Agfa’s Inkjet support group within Europe, NAFTA and LATAM will now have at its disposal Fieldbit’s innovative AR technologies that enable the frontline workforce in remote locations to collaborate with subject matter experts in real time via smart eyeglasses, smartphones, mobile devices, and web browsers. The Fieldbit multi-source collaboration includes a shared “see-what-I see” field of view, step-by-step automated guidance through logical procedures for preventive maintenance, and APIs for augmenting industrial IoT real-time data or real-time data from legacy automation systems.

“Fieldbit is seeking to change the mode of operation in remote field services by creating, capturing, and sharing accumulated organizational knowledge once held only in the minds of a few experts,” said Evyatar Meiron, CEO of Fieldbit. “We are thrilled to be working with Agfa’s inkjet support team and improving on what they already do. We will be able to empower teams on the ground to resolve issues via AR remote assistance thereby reducing the need for technician visits and helping businesses realize substantial savings.”

The Fieldbit platform also enables call centers and technicians to remotely guide their customers, thus avoiding costly on-site visits. Agfa’s Inkjet support team is one of the largest organizations in the digital print and chemicals industry, with 170 employees at its headquarters and field offices around the globe.

Read the full original article here.

Visit Fieldbit’s AREA member profile here.

The promise of mixed reality – which involves the merging of real and virtual worlds through a technological device – has led investors to pour billions into startups like Magic Leap and a major effort from Microsoft to develop their HoloLens product.

While the entertainment and gaming applications for the technology are clear, mixed reality has seen increasing use in industrial and enterprise settings.

Mixed reality glasses startup ThirdEye Gen is betting hard on the technology’s intersection with healthcare and has developed a partnership with handheld ultrasound company Dolphin Medical Imaging to bring their devices into the clinic.

Read the full article here.

This acquisition accelerates the development of Atheer’s award-winning Augmented Reality Management Platform by combining Atheer’s existing leading real-time collaboration capabilities with the intelligent digital work and integration capabilities of the Flype platform.

“We are seeing an accelerating adoption of AR by enterprises across many industries and business processes. These organizations are demanding AR platforms that have enterprise grade security and user permission management, robust digital asset management across all their content stores, intelligent and dynamic work instructions on all devices, broad integration capabilities to other enterprise systems, and robust reporting and analytics” said Amar Dhaliwal, Chief Executive Officer of Atheer. “With Flype, we have acquired an enterprise grade digital work platform that significantly extends our capabilities in all these areas. The combination of Atheer and Flype redefines what enterprises can expect from an AR platform.”

Founded in San Francisco, California, Flype’s digital work platform intelligently and securely connects users with the digital assets, work instructions, and resources they need to do their best work.

“The foundation of the Flype platform is the ability to truly understand users, assess their needs in real time, understand spatial conditions and deliver highly contextual content to create personalized AR experience at scale. We are thrilled that Atheer and its customers will be taking advantage of these capabilities.” said Nag Chandrashekar, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Flype

Flype’s founders Sanjay Parmar and Nag Chandrashekar have joined Atheer’s leadership team as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer, respectively.

Greg Clark visited the Factory 2050 in Sheffield to see how a powerful private sector consortium led by Rolls-Royce and Accenture – and drawn from the aerospace, automotive and pharmaceutical industries – has collaborated with the University of Sheffield AMRC (long standing AREA member) to develop a connected facility that will de-risk investment in the digital technologies at the heart of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy and Made Smarter initiative.

Mr Clark, and the Minister for Business and Industry, Andrew Stephenson, were given a tour of the connected smart factory test bed which included real time data streams from remote machining activities, smart assembly using intelligent work benches and augmented reality, visual inspection linked to artificial intelligence and a reconfigurable factory cell.

The test bed aims to show the significant opportunities of applying digital technologies to manufacturing with 50% productivity benefit, 30% reduction in defects and 50% improved time to market increasingly being demonstrated.

The article features comment on the initiative from the Secretary of State, Greg Clark, Founder and Executive Dean of the AMRC, Professor Keith Ridgway and from The Director of Global Manufacturing at Rolls-Royce Dr Hamid Mughal. Read the full article here.

Read The AMRC’s AREA member profile

Montgomerie writes “It’s a thrill to see how rapidly AR and other technologies are evolving. And it’s just as gratifying to see just how these knowledge-sharing technologies are meeting the business needs in the marketplace.

Just a few years ago, enterprise AR was an emerging technology. But one thing became crystal-clear at AWE this year: AR for the enterprise is no longer a novelty. It’s not just a wild idea to test out in a sandbox. Companies are using AR to solve real business problems. They’re giving their workforce access to critical, specialized knowledge when and where they need it. After seeing impressive use cases, and talking to the enterprise innovators that now use AR for real-world applications — I can safely say: the emerging-tech phase is in the rearview mirror.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking with executives ready to test AR in parts of their business. They’re typically optimistic, but cautious: I get it — but where do I start, and how do I get my team on board?

There are definitely use cases that AR is better suited for than others in an enterprise setting.  In order to ensure you’re choosing the right use case for your organization, here are three mistakes to avoid as you prepare your business for AR adoption:

1) Don’t plan to rewire your entire business. You can’t expect AR to replace a process across your global operations overnight. Start smart. Find a discreet project where you can address a real-world business problem. Ensure it’s a process that can be enhanced by real-time knowledge transfer. And above all, ensure it’s a use case where you can measure and share quantifiable results.

What scenarios might be a good candidate for your business’ first use case? Be sure to consider workflows and teams that would benefit from augmented knowledge like step-by-step instructions, contextual digital overlays, and even live video support from a remote expert. For instance, imagine how impactful on-demand expertise – by way of real-time remote assistance or pre-built guided instructions – could be for a field service team or remote workers managing highly-specialized manufacturing tasks.

2) Avoid complexity and embrace efficiency. From the outset, it’s important to understand where AR will most benefit the people and processes that are the lifeblood of your business. You need to make sure it brings instant expertise and context to the task at-hand. You don’t want to add another layer of process; you want to ensure workers can access knowledge from subject matter experts or resources, wherever they are and whenever they need them.

Some questions to ask along the way:

• What direction or communications do your remote workers need most while they are in their workstream?
• Where can real-time expertise help them complete tasks most efficiently and effectively?
• What tasks in physical space — such as locating repair points, modeling, assembly or QA — could benefit from real-time guidance or visual, intuitive instructions?
• What situations might benefit from live assistance or access to a support recording of the same scenario, versus specialized standalone training?
• What do your senior-staff subject matter experts know that new hires don’t — and can AR-enhanced support, communications or replays help bridge the gap?

3) Don’t lose sight of business realities. At the end of the day, if your first AR use case fails to provide ROI, you might not get a chance to kick off a second one. Ensure you’ve allocated ample budget to complete a project successfully. But don’t burn budget on proprietary hardware or a closed software platform. You likely can build out an initiative with an agnostic AR platform that extends across devices and operating systems your team already uses. Creating a smart budget will help you more quickly achieve ROI.

Beyond planning for cost, you’ll need to navigate another business reality: you’re rarely in it alone. Your AR project will need buy-in from two additional critical sets of stakeholders: your leadership and your IT department. An advocate inside the business can help make the case to leadership for the investment, and ensure they see the hard-cost savings potential in the unprecedented levels of knowledge sharing that AR allows.

Just as critically, however, IT needs to be on board, as early as possible. IT can help you clear hurdles around security, governance or other compliance protocols, like limited-access to intellectual property you might need to share over an AR platform. Approach your AR use case with IT as a full deployment partner, so you’re integrated with the existing systems and infrastructure that knowledge and communications already flow through.

From conversations with business leaders, I know it can seem daunting to get an AR project deployed. With the right use case, you can unlock expertise, share knowledge and add value well beyond the objectives of your initial project. Ready to get started? Download our free eBook, “Building the Perfect AR Use Case” for a step-by-step guide to launching an enterprise AR initiative.

Tesla, incidentally, trialed Google Glass but has since gone on to patent its own AR headset system, a testament to the growth of AR and wearable computers even in manufacturing.

The technology is hitting at just the right time. Some 10 million manufacturing jobs will likely be needed in the coming decade, yet many of those will likely go unfilled due to a massive skills gap, according to Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. 

Augmented reality, which is still trying to find its stride in the enterprise, help by scaling on-the-job knowledge transfer. That could come in the form of everything from schematic overlays to help workers in the field to hives of “old hand” experts in a central location who can guide workers on the job.

The race to provide the technology has been heating up, with companies like Vuforia and Google competing to provide headsets for the next industrial revolution, one aided by automation but in which humans still feature centrally. As in most technology categories, most of the players have competed to provide the most feature-rich hardware, but RealWear has taken a different tack.

“The augmented reality enterprise market has experienced a great deal of hype, but long-term, real-world solutions have been thin on the ground,” said Tom Mainelli, IDC Group VP of Devices and AR/VR. “RealWear smartly recognized the need for a no-nonsensehead-mounted display and has delivered no-frills products that help frontline workers to get their jobs done more safely and efficiently.”

So far RealWear has shipped 15,000+ units, making it a preferred technology provider in its class and attracting interest from big investors like Qualcomm Ventures.

“RealWear has experienced strong growth and is well positioned to become a leading platform for connected workers everywhere,” said Richard Tapalaga, Director, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Investment Director, Qualcomm Ventures.

In the last 18 months the company has added 1,300 enterprise customers, and its app ecosystem has more than 120 workforce software applications.

Innovation specialists will assess value-added technology and provide advanced visibility into various efforts focused on testing potential supply chain management solutions and technological advances outside of a live operation. The announcement was featured in DC Velocity magazine.

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based 3PL Kenco will be opening up a dedicated 10,000 square-foot physical warehouse space, which will serve as an expansion of its Supply Chain Innovation Lab that was introduced by the company in 2015.

LogistiVIEW’s Connected Worker Platform, built on VIEW (Visual Input Enabled Wearable) technology, combines AR, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Computer Vision on smart glasses to transform complex data for workers to make better, more informed decisions across tasks.

LogistiVIEW technology improves workforce productivity and job satisfaction by making processes hands free and eyes focused – guiding workers with simple, highly-intuitive instructions. With visual-based cues that deliver only what is critical for that task, along with simultaneous voice instructions, LogistiVIEW simplifies the worker’s decision-making process to reduce errors, increase accuracy, and enable rapid training.

DC Velocity is the market leading multi-media magazine brand serving the specific informational needs of logistics and supply chain managers and executives. DC VELOCITY offers comprehensive logistics coverage at the hub of logistics as the leader.

Read LogistiView’s AREA member profile and follow them on Twitter @logistiview

Andy Lowery, Cofounder and CEO of RealWear, said the following:

“RealWear’s investors in this round are impressive. RealWear teamed with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to architect an investment syndicate led by Teradyne, Inc. (TER), a global leader in industrial automation, and includes Bose Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures LLC (QCOM), Kopin Corporation (KOPN), and investors from JPMorgan’s (JPM) Private Bank.

Each of us is eager to lead industrial digital transformation globally. Every RealWear investor, from seed to series B, have recognized the significance of RealWear and the HMT product line. Our rugged hands-free wearable computer has been the fundamental nucleus triggering an acceleration of this digital renaissance.

RealWear has already achieved what no other company in our space has done before us.  Now, the new private funding will enable RealWear to grow our focus on industrial safety and security, in preparation to manage an exploding number of large-scale deployments.

Since the beginning, our legendary “RealWear serendipity” struck like a bolt of lightning on February 28, 2016, when Dr. Chris Parkinson knocked on my door in Los Angeles, wearing a yellow hardhat and clutching a bag (looking like something out of a Harry Potter film). That bag contained over ten years of research in wearable computer prototype development. It was the implementation of voice recognition technology, safety-first industrial design and hands-free user experience that amazed me.

The results speak for themselves. Today, RealWear boasts 1300 customers who are saving millions while simultaneously improving safety. Over 15,000 RealWear systems are fielded today that are leveraging a software ecosystem of over 120 applications that increase the bottom line.

We spend the majority of our time today building the enablement partnerships and support tools to enable our customers with ongoing deployments, like Colgate-Palmolive, Shell, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, The State Grid of China, Honeywell, BMW, and many more.

Thank you. RealWear is here to stay.”

We are delighted at their news.

Read RealWear’s AREA member profile here. https://thearea.org/area-members/realwear/

If you are interested in joining The AREA, please get in touch or find out more on our membership page. https://thearea.org/membership/

Friedman writes: “My main point then was that wearable technologies – the body-worn sensors being integrated into organizations’ EHS efforts, exoskeletons taking a load off workers’ backs, and VR headsets being hailed as the future of job training – exhibit coded patriarchy and risk further alienating the female workforce. Wearables that are replacing or supplementing traditional PPE(personal protective equipment) cannot succumb to the same biased or negligent design as have automobiles, office buildings, etc., for the future economy and growth of the workforce depend upon improving job prospects and working environments for women.”

The author takes us through the history of man, why this is more than product ergonomics, the data gap at the heart of the workplace, PPE in the workplace, how designing needs to change in future, and how uncomfortable lead to unproductive which ultimately impacts everyone in the enterprise.

The 6th annual EWTS will be held September 17-19 2019 in Dallas, Texas.  Events page here.

AWE started early on May 29th – with a breakfast and panel of experts exploring how Augmented Reality is changing the way companies in the automotive and manufacturing worlds tackle the challenges of skills shortages, competitive pressures and a desire to reduce resolution times and better meet customer needs.

The panel was moderated by Mark Sage, the executive director of the Augmented Reality Enterprise Alliance (AREA), who kicked the discussion off by asking the panelists how they are seeing AR being used in their different industries.

Automotive industry veteran (and new Atheer advisor) Salim Murr offered his perspective on how he sees the AR use case for automotive dealers. He said while many industries are facing shortages of experienced, skilled technicians, that shortage is particularly acute in the automotive industry.

He said the shortage is compounded by the massive sea change facing the sector as it moves to meet the growing demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, which require not only retraining existing staff (and providing them with fast, efficient and accurate, on-the-ground support), but also ensuring that they are deeply familiar with the safety issues that come with working on high voltage electric vehicles. “You do not want touch 400 volts!,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Dirk Frese, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at JULABO USA, pointed out for companies like Julabo (which produces highly dynamic and precise temperature control solutions), the focus is on using augmented reality to help diagnose, repair and review products to ensure they are optimized for both customers and their applications.

Moderator Mark Sage also suggested that AR is an interesting technology in that its enterprise customers almost segment themselves more by their use cases (such as field service, training or warehouse management) than they do by industry. And he pointed out that for any enterprise wanting to adopt AR, they really need to have strong baseline data to capture their existing costs and processes and then be crystal clear about the problems they are trying to solve.

Atheer CEO Amar Dhaliwal, who was both a member of the panel and also the host for the event (held at Atheer’s Santa Clara offices less than 2 miles from AWE) reported that several strong use cases are emerging for enterprise AR – including field service, dealer service, on-the-job training, maintenance, repair and overhaul, inspection and surveying (notably for insurance companies) as well as cargo handling and warehouse operations (such as the work Atheer is doing with the International Air Transport Association).