“Starting with VR, we are building an Oculus Go and Oculus Quest Enterprise edition expected to launch in 2019,” it reads in part. “Are you excited about how VR and AR can change the future of work? Join us to make it a reality.”

Facebook in the past launched Oculus for Business as a dedicated bulk purchasing program for companies looking to dive into VR. A company spokesperson told VarietyMonday that the enterprise edition products will be part of its existing business offerings. She declined to share any further details.

It does appear that these new enterprise editions will go a lot further than the company’s existing bulk purchase program. The person hired for the job will have to “design and develop enterprise features into Oculus mobile VR system applications,” get Oculus hardware and software ready to be used in corporate trainings, adhere to the stricter security rules in enterprise environments and “work with external developers innovating on future-of-work experiences,” according to the job listing.

Facebook’s enterprise ambitions could be bad news for competitor HTC, which has increasingly focused on corporate clients for its latest VR headsets. After first releasing its HTC Vive Focus standalone headset for consumers in China, the company launched it in Europe and the U.S. as an enterprise product. This includes a dedicated commercial licensing and support plan dubbed Advantage.

The fact that companies like Facebook and HTC are increasingly focusing on enterprise VR usage can also be seen as a response to lower-than-expected headset sales to consumers. Facebook is hoping that its upcoming Oculus Quest headset, which offers immersive VR gameplay without the need for a PC, will finally catch on with consumers. The headset, which will be priced $399, is scheduled to be released to consumers this spring.

The Philips and Microsoft augmented reality concept, built for HoloLens 2, brings live imaging and other sources of vital data currently displayed on large 2D screens into a 3D holographic augmented reality environment that can be ergonomically, easily and intuitively controlled by the physician. The concept is being used to gather further clinical insights to support the development of future commercially-available augmented reality solutions for use in image-guided procedures.

“The transition from open surgery to image-guided procedures has driven a seismic shift in improving patient outcomes and reducing costs—not least by dramatically reducing the length of time a patient stays in a hospital after their procedure,” said Atul Gupta, chief medical officer for Image Guided Therapy at Philips and a practicing interventional and diagnostic radiologist. “On our Azurion platform we seamlessly integrate a range of data sources in a way that is intuitive to understand and control. By collaborating with Microsoft and HoloLens 2 we can take it to the next level, immersing the physician in a tailored augmented reality environment. This concept allows me to see the real world superimposed with the live data and 3D medical imagery needed to guide our precision therapy, and importantly also lets me control Azurion with voice recognition, eye tracking and advanced gestures. It is all about keeping our focus on the patient.”

“Mixed reality is giving people new ways to interact with the digital and physical world, bringing the benefits of the digital revolution to entirely new experiences across the globe,” said Alex Kipman, technical fellow, AI and Mixed Reality at Microsoft. “I am thrilled to see companies in a broad range of industries achieve more using the products that we build with our partners and ecosystem. Mixed reality holds great potential in healthcare, and our collaboration with Philips shows how that potential is already beginning to be realised.”

Microsoft unveiled HoloLens 2 during the previous day of the conference. HoloLens is a self-contained holographic computer that enables hands-free, heads-up interaction with three-dimensional digital objects.

Since its global launch in February 2017, over half a million patients have been treated in more than 80 countries using the Azurion platform, which is powered by Philips’ proprietary ConnectOS and combines technical innovations in both software and hardware. ConnectOS allows the integration of advanced digital innovations on the Azurion platform.

Tunnel vision—focusing on a single objective while remaining blind to peripheral risks and opportunities—can make even the steadiest projects sway. Especially when those projects take place in, well, tunnels, where tunnel vision is as literal as it is figurative.

Aviation firm Corgan discovered this firsthand at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as the lead design firm creating the new Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) for the international terminal. The construction of the $1.6 billion project, which began in early 2017, includes a 750,000-square-foot concourse, utility tunnel, and passenger tunnel connecting the existing Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). The tunnels span about a quarter mile and also house a new baggage-handling system.

Project manager Monica Sosa felt that Corgan would benefit from using DAQRI Smart Glasses, portable augmented-reality (AR) glasses that layer digital information on top of the physical environment, to visualize 3D models alongside the build construction. The glasses also provide remote work assistance, which benefits the architect, owner, consultants, and stakeholders who are not available to walk the site.

Sosa obtained funding from Corgan Create, an internal committee tasked with seeding the company’s innovation. She also acquired a Matterport 3D camera, which captures 360-degree scans at 4K resolution and overlays them onto geometric information to create high-resolution 3D models.

This article explains the process of how the new technologies were used to help the construction project by using AR smart glasses, presenting each step of the construction process.

That makes working with HoloLens that much more immersive when you’re looking at the holograms it’s creating. And those can be anything from a massive movie screen to a model of a new building. Or a set of instructions showing you how to bake a batch of cookies or repair an aircraft engine. And with a pair of cameras, the headset can also be a phone-a-friend, allowing anyone to see through the eyes of whoever’s wearing the headset. Think about that. Your friends can also use an app to circle things they see, which show up as holographic notations when you’re wearing the headset.

“The goal is these things will transform humans,” HoloLens leader Alex Kipman said in an interview at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters. “They’ll empower people and organizations to do things they plainly were not able to do before.”

Case studies and use cases are explored. Microsoft isn’t crazy for thinking big about the potential of these headsets. The tech industry’s brightest minds are already investing billions of dollars to develop mixed reality (or, as some call it, augmented reality). They’re all betting it’ll change the way we use computers in the next few years. The market for AR gear is expected to explode, from under $6 billion last year to almost $200 billion by 2025, according to data compiled by Statista.

“We don’t have to just imagine it, this future is here,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at an event announcing the device Sunday at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. “Together, these advances are shaping the next phase of innovation.”

A high-profile startup Magic Leap started shipping a $2,295 headset last August after working on it for seven years and raising $2.3 billion in investment from backers including AT&T, Google and Warner Bros. Facebook, which sells a $399 fully immersive virtual reality headset called the Oculus Rift, is working on a HoloLens competitor as well. Even Apple is secretly building one, which sources told CNET may arrive in 2020.

Microsoft is opening preorders for the HoloLens 2 on Feb. 24 for $3,500. The company plans to ship the device later this year.

HoloLens (the name is inspired by holograms) sounded straight out of sci-fi when it was first demoed. “We’re not talking about putting you into virtual worlds,” Kipman said when he introduced the device in 2015. “We’re dreaming beyond virtual worlds, beyond screens, beyond pixels.”

AREA members that have this week announced their involvement with Microsoft HoloLens 2 include Crunchfish, Fieldbit and Vuzix.

Vuforia solutions give industrial customers an efficient and effective way to create AR/MR interactions that capitalize on Microsoft HoloLens 2 new gestures, voice enhancements, and tracking capabilities without the need for extensive programming or costly custom designers.

Today, industrial manufacturers face a growing shortage of skilled workers, high turnover, increasingly complex products, and fierce competitive pressures. Augmented and mixed reality help overcome these challenges and promote workforce efficiency by delivering information when and where workers need it most: in the real-world context of their daily work environment.

With the immersive “hands-free” experiences created with Vuforia Studio for HoloLens 2, industrial customers can empower their workers and improve their manufacturing, service, and training processes to unlock new business opportunities and better meet the needs of their customers.

“One of the key value drivers for AR/MR in the industrial space is improving worker efficiency with ‘hands-free’ procedural guidance and instruction,” said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. “Vuforia Studio’s efficient AR/MR authoring environment and HoloLens 2 usability and comfort enhancements are a winning combination for industrial manufacturers.”

Howden Creates Immersive Customer Experience with Vuforia and HoloLens 2

This week at Mobile World Congress, PTC and Microsoft will demonstrate how AR/MR improves worker efficiency with Howden, a Colfax company, that is using Vuforia Studio and HoloLens 2 to improve the service experience. Howden is a global engineering company with industrial products that help multiple sectors improve their everyday processes, from mine ventilation and waste water treatment to heating and cooling.

Reusing existing 3D models, Howden created scalable step-by-step mixed reality service instructions with Vuforia Studio. Incorporating real-time and historic IoT data from PTC’s ThingWorx^® Industrial IoT platform and Microsoft Azure, Howden is enhancing their customer’s experience of owning the equipment.

“Our equipment typically operates as process critical, and our customers are looking to us for solutions to empower them on how to best service their equipment,” said Maria Wilson, Ph.D., global leader data driven advantage, Howden Group. “Using mixed reality rendered on Microsoft HoloLens, the customer experience is truly immersive. It provides insights into the operating conditions and performance of the equipment that they’ve never had before.”

Driving the Adoption of AR/MR in the Industrial Enterprise

This announcement heralds the next step in the PTC and Microsoft alliance that kicked-off in 2017 to help drive adoption of augmented and mixed reality in the industrial enterprise. Vuforia Studio and HoloLens 2 will enable content creators to leverage their existing 3D and IoT data from ThingWorx^® and Azure to improve collaboration, understanding, and productivity in real world environments.

“The integration of Vuforia and Microsoft HoloLens 2 continues our collaboration with PTC and advances our efforts to provide transformative experiences for our customers within the manufacturing arena,” said Alex Kipman, technical fellow, AI and Mixed Reality, Microsoft. “We look forward to our collaboration providing innovative out-of-the-box solutions that accelerate the adoption of mixed reality in the industrial space.”

With Vuforia Engine, developers can also take advantage of HoloLens 2 advanced features to deliver unique, engaging, and interactive mobile experiences that bring people closer to brands and products.

As part of PTC’s ongoing initiatives to drive innovation and provide customers with the best solutions for addressing manufacturing, service, and training challenges, PTC’s Vuforia solutions will also leverage the recently announced Microsoft Azure Spatial Anchor Service in the future to enable more collaborative, cross-platform mixed reality experiences.

The following is taken from Fieldbit’s announcement.  Fieldbit believes that smart glasses are the device of choice for field personnel to access information, view IoT data and collaborate with experts and peers to resolve technical issues efficiently and on the first visit.

• Microsoft’s HoloLens V2 for remote assistance confirms theor long-term vision.
• What makes Fieldbit uniquely different for Field Service Enterprises?
• Fieldbit offers industrial customers an open, multi-platform augmented-reality-based solution for remote assistance and knowledge management
• Fieldbit is ready for smart glasses, smartphones (iOS and Android), and tablets
• Fieldbit seamlessly integrates with existing Field Service Management (FSM), CRM and ERP systems
• Fieldbit’s solution is proven and fully deployed in tier-1 industrial customers

With Skylight’s comprehensive support for devices, hands-on workers can now seamlessly access helpful information for their tasks, collaborate with others through live video and capture insights as they work on any device. Hands-on workers can also seamlessly transition between devices, starting the day on a smartphone to review work orders and continuing on smart glasses when tasks require keeping their hands free.

Businesses running Skylight now have maximum flexibility to deploy a range of devices optimized for each hands-on task with one centralized platform connected to their enterprise systems. With this, they are better able to secure the access of information flowing to and from every worker and further scale across their entire operations.

“Upskill’s mission is to empower every hands-on worker to be successful. That’s why we believe it’s critical to bring the digital enterprise all the way to the hands-on workforce, with the right information available to them at the right time with minimal disruptions,” said Brian Ballard, Upskill CEO and co-founder. “With the latest enhancements to Skylight, it makes critical data, peer collaboration and the unique fidelity provided by augmented reality even more accessible. Skylight accelerates organizations along their digital transformation journey, regardless of where they are today.”

Read their full press release here.

The Helpline Plus AR innovation provides a remote assistance service to Bobst’s customers using a smart headset with augmented reality glasses. The technology is being gradually rolled out globally, Bobst says.

Customers can use the headset to contact technical experts and iron out any issues they may be having as well as receive real time advice and support.

 “This is a huge step forward in terms of embracing the latest technology to maximize customer experience,” Julien Laran, head of business unit services at Bobst, says.

“We believe this will bring significant benefits for our customers, particularly time and cost savings due to the rapid problem-solving this innovation enables. Even before AR, our Helpline service could solve many issues online in less than two hours – we now believe that more issues can be solved, and time can be reduced even further.”

The wi-fi connected technology establishes a secure connection with the customer’s machine allowing customers to get a Bobst expert on-demand, and with the help of the two-way video and audio live stream.

Laran says the technology stands to create a seamless experience between Bobst experts and customers as the machine is directly connected to the service.

 “And with the smart headset, both are looking at the same thing at the same time, limiting any risk of confusion. The service bridges knowledge gaps and ultimately adds up to less downtime and increased productivity, as well as an enhanced customer experience.”

About RealWear

Every day, everywhere around the world, industrial workers face daunting challenges. They must stay alert to the performance of countless systems while navigating complex and often dangerous environments. Thousands of projects are quite literally in their hands.  If you’re responsible for improving worker safety and efficiency and safety, where do you start?  By freeing your hands.  RealWear is creating a future that prioritizes industrial worker safety, efficiency, and performance.

Empower Industrial Workers

The performance of an entire factory might hinge upon a single gauge or pump. If industrial workers can respond to changing conditions in a factory, they can reduce costly downtime. But what if they could be proactive? With the RealWear HMT-1 and HMT-1Z1, industrial workers can anticipate problems before they start. That’s how you stay on track.

Focus On Knowledge Transfer

While many companies are tracking machinery performance through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), not all of this information is valuable at every moment. Managing this firehose of data is one of the most important IoT use cases in manufacturing and industry. How do you get the right information to industrial workers at the right time?

RealWear headsets give industrial workers an easy way to drill down on the data that matters. The HMT-1 and HMT-1Z1 industrial wearables allow workers to interact with machinery in ways that have never been possible before. With RealWear headsets, industrial workers can use voice commands to accomplish the following:

• Say what you see: call up schematics, data sheets, and more
• Record live video and take pictures on command
• Run into trouble? Call a remote mentor

This kind of knowledge transfer is exactly what industrial workers need: relevant, on-demand, and hands-free.

Make It Intuitive

Industrial workers have enough to think about without having to learn a new piece of hardware. And that’s why RealWear headsets make knowledge transfer so easy. You can get started by remembering just one phrase: “Say what you see.”

Andrew Rhodes of RealWear expressed his gratitude on behalf of RealWear to John Hitch at New Equipment Digest for an excellent overview of RealWear technology. Read the full article here: Crowning Achievement: This Industrial Wearable Reigns Supreme.

The MTC has been officially named as a Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner.

They will now work together to create apps and teach more companies how to use technology such as HoloLens, Microsoft’s mixed reality headset, to save time and money, and improve quality and customer service.

“The MTC supports large and small companies across the UK,” said David Varela, Technology Manager at the MTC. “Our mission is to help manufacturers in the UK compete on the global stage. One way we do that is by using HoloLens, and two Microsoft tools in particular – Remote Assist and Layout. By sending our members a HoloLens, we are able to remotely work with companies to solve their problems and help them achieve their goals. It is much easier and cheaper for everyone.”

Rather than put users in a fully computer-generated world, as virtual reality does, HoloLens allows users to place 3D digital models in the room alongside them. As the Windows-10-based product does not have wires or external cameras, or require a phone or PC connection, users can walk around the objects they create and interact with them using gestures, gaze and voice.

Remote Assist lets people collaborate remotely with heads-up, hands-free video calling, image sharing and mixed-reality annotations. With Layout, you can import 3D models to easily create and edit room layouts in real-world scale. The MTC has previously worked with customers on hundreds of scenarios, showing them the value of the technology.

The MTC built on those programs to offer their own services, including Remote Line Walk. “What would usually happen is an engineer would visit an SME, walk around the workshop and suggest technologies and processes to make them more efficient or help them overcome a challenge,” Varela said. “Now, instead of us sending a person to the site, we just ship a HoloLens to them, they put on the headset and we can deliver the same process remotely. Someone who used to need three days to do a couple of visits is now able to do three visits in one day. We can give them an expert on demand.”

HoloLens is already being used by large manufacturers and industrial customers such as Chevron and can have huge benefits for other firms in the sector, which is a major part of the UK economy.

Manufacturing makes up 10% of the economy, employs 2.6 million people and is responsible for 45% of exports, totalling £275 billion. The importance of technology to helping growth in the sector was reflected in research from the EEF, the trade body for the UK’s manufacturing sector, which found that 80% of firms believe Industry 4.0 – the blending of industrial practices and technology – will be a reality by 2025.

“We tried every device in the market and the HoloLens was the best by a good distance, and it still is,” Varela said. “The beauty of HoloLens is it’s Windows-based, so developing is far easier than for other devices. There are also integrations with Azure services, and that makes it so powerful.”

This is just the beginning of the MTC’s work with HoloLens and mixed reality. Over the past two years, it has been working with the Advanced Visualization steering committee, including large aerospace manufacturing companies to create an Azure cloud-based platform called VIVAR. VIVAR is a guided instructions platform that can be used across the manufacturing process in order to advance workplace visualisations.