when to replace a worn part before it fails – they can make service technicians significantly more productive and assets more reliable. However, there are still questions about this integration of AR and IoT:

• How close is that scenario to reality?
• What technologies are essential to making it happen?
• What obstacles stand in the way?

To get the answers to these and other questions, you don’t want to miss the AREA’s upcoming webinar, Friends or Enemies – What is the Relationship Between Augmented Reality and IoT?  The event will be held May 17, 2017 at 8 AM Pacific/11 AM Eastern/4 PM UK/5 PM CET.

Speakers on the program include: Marc Schuetz, Director of ThingWorx Studio Product Management at PTC; Pontus Blomberg, Founder & VP, Business Development at 3D Studio Blomberg Ltd.; Carl Byers, Chief Strategy Officer of Contextere; and Giuseppe Scavo, Researcher, AR for Enterprise Alliance (AREA). AREA Executive Director Mark Sage will host.

What other use cases will benefit from the intersection of IoT and AR? What types of organizations and industries are best positioned to derive value from such solutions? Find out at the free webinar.  Register now to join us.

In a recent report released this week, QY Research released a market report on the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality App Market.  Major players included in the report are Aurasma, Blippar, Catchoom, DAQRI and Wikitude. Catchoom and DAQRI are members of The AREA.

This report has been segmented based upon applications, end-users, technology and geography.

The Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Apps research report also offer comprehensive assessment of the AR and VR Apps Market and consists of historical data, scope, significant approaches and statistical data of the global market.

Some highlights from this report include:

• A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market.
• Important changes in market dynamics
• Market segmentation up to the second or third level
• Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume
• Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments
• Market shares and strategies of key players
• Emerging niche segments and regional markets

This report also contains and evaluates the range of factors of the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Apps industry, such as definition, demands, share, analysis, supply, sales, size, specification, forecast trends, production, classification, industry policy, news and application. This report will also provide significant and reliable information on the market clearly in structed format and offers a key manufacturer of the products, applications, DROS and others.

In a report released this week, research by Tractica reveals that the mobile AR market will grow from 342.8 million unique monthly active users to nearly 1.9 billion monthly active users from 2016 – 2022. Tractica, the market intelligence firm also believe that worldwide mobile AR revenue will rise from $749.0 million to $18.5 billion annually.

Principal Analyst, Mark Beccue said, “While it was once imagined that mobile AR, using smartphones and tablets, would be the strict purview of consumer use cases, the slow development of smart glasses married with the practicality and the ubiquity of mobile devices has opened legitimate, sustainable markets for enterprise use cases as well,”

 This market report provides global mobile AR market forecasts from 2014 to 2022. The report is segmented into different sections including regions, consumer use cases (Social Media, Gaming and Entertainment, E-commerce, Mapping/Indoor Navigation, Visual Search and Toys) Enterprise use cases such as education, plant maintenance, Field Service and B2B sales tools). The report also includes an in-depth analysis on 30 key industry participants.

Readers may be interested in the recently released Global AR Market Forecast to 2027 by types, by application, by end users, Industry Trends and Analysis Forecast. 

This market report splits up the market into many segments. A key finding is that one of the major growths for this market is caused by the adoption of 3D visualization in the healthcare sector. Key players mentioned in this report include some of AREA’s members and other well known technology names, with the Key Players Including:

• DAQRI
• PTC
• Blippar
• Magic Leap
• Total Immersion
• Qualcomm Inc
• Google
• Microsoft
• Apple
• Sony

The market is segmented into type such as sensors, display, processors, semiconductor, hardware and software and also segmented by application such as consumer electronics, commercial, healthcare, automobile, and logistics among others.

This report also provides:

• A detailed analysis of the market structure along with a forecast for the next 10 years
• Insights about factors affecting the market growth
• Provides a historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub segments
• Enables to analyse the AR Market based on factors such as – Price analysis, supply chain analysis etc.
• Offers strategic profiling of key players in the market

A sample of this report can be requested below.

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1143

The Smart Glass in Automotive Market 2017 Research Report investigates a thorough and complete study of the Smart Glasses in Automotive industry by volume, market share and market trends.  Growth Aspects for Smart Glass in Automotive are discussed, along with a wide range of applications, utilization ratio, supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity and price during the forecast period, 2017 to 2022.

The report, labelled Global Smart Glass in Automotive Market 2017 concentrates on the complete analysis of the present and past historical details of Smart Glass in the automotive market. The report is segmented into many sections including regions which include The United States, EU, China and Japan. The report also mentions the key players that are involved in this market:

• AGC
• PPG Industries
• SmartGlass International Ltd
• SAGE Electrochromics
• Gentex
• Hitachi Chemicals
• View, inc
• Glass Apps LLC
• Research Frontiers
• Scienstry, Inc
• RavenBrick
• Pleotint

This report also gives an analysis of the feasibility of investment, investment return analysis and shows a complete picture of market development scope and business strategies followed by leading Smart Glass in Automotive Industry players along with their company profile, market share and contact information.