Download this free white paper to learn:

• The trends and challenges making digital transformation essential across industries, including rising costs, a looming $8.5 trillion global talent shortage, and a world-altering pandemic
• Why traditional telepresence and video conferencing solutions are limiting in cost, mobility, data exchange, and data security
• How AR remote support is helping companies to respond faster, reduce travel, save money, upskill workers, and deliver seamless service by enabling the on-site worker and a remote expert to share the same view
• What makes XpertEye stand out among remote assistance solutions (device agnostic, security, transparent pricing, etc.)
• Applications and real use cases for XpertEye in Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, and more

Click here to download your free copy.

The following partners were in support of the massive global event and you can see them here.  Partner logos were shown on rotating slides in each livestream:

From the AREA a big thank you to Emily Friedman who has organized and promoted AWE and now moves on to other projects with BrainXChange, an AREA member. We wish Emily all the best with all that BrainXChange has planned.

AWE in the News

Hear what the press had to say about the event: Highlighted coverage:

AR Post

Auganix

USA TODAY

VR World Tech

Forbes

Catch up on all the major announcements made at AWE Online 2020: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. Check out who won the 11th Annual Auggie Awards, plus the Nextant Awards presented by Virtual World Society.

AWE on Social

Catch up on what Twitter had to say using the official hashtag #AWE2020.

This is a unique opportunity for mixed, augmented or virtual reality companies with a commercial product, service or solution to join the 12 week programme. Successful applicants will receive technical and business mentorship, access to expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, as well as the opportunity to pitch at an exclusive investor showcase. The programme aims to accelerate business adoption and investment in the immersive sector in the UK.

Apply by 29 July: https://bit.ly/augmentor2020

Augmentor will support companies that can deliver immersive tools or solutions and are working closely with the following industries:

• Architecture, engineering and construction
• 3D design, production and tooling
• Advanced manufacturing (for example robotics, automotive, aerospace, supply chain)
• Data visualisation
• Training
• Utilities sector
• Creative (for example entertainment, gaming, media)

Augmentor will help accelerate business growth of immersive B2B companies and drive impact through bespoke mentorship and workshop support from leading experts in the industry:

• To increase companies’ investment readiness and confidence in the venture capitalist and angel landscape, Augmentor will engage with investment experts to help companies shape the best businesses propositions possible
• To improve companies’ business confidence in the landscape, Augmentor will engage with industry experts to help companies build the right strategies and execution plans so they can drive your business further.

Cohort companies will finally showcase and pitch their businesses to industry and investment stakeholders at the Augmentor showcase on Thursday 28 January 2021.

Applications deadline: Wednesday 29 July at 23:59

In times where travel restrictions remain and work-from-home arrangements are the new normal, video conferencing software like Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Zoom and many others help us bring our meeting culture online. The real challenge lies in introducing remote collaboration to remaining business operations where the workforce is required on-site to keep industrial facilities running. In matters of urgency, many businesses turn to remote collaboration tools they know and have in place already – only to find out that those are not made for industrial use when maintaining or repairing machinery.

We thought it’s time to shine a light on the differences between conferencing software and remote support tools as well as why both are crucial for remote collaboration in industrial businesses: One for on-screen teamwork in online documents, the other for off-screen support on real machinery.

Read the original full blog on Re’flekt’s website.

See Re’flekt AREA member profile here.

Since Qualcomm Technologies’ device category introduction of XR viewers tethered to 5G smartphones, fifteen global operators including China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, EE, KDDI, KT, LG Uplus, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, SK Telecom, SoftBank, Telefonica, Verizon and Vodafone have shared plans to sample and commercialize XR viewers to provide immersive, never-before-experiences over 5G.

Lightweight, head-worn devices that connect to a smartphone powered by Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 or 865 Mobile Platforms, XR viewers are glasses tethered to a 5G-enabled smartphone via USB-C cable. XR viewers unlock a new generation of immersive experiences using 5G-enabled smartphones that provide high bandwidth and low latency which is essential for high-quality XR. Consumers’ favorite smartphone applications can become augmented reality (AR) experiences in front of their eyes or workplace meetings can be revolutionized through holographic telepresence with virtual collaboration platforms, as XR and 5G come together to transform how the world connects, communicates and consumes content

Through the Qualcomm® XR Optimized Certification Program, Qualcomm Technologies tests the performance and validates compatibility between the XR viewer and smartphones to help ensure a seamless user experience. There are two certifications, one for smartphone and one for the XR viewer to allow the OEMs (both smartphone and viewers) to verify optimization between multiple phones and multiple viewers without requiring them to conduct one-on-one optimization. The Qualcomm XR Optimized Certification Program includes:

• Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) headtracking performance on the viewer and smartphone
• Display calibration validation on the viewer
• Motion to photon latency validation on the viewer and smartphone
• Power and thermal test on the viewer and smartphone
• Interoperability between the viewer and smartphone

Multiple XR viewer manufacturers are in development including 3Glasses, iQIYI, Nreal, OPPO, Panasonic, Pico and Shadow Creator are going through the certification process to be able to quickly deploy with Snapdragon-powered devices in the coming months. Both smartphones and XR viewers can use the Qualcomm XR Optimized badge from Qualcomm Technologies, which indicate compatibility and performance to consumers and users. Smartphone OEMs that plan to provide new XR experiences with their 5G-enabled smartphones with viewers include ASUS, Black Shark, OnePlus, OPPO, Smartisan, vivo, ZTE, with others to come.

With the global expansion of 5G, the XR ecosystem is prepared to unite superior cellular connectivity with quality hardware and premium XR. Experiences can be scaled on a global level, both in and out of the home, and within the next year we hope everyone can experience a new reality.

Read the full original article by Qualcomm.

DO use a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe to gently wipe the exterior surfaces of your device. Before cleaning, remove any cases, covers or other peripherals from the device – and clean those separately from your device.

DON’T clean your device using cleaning products with harsh chemicals such as chlorine and bleach.

DO unplug and power down your device while cleaning.

DON’T apply direct liquid cleaning solutions to your device, as they could cause damage.

DO wash your hands regularly before and after each use of your device – and wipe down the device itself with a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe. This is especially important if the device is shared with other users.

DON’T submerge your device in any cleaning agents.

DO use a soft, lint free, microfiber cloth (like the kind that you would use to clean the lens of a camera) while cleaning – and use it to gently wipe the exterior surface of your device.

DON’T clean your device with compressed air.

Immersive Technology Inhibitors

The adoption in the Enterprise sector of immersive collaboration technologies is currently inhibited by a number of challenges;

AR and VR experiences are constrained by a combination of bandwidth and computing power resulting in either a distance limitation or tethered experience

Headset form factors are heavy, cumbersome and not fit for manufacturing and factory applications

The existing Enterprise IT may not support a high enough specification (personal computers GPU) to enable immersive experiences.

Enterprise infrastructure often does not have the connectivity bandwidth and coverage to support low latency streaming and the ability to manage the 3D data sizes and complexity.

The Enterprise 3D datasets are frequently not set up for collaboration, it may not be in easily accessible, easily shared locations, and the data is frequently tied to the associated authoring / editing tools.

Conferencing tools today such as Zoom, Teams, Slack, etc. have limited to no support for complex 3D data sets. Collaborating in real time on 3D data is currently not being addressed by conventional conferencing services.

Embrace New Technology Enablers – “Go Mobile”

The adoption of virtual GPU and rendering in the cloud for remote streaming allows users to untether their immersive devices and go mobile. In this article, NVIDIA’s Senior Manager for Enterprise XR Greg Jones explores how NVIDIA Cloud XR will accelerate this digital transformation. The receiving application on the device itself may be lightweight and leverage the cloud (public or private) to do the heavy lifting to ‘drive’ the application. The Radical cloud configuration leverages the capabilities of the cloud and edge compute to render the images on the server-side and then stream the output to the mobile device (AR, VR, mobile and desktop).

This removes the need for any data to be present on the mobile or local device for both efficiency purposes (easy to send a simple browser link for collaboration) and security (no data footprint on the device).

The roll out of low latency 5G technology in combination with server side rendering will open up the potential to stream to immersive devices such as AR and VR. Radical is already able to stream the immersive experience to the browser for mobile and desktop consumption, as the frame rate requirements are lower and would be supported via 4G and current WiFi connectivity.

Read the full article here. Embracing Technology Enablers – Building the Collaborative Thread

See more about the work of AREA member Masters of Pie  on their AREA member profile.

Manifest is an end-to-end spatial computing solution delivering digital transformation and productivity to frontline employees enabling the capture and sharing of knowledge in a simple, consistent and scalable manner. Manifest 2.0 is Taqtile’s first official release for HoloLens 2, Magic Leap 1, and iPad, and offers new features that will transform the way teams access and leverage work instruction technology in a world with urgent demands for remote work and support.

“Our modern industrial ecosystem is being stressed in a way that would have been hard to predict a year ago, and it is glaringly evident that vulnerability to disruption is pervasive,” said Taqtile CEO, Dirck Schou. “What is needed are tools designed specifically to enable and empower front line workers, the sort of which Taqtile has been providing in Manifest for the last three years. Now, with the release of Manifest 2.0 we take, “Everyone is an Expert” to new heights by enabling workers to connect with experts whenever and wherever they need, easily creating workgroups that enable teams to work together more efficiently.”

Key new features available in Manifest 2.0 are Expert Connect and Working Together. Expert Connect enables easier communication between users via a browser or Mixed Reality headset. In addition to real-time chat, users can now initiate a call directly from a job step and leverage audio and video for 1:1 calls with the ability to share photos, videos, PDFs or jobs with others. The ability to connect with precisely the right expert is supported through an internal contact list that automatically sorts relevant users, starting with the original author of the job and recent operators to connect users with the foremost expert available.

“Now with Expert Connect, Manifest 2.0 is the most complete AR work instruction solution we’ve seen available in the market today,” said Daryl Roy, Founder and CEO of 3D Media. “The aircraft maintainers, and industrial personnel we work with now have a toolkit to easily create their own work instructions and immediately reach out to remote experts when needed.”

Working Together allows users to share either a planned team procedure, or it enables an operator to reassign a step to another operator on the fly. Working Together permits multiple operators to collaborate on a job by creating a team and dividing up the work, either through assignments or by self-assigning steps. All team members can watch the job progress through each step and view notes left by other operators. Job assignments allow an operator to invite another operator, even if they are in different locations, to take over so no one task goes Undone.

Manifest 2.0 also introduces the new 3D Model Manager allowing for easier 3D model set-up and configuration. Additional updates and improvements available include a new 3D application keyboard for quicker input, integrated map functionalities, additional language support including the display of Japanese characters, various polish and performance enhancements throughout all platforms, and general UI improvements.

Manifest 2.0 currently supports HoloLens 1, HoloLens 2, Magic Leap One and iPadOS. For any potential customers interested in a free tour of Manifest in a trial environment, visit the Microsoft or iOS application stores and download the Manifest application. Manifest 2.0 is coming soon to the Magic Leap application store. For more information on Manifest 2.0, visit taqtile.com/manifest .

Visit Taqtile’s AREA member profile.

Visit Taqtile’s press release on their website.

Covid-19 has sidelined these experts for now, but transportation is critical during a pandemic, and fixing cars is often a problem that can’t wait. That’s where Porsche’s “Tech Live Look” glasses come in.  The Tech Live Look is built using a platform by Atheer.

Tech Live Look are smartglasses that use augmented reality to project images or instructions onto the surfaces of the lenses. They’re worn by the dealerships’ mechanics while they’re working on complicated repairs that require assistance from the German brand’s in-house technicians, and connect them with these remote groups. In many instances they’ve replaced the lengthy phone conversations they used to have with technicians, and have shortened repair times by 40%, the company says.

“It accelerates the service on the vehicle and, most importantly, helps ensure customers’ mobility at a critical time.” Doug House, Technical Support Manager for Porsche Cars North America.

The company announced the program in 2017, and completed its nation-wide rollout earlier this year. The timing couldn’t have been better. With the field experts unable to visit dealerships in person, the number of TLL sessions has more than tripled from February to March and is being used once per day on average. The trend has continued into April.

Rather than taking photos and sending them over email, the smartglasses use real-time video to enable the tech team at headquarters to see what the mechanics sees from hundred of miles away. Screenshots, technical bulletins, and directions can be sent to the mechanics that they can view while they’re working on the car.

Dealership technicians have been able to work directly with Porsche’s support team at its U.S. headquarters in Atlanta and also with experts in Germany for more complex vehicle investigation.

Meetings… loved and hated in equal parts. Some people seem to live for meetings and others to avoid them. Love them or hate them, they are not going away anytime soon, despite the current lockdowns and restrictions. They have just migrated into virtual meetings.

It turns out that we are missing out on a lot of unspoken interactions in today’s virtual settings. The list looks something like this:

• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Paralinguistics
• Body language and posture
• Proxemics
• Eye gaze
• Haptics
• Appearance
• Artefacts

Some of these do translate to virtual video conferencing.

The power of face to face communcation is where the world of virtual immersive meetings comes into play, though it opens up design challenges as well as opportunities.

The author discusses these in the full blog, including the benefits and drawbacks of the hardware, software and usability:

“We believe that our Radical software solution offers better and more engaging solutions for users to interact with enterprise data sets. Immersive allows our customers to do things that they simply cannot do in the real world.”

Please contact  [email protected] if you’d like to understand more.

Read about Masters of Pie on their AREA member Profile

Read their blog in full, face to face meetings vs virtual meetings.