FirstNet, built with AT&T, is a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – an independent agency within the federal government. It’s designed with and for first responders and the public safety agencies and extended community that could be called on to support them.

The ThirdEye X2 MR Glasses and RespondEye software support access to the physically separate and dedicated FirstNet network core, which enables First Priority® capabilities on FirstNet – always-on priority and, for first responders, preemption – and the FirstNet Band 14 spectrum. FirstNet eligible customers can feel confident the X2 MR Glasses combined with FirstNet services will provide the necessary critical connectivity in a reliable, highly secure and cost-effective manner.

As part of the agreement through the FirstNet Embedded IoT Program – a program that allows for industry leading FirstNet eligible devices to be combined with FirstNet to create a bundled, end-to-end solution for a single monthly fee for first responders, public safety agencies and extended community – the ThirdEye solution will include FirstNet connectivity.

This collaboration comes after ThirdEye successfully launched its pilot programs with the Marcus Hook and Upper Merion Fire Departments in Pennsylvania. ThirdEye’s X2 MR Glasses with the RespondEye software help prevent first responders from coming in contact with potential COVID-19 patients using the attachable FLIR (forward-looking infrared) thermal sensor to detect elevated body temperatures – one of the symptoms of the disease. By using the smart glasses, medics can be hands-free and receive digital information displayed live in their field of view.

“Our telehealth software assists first responders with their everyday tasks while also equipping them with the technology to help protect them from COVID-19,” said Nick Cherukuri, CEO and founder of ThirdEye. “FirstNet provides first responders access to the high-speed and reliable connectivity when facing emergencies. We continue to update the RespondEye’s features upon requests from the EMS teams as we work toward making the implementation of AR in healthcare the new norm.”

By wearing the smart glasses, a paramedic in the field can directly contact a doctor for assistance. The doctor can then stream live video from the scene to be displayed on a computer, tablet or smartphone at the hospital via the RespondEye platform. This allows the doctor to assess a patient and make treatment recommendations without having face-to-face contact. The RespondEye software is cross-compatible and runs on ThirdEye X2 MR Glasses as well as iOS/Android phones, tablets and web browsers. The software is currently free to first responders with tiered pricing for data usage being released soon.

“We’re pleased to welcome ThirdEye as a member of our FirstNet IoT Embedded Program,” said Scott Agnew, assistant vice president, product marketing, FirstNet Program at AT&T. “This allows us to further our mission to deploy, operate, maintain, and enhance the only nationwide wireless platform dedicated to public safety and the extended community that support public safety response.”

At just 300 grams, ThirdEye’s X2 MR Glasses are the lightest mixed reality glasses on the market and are suited for comfortable, extensive wear in all conditions. The glasses run on Android 9.0 and are powered by a Snapdragon xR1 Qualcomm processor chip. ThirdEye also developed custom augmented reality first responder software via its RespondEye software platform suite, which connects to the EMS backend systems. This software combined with ThirdEye’s HIPAA certification enables first responders to access all of their data on demand and safely via the X2 MR Glasses.

ThirdEye achieved HIPAA certification for its X2 MR Glasses and RespondEye Platform, HIPAA compliance is a requirement for vendors that handle any patient medical data to ensure the security of the patient’s information as well as confidentiality.

Ships regularly undergo large-scale retrofits, but shipowners rarely have design data in digital form at hand. To design ship modifications, an engineering accuracy of the as-built ship geometry is required, which means each vessel must be 3D laser-scanned. ShipReality, a company specialised in AR/VR ship design automation and remote ops, synthesises these large ship laser scans with its CAD software to design directly in 3D, resulting in merged models of CAD in the as-built ship geometry point clouds.

“We want to speed up and optimise retrofit designs for 60,000 ships that require greenhouse gas emissions reduction, energy conversions & ballast water treatment system (BWTS) retrofits in the coming years”, said Georgios Bourtzos, CEO and co-founder of ShipReality. “A major challenge we faced designing directly in large point clouds was visualising entire vessels layered with resulting 3D designs for immersive design reviews on mobile XR devices like Oculus Quest 2 and HoloLens 2.”

Exploring the use of point clouds in AR

Point clouds are precise models of real environments based on 3D laser or photogrammetry scanning. Objects and space are represented in the form of “points”. Millions of such points combined formulate a point cloud scan. The scan is then imported into a 3D modeling platform with the purpose of creating an as-built model. Common CAD software used for ship designs, although incorporating 3D laser scans, still rely on 2D projections and screens to visualise and design in 3D. This often results in incompatibilities with the existing ship geometry, which are only realised during installation, creating substantial delays and high additional costs.

Visualisation in 3D is a key issue to address these problems. However, visualising large point clouds requires substantial CPU and graphics power. The performance requirements are simply too high for rendering it locally on a mobile XR device. It would cause an extremely low frame rate and even software crashes. Dealing with large datasets, ShipReality had to find a solution that could surpass the limited memory, CPU and GPU resources of mobile devices.

XR streaming solution that supports point cloud

XR streaming technology outsources the rendering process to a local server or the cloud. But not every solution on the market supports ultra large data or point clouds. “We integrated the ISAR SDK into our solution to stream large 3D laser scans merged with CAD retrofit designs to a HoloLens 2,” said Mr Bourtzos. ISAR (Interactive Streaming for Augmented Reality) is a unique remote rendering software component that allows to stream entire augmented and virtual reality applications in real time. “The simplicity and ease of integration of the software development kit worked seamlessly with our large models.”

Integrating ISAR into their engine and software, ShipReality was able to visualise a massive model containing more than one billion points. Layered on top was also BWTS CAD design data created by the company’s ShipMR-design software with additional five million polygons. To compare, a mobile XR device could only render about one and half million polygons locally. As the remote rendering server ShipReality used a moderate gaming laptop and the local WiFi, broadcasting on 2.4GHz band. More performance and bandwidth enable even greater visualisations.

Next level immersive experiences

“ISAR has amazing potential for AR/VR visualisation of massive digital twins and real-time monitoring of projected complex 3D designs merged with as-built environments in shipping and other industries,” said Mr Bourtzos. ShipReality is now able to:

• visualise ship models that are only suited for high-performance processing
• capture large assets 1:1 and integrate complex 3D CAD designs/data
• visualise detailed models for spatial analytics in augmented reality

“ISAR can save us a lot of time and resources because we can directly use point clouds in mobile AR: some pre-processing steps can be avoided.”

Data availability, accuracy, density, and size of 3D point clouds are also forecast to vastly increase within the next years. “To realise the full potential of immersive point cloud experiences, streaming will play a major role,” concluded Georgios Bourtzos.

The mixed reality, computer aided design (CAD) 3D visualization tool is known as ProtoSpace. It has been crucial to the lab’s collaborative development of spacecraft, says the technical lead for ProtoSpace, Benjamin Nuernberger.

Nuernberger, a mixed reality researcher and developer who guides the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL’s) related software architecture design and implementation, explains that ProtoSpace allows scientists to see 3D CAD models of the spacecraft through augmented reality. To use ProtoSpace, researchers employ the Microsoft HoloLens, a commercial off-the-shelf mixed reality head-mounted display device combined with the JPL’s augmented reality application to superimpose a 3D digital image into the real world—as opposed to a virtual reality environment that creates an entire digital world.

“ProtoSpace has been used for various stages of the mission life cycle, all the way from the stage where you have an initial CAD design and you want to communicate that design to other people, to the early design stage and trying to figure out the design decisions, then to find the optimal design and to validate those designs, and for planning and troubleshooting,” Nuernberger notes.

“It’s really great because all the different scientists and engineers can collaborate and see this spacecraft spatially, stereoscopically, floating in a conference room, or maybe overlaid onto the actual hardware in a clean room. It allows them to talk about it as if it was physically there.”

In February, NASA deployed Perseverance to Mars for two Earth years to search for signs of ancient life, collect rock and soil samples, demonstrate technology and advance the possibility of human exploration on the planet. In April and May, NASA conducted several successful demonstration flights of Ingenuity, first verifying that powered, controlled flight was even possible on the Red Planet, and later testing how aerial reconnaissance and other tasks could aid in the exploration of Mars.

Read the full article here

LifecycleIQ Services provide the transformative partnership that customers need and expect today. By combining digital technologies with expansive human know-how, the services help companies work faster, smarter and with greater agility at every point in their business cycle. The services can help companies realize the power of a Connected Enterprise during the design, operations, and maintenance stages in greenfield and brownfield facilities.

“LifecycleIQ Services create a more intimate customer engagement model, one that can help companies not only solve problems, but also see new possibilities in production and transform them into reality,” said Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice president, Lifecycle Services at Rockwell Automation. “We’re investing in providing a wide range of holistic services to help companies be more productive, safe and secure anywhere in a product, process or plant lifecycle.”

Inbavanan Rathinam, senior director, Solutions & Services, Asia-Pacific at Rockwell Automation, said: “One challenge faced by many industrial players in Asia-Pacific is how to adopt smart manufacturing technology quickly whilst seamlessly integrating legacy equipment and machinery. LifeCycleIQ Services help to address this unmet need holistically, enabling enterprises to be future-ready by incorporating agility and flexibility in both infrastructure and processes.

“Driving efficiencies also continues to be increasingly important to businesses across every sector in the region, with growing attention on sustainable operations. LifeCycleIQ Services enables our customers to better plan and service every aspect of the plant, from design to safe operations, enabling reduced energy usage, minimized wastage, and maximized output.”

Industrial companies can use LifecycleIQ Services to achieve outcomes like:

Capturing more value from digital transformation initiatives

Digital initiatives can struggle to get off the ground because companies don’t know what steps to take or where to start. Using the knowledge and experience within LifecycleIQ Services, companies can strategically plan, implement and scale their digital initiatives.

Support can begin with defining strategic objectives, identifying use cases and quantifying business value. Rockwell Automation can then continue to support customers through implementation, ongoing maintenance and continuous innovation.

Reducing risk with comprehensive cybersecurity support

Cybersecurity is a top priority today, but few companies have specialists with both information and operations technology (IT/OT) security knowledge. Rockwell Automation is uniquely equipped to address complex security challenges in IT/OT environments. The company understands the OT environment and how it interfaces with IT and follows industry security standards.

LifecycleIQ Services can help companies adopt a proactive cybersecurity approach and address the entire attack continuum — before, during and after an event. Also, as more companies connect their plants to remote workers and partners like original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Rockwell Automation can help protect those connections with secure remote access and security posture assessment services.

Improving workforce support

Companies need new ways to support their workforces as they contend with global health challenges and skills shortages brought on by the retirement of trained workers and an influx of new technologies. They also need workforce support as they seek to make the most of IIoT technologies.

LifecycleIQ Services can help companies address their unique workforce challenges and gaps by assessing needs, identifying priorities and creating workforce development programs. Rockwell Automation also uses remote support capabilities and augmented reality technologies to help companies interact virtually with support engineers, strengthen skills with virtual training, and provide safety and security services without sending people into plants.

To improve customer experiences, LifecycleIQ Services is also introducing a new way to receive multiple services in one contract. An Integrated Service Agreement allows companies to select a package of offerings to simplify their support needs and have just one number to call to access experts and receive priority service. Companies can get 24×7 technical support, repair services, reports and analytics, field services and more, all in one integrated contract.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 24,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

• According to the report, the hands-free, voice-controlled devices provide on-site automotive technicians instant access to Ford expert advice no matter where their dealership is located.
• RealWear assisted reality solutions have enabled automotive technicians in South Africa to perform complex and difficult repairs faster and more accurately than ever before.
• Ford is using the solution to cut the expense of sending experts to every far-flung location in their dealership network.
• The devices have also enabled Ford to boost customer satisfaction by reducing wait-times and ensuring vehicles are repaired correctly the first time.
• Ford will expand their use of RealWear’s headsets to more remote dealerships in South Africa – as well as to other locations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ford’s Announcement Says it Gained Business Benefits From the RealWear HMT-1 Hands-Free Deployment

According to the article, global innovation leader Ford Motor Company has gained a series of business benefits after introducing RealWear HMT-1 assisted reality devices in their South African dealerships. Ford had previously rolled out RealWear’s solution in parts of Australia and Europe.

List of Benefits Provided

Ford is enjoying many benefits throughout their South African Dealerships. These include:

• The ability for remote technicians to gain real-time access to Ford experts so they can complete difficult repairs faster, easier and more accurately than ever.
• The ability to eliminate vehicle repair bottlenecks cause by the delays in on-site expertise.
• The ability to significantly reduce the enormous expense of sending vehicle repair experts to far-flung remote locations.
• The ability to boost customer satisfaction by repairing vehicles correctly the first time – and reducing customer vehicle downtime.

Ford says its employees have been very happy with RealWear’s solution.

Read the full article here. 

See RealWear’s AREA member profile here. 

The way we work is changing. While businesses tackle the challenges of increasingly competitive markets, the workforce needs to constantly adapt to new tools, changing processes and different work environments.

Emerging technology is transforming the industrial workplace. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) improve automation, data driven insights and operational efficiency. However, the technology that holds the most potential for creating our future workplace is Augmented Reality (AR).

RE’FLEKT explores the future of the industrial workplace and the role of Work Augmentation and Remote Collaboration based on AR technology. We take a close look at how businesses will work tomorrow by connecting their workforce with information and knowledge today – using Enterprise Augmented Reality.

The guide is comprehensive and comes in a number of sections:

• How enterprise AR tackles business challenges
• The digital AR guide
• Manufacturing in the remote economy age
• AR devices

You can read the full article here 

Knee+ is a patented platform designed to assist orthopedic surgeons to perform surgeries better and faster by providing real-time positioning of instruments, directly in their field of view. Knee+ is intuitive and requires minimal training even for those who have never utilized navigation or robots since it does not change the overall technique for 90% of surgeons who use a conventional technique. Knee+ consists of proprietary software using unique computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms and running on connected Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses, with no bulky capital equipment or disposables required. The solution is simple, accurate and much less expensive than surgical assistance robots.

The United States represents 50% of the worldwide market for knee replacement surgeries, and according to estimates there are more than 30,000 orthopedic surgeons in the U.S who carry out approximately 600,000 total knee replacements annually. Pixee Medical plans to start surgeries as soon as possible in the US with Digitally Augmented Surgeons to prove the efficiency of its breakthrough, affordable, and efficient solution, especially adapted for the growing surgery vertical of ambulatory surgical centers.

“The FDA’s clearance of Knee+ is an important step forward and we plan to quickly expand our platform to perform hip and shoulder replacements,” states Sébastien Henry, Founder and CEO of Pixee Medical. “In addition, our platform is designed to become the cornerstone of data acquisition and exchange during surgery as well as a plug-and-play hub for accessories like connected instruments, robotic arms and wireless tools. Vuzix’ M400 Smart Glasses play a vital role within our Knee+ solution.”

“We are thrilled to see Pixee Medical receive FDA clearance for Knee+ and we look forward to supporting the worldwide distribution of their innovative AR solution, particularly now in the U.S. market, which accounts roughly half of the world’s annual knee surgeries,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix. “The Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses are lightweight, comfortable and completely wireless and their high-performance camera is ideal for reading QR-code markers and precisely calculating the 3D coordinates of the instruments used during Knee+ surgeries.”

Iristick.H1 has dual 16 Megapixel central cameras, a unique optical zoom lens and a 3-axis adjustable display to give instructions and additional information to the smart glasses’ wearer.

With the zoom lens on one side, the display on the other side and the central cameras in the middle, you get the most balanced pair of smart glasses on the market. This new device can be adapted to both right and left eye dominant wearers and can easily be clipped onto dedicated or personal PPE. With its IP67 certificate, Iristick.H1 can be used in a wide range of professional environments.

Smart glasses provide frontline workers with a powerful tool to collaborate in real-time with remote experts, making their interventions more effective and safer. The pandemic has accelerated the use of smart glasses to cope with travel restrictions and to keep operations running. We strongly believe this new remote way of working will become a standard in the future. With this product innovation, Iristick wants to provide the right smart glasses for every frontline worker.

Why was this new device, Iristick.H1, developed?

We believe true innovation comes from listening to our customers and making products that serve their needs. And realizing that not all customers are the same. Some operators work outside, some inside. Some wear safety glasses and helmets, some don’t. Some need prescription glasses. Some work in sterile environments, others in dusty or noisy environments, some in hazardous areas. The one thing they all have in common is that they need both hands free and the correct information to do their job.

But for a long time now, the smart glasses market has tried to serve all these customers with one product. This ‘one size fits all’ approach does not fully value the variety in operators, industries and use cases. After carefully evaluating the needs of our customers, we made a list of features for product innovation that resulted in the creation of the Iristick.G1 and Iristick.H1.

Will there be a solution for hazardous areas?

Hazardous areas require special equipment. The Iristick.H1 will be the foundation for the ECOM Visor-EX^R 01 for use in intrinsically safe environments. ECOM Visor-EX^R 01 is a co-created product by Iristick and ECOM Instruments – A Pepperl+Fuchs Brand, world-leader in intrinsically safe mobile devices. This collaboration brought together the expert knowledge of both companies, resulting in a new product that will serve mobile workers in the hazard areas market (ATEX/IECEX Zone 1, DIVISION 1).

Watch the launch video here : https://youtu.be/FkBNq6dQpa8

ABOUT IRISTICK

Founded in 2016, Iristick creates industrial smart safety glasses to support enterprises in their digital transformation. Iristick empowers the frontline workers of Industry 4.0 in three domains: remote assistance, digital work instructions and pick-by-vision logistics. Iristick smart eyewear is currently being used and tested by customers in maintenance, after sales support, logistics, shop floor activities, quality control, telemedicine and education.

Iristick, based in Antwerp, Belgium, supports customers globally. Winner of a Red Dot Award, H2020 European Commission Innovation Grant (N°811820) and holder of multiple patents.

More info: www.iristick.com

• Johnson said a launch of the Magic Leap 2 could be only months away
• The device is half the size of the first-generation headset and about 20 percent lighter.
• The device is optimized for professional use and is designed to be wearable for long periods, and it’s supposed to double the Magic Leap One’s field of view.
• “For frontline workers, the product has to be something comfortable that they can wear all day long.”
• Magic Leap has spent the past year transitioning from an all-purpose mixed reality company to a specifically business-focused one.
• Johnson told Protocolthat she sees a “massive” opportunity for enterprise AR headsets.
• Johnson says she sees a more viable short-term future in areas like health care or military applications. “The devices are still getting there. They’re not quite right for consumers, but they’re perfect for the enterprise.”

Read full interview with Protocol.

Read Magic Leap AREA member profile.

Global software company TeamViewer (who recently acquired AREA member Upskill) which has just become Mercedes’ third biggest sponsor in its $300 million (USD) total portfolio, works with many industry partners in helping provide Augmented Reality solutions.

Mercedes believes there is scope for AR to help improve the speed of problem solving at grand prix events, help ramp up processes and also reduce expenditure in the cost cap era by it not requiring so many staff to travel to races.

The idea is that the AR systems would allow a direct live contact between personnel working at the track and related staff at factory that would provide a vital link on F1 race weekends.

Asked about the potential benefits by Motorsport.com, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: “Formula 1 is a sport that travels around the globe. And in the same way as we have our race support room, where we have around 30 people that monitor the car, that work in the simulator, and in the wind tunnel to enhance the performance on track, we need to inspect high tech parts, such as the power unit hydraulics components and gearboxes.

“I think having remote access from the factory through the augmented reality possibilities that TeamViewer provide is going to give us an edge.

“The benefits are also that the remote work that we all have experienced in the last 12 months is also helping us to reduce our carbon footprint. We will be able to take less people to the racetrack, because the remote access will allow us to have exactly the same kind of potential in working with our engineers on the track even when they are back at base.”TeamViewer CEO Oliver Steil said that AR had been a huge help in other industries, so was something that could certainly offer opportunities in F1.

“In manufacturing, logistics, repair, inspection, testing healthcare, we have solutions where the worker wears glasses and gets step by step instructions on those glasses,” he explained.

“When you have a very, very complex inspection of an aircraft engine for example, then you can have somebody on call who is a trained engineer but working in a different location – and they work together to solve a problem.

“We have many different use cases. It is really gaining momentum now across industries in a way, to either help people perform more complex tasks or to upskill existing workforces. Or you can just have higher quality, and a faster understanding, of what has worked and how the parts flow works.

“It’s what we’re offering many customers around the world, mostly large enterprises that are deploying the solution. I think over the years, there will certainly be an opportunity to discuss this also in the sports arena.”