The scenarios explained in the article include:

1. Pilot in emergency based on FedEx Express cargo airline – Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display (SAVED) which delivers vision and oxygen to a pilot in an emergency.
2. AR helping humans to interface with IoT data collected from devices more quickly e.g. Amazon and Vuzix collaboration
3. Engineering walking through complex designs
4. Navigating factory floors e.g. at Volkswagen for maintenance, inventory, inspections, etc.
5. Porch home improvement startup’s collaboration with AR provider Streem can provide quotes and fixes even before a contractor has turned up, using machine learning and computer vision.
6. Boeing has reduced wire repair time by 25% in the belly of their planes by using handsfree AR solution powered by Skylight software by Upskill, one of the members of The AREA.
7. Mixed reality hard hat – French company GA Smart Buildings are achieving more precise quality control over the assembly of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems as well as cast concrete.
8. Paccar used AR in the design phase of their huge semis and built a hologram that’s the full size of an 18-wheeler, replacing this part of the design phase that once was done with clay models.
9. AcuVein has developed a mix of laser scanning and AR to reduce the number of failed attempts at sticking a needle in a patient’s vein with impressive success rates.

The full article can be read on CIO.com.

Previously, on-premises products enabled 3D environments and virtual actors for various use cases such as training, simulations, and marketing. The Sumerian-managed service brings this tech to the cloud and works on a range of platforms, such as web browsers, mobile phones, and VR hardware.

Amazon Sumerian aims to simplify the app-building process. It functions as follows:

• Developers create or upload their 3D environment in AWS Management Console.
• Sumerian Hosts, 3D animated characters, can be added, which can use natural language understanding and automatic speech recognition to read scripts or answer verbal questions.
• Developers can customise Sumerian Hosts’ genders, appearances, clothing, and other features, before adding them to any virtual scene.

Other vendor producrs, such as Maya, Cinema 4D, oe 3ds Max Design, also produce similar results, although they have an increased cost. Sumerian also helps accelerate speed to deployment.

Enterprise uses for Amazon Sumerian explained in the article are:

• Training / advertising – although marketing and HR in particular are mentioned, any sector aiming to create interactive, user-friendly demos will find a benefit in the Sumerian.
• Integration with other Amazon offerings – the service integrates with Amazon Lex and Polly, enabling voice interactions between Sumerian Hosts and end users. Developers can also integrate real-time data from other Amazon services into Sumerian scenes.
• Convenience and speed – enterprises requiring rapid VR development will find Sumerian useful as it is quick, cheap, and easy. It is a good introduction to VR for enterprises, as they don’t have to worry about processing requirements for larger VR tools or the major server.

Despite the Sumerian having been built with developers inexperienced with VR in mind, the article does recommend a certain level of confidence with technology before building apps, such as understanding the basic premise of running a public cloud service (security and cost monitoring).

The Sumerian service includes a 12 month free trial, which offers users the ability to create a published scene up to 50MB that can receive a maximum of 100 views per month. After the free trial, the service costs $0.06 per GB a month for scene storage and $0.38 per GB a month for scene traffic. On average, a Sumerian project for enterprises costs between $5 and $25, which is relatively inexpensive compared to high-powered servers and displays, often exceeding $10,000 and not including support, power, or software.

It’s tedious and time-consuming work for field technicians, who must photograph each pole, write down its location on a map along with other identifying information, and then manually enter those details in a database back at the office.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Kansas, but it’s hot and humid,” Wassenberg says of the Kansas summer. “A lot of times you can’t even read your own handwriting.”

But Wassenberg, who heads augmented reality initiatives at energy consultant Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City, has a trick in his toolkit to make the process more efficient. During the recent utility pole distribution survey, Wassenberg wore an industrial AR headset made by RealWear, which helped him turn a cumbersome, analog process into a streamlined and hands-free experience.

Vancouver, Washington-based RealWear’s flagship product, the HMT-1, is essentially a helmet equipped with a voice-activated Android computer, a computer and a drop-down display. Using voice commands during the recent survey, Wassenberg instructed the headset to take a picture of each utility pole and update its name in the database. And with the AR overlay, Wassenberg could look into his field of vision and see a landscape of green markers where poles had already been inventoried — thus avoiding any unnecessary work.

RealWear is particularly useful for communications back to base while workers are in the field, Wassenberg says. He adds that by allowing a worker to livestream a job to other engineers, Burns & McDonnell can reduce the number of personnel it must send out to a work site. Senior engineers can also use the technology to guide junior team members through tasks, enabling remote on-the-job training, he says.

Even without the livestreaming capability, the HMT-1 lets workers pull up any relevant documents, like schematics or manuals, using voice commands. They can easily switch back and forth between information and tasks — all without using their hands.

Such capabilities are essential for in-the-field workers, who need the technology to just work. Andy Lowery, founder and CEO of RealWear, says his company’s headsets offers features that are important in industries like field service that competitors like Google Glass can’t match. Each headset has enough memory to store about 10 GB of information locally, with a storage expansion slot to add 256 GB. It can also recognize a voice command the first time, no matter how much noise is in the background. And when the HMT-1 starts to run out of juice, its battery can be swapped out easily in the middle of a job.

Read the full article here.

The article mainly consists of an interview with Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director for Service Management at IFS, a global enterprise software provider, who addresses the field service industry’s interest in AR / VR.

Key points given by Brewer in the article include:

• Field service is focused on predicting failure and improving asset reliability as well as reducing service costs and enhancing customer experience
• AR and live video can be used for remote customer support, making technician dispatch unnecessary, although a field service provider is required for off-site engagement is a truck roll is needed
• Service providers can offer additional valuable resources from a centralised source more efficiently and at a reduced cost due to the ability to tag additional experts given by AR
• AR and Mixed Reality can effectively democratise knowledge
• Resource conversation and cost reductions are two important variables that maximise output in field service
• ARVR tech reduces training time for field workers as well as enabling them to virtually access the situation
• AR tech in particular increases communication with the contact centre, allowing off-site professionals to guide equipped workers
• Extra info and tools are made available via useful ARVR projections, which means workers no longer have to retrieve forgotten materials
• A study by The Service Council found that 41% of incomplete service visits would benefit from AR sessions or live video
• The same study found that 72% of respondents were already evaluating or utilising AR
• Currently, one of the most popular ARVR use cases in field service is virtual guidance
• DAQRI’s AR glasses are used by companies to interact with 3D models so they can access equipment analytics and perform service functions
• The Microsoft HoloLens has also been used by Siemen’s eHighway system project to provide workers with remote access to off-site employees, a virtual checklist, and repair diagrams
• Employee training is currently another major use case of ARVR in field service, as it provides a visual walkthrough of a process
• DAQRI AR has been used in Los Angeles to accelerate fire department team members’ training on how to fix broken headsets
• NASA has used AR tech to aid instructions on how to perform maintenance operations in space for astronauts
• Industries making more use of ARVR include manufacturing, medical, automotive, HVAC, construction and general training
• Promising hardware innovations mentioned are the Microsoft HoloLen, Oculus Rift, DAQRI AR Headsets, and Google Glass Enterprise Edition
• Interesting AR software and platforms mentioned are XMReality, Webex, XOi Technologies, GoToMeeting, PTC Vuforia, and SightCall

Brewer concludes the interview by expressing excitement for the concept of combining AR tech with IoT, enabling the ‘Digital Twin’, which is where a digital representation of a physical object can be created, allowing the way in which a unit is being operated to be monitored easier.

Ms. Hodge has also said that AR is become a vital part of the spacecraft division’s digital infrastructure, as it is increasing the efficiency, reducing troubleshooting time for design and manufacturing issues, and reducing defect rate for one spacecraft production line. She is quoted to have said that the tech can give them a competitive advantage and accelerate the company.

Many other companies, particularly in manufacturing, have been exploring AR. According to Forrester Research Inc., approximately 14.4 million US workers will use smart glasses such as Microsoft HoloLens and Google Glass in 2025, compared to 400,000 in 2018. They have also predicted that large companies will spend $3.6 billion on smart glasses in 2025, compared to $6 million in 2016.

Lockheed’s spacecraft division started exploring use of AR in production five years ago. In the last year, the company has begun experimenting with AR in the manufacturing of the Orion space vehicle being built for NASA with the purpose of travelling to Mars, due to advances in AR headsets and sufficient expertise on the software. Before this, technicians used paper instructions or 3D computer models in certain Orion manufacturing processes, whereas now, wearable AR devices overlay instructions rather than workers having to use binders of data or move across the room to view content on a computer screen.

Shelley Peterson, Augmented Reality systems engineer at Lockheed Martin, is stated to have said that since using the headsets, the time taken for a technician to understand drilling processes has been reduced to 45 minutes from eight hours. The manufacturing process of drilling and inserting panels into the Orion spacecraft previously took six weeks, but recently took only two weeks. Ms. Hodge is stated to have said that AR has also helped technicians to eliminate defects due to ease of following instructions, and that analysing ROI looks at reducing defect rate and cycle time.

Ms. Hodge has also said that software programmes given by vendors like Scope AR make it easier for IT workers at Lockheed to design 3D representations of instructions and objects overlaid on the physical world, as they require less coding. Technological challenges remain, such as headsets encountering difficulties in 3D image rendering of complex machinery, as Ms. Hodge pointed out, which need to be addressed before AR reached widespread deployment. However, the spacecraft division is further experimenting with using 3D representations of jets and weapons systems to reduce design time for military members’ defense system-related projects. Lockheed’s innovation centre in Denver plans to offer clients the chance to visualise certain weapons systems or F-35 jets in certain environments, which would reduce design time due to Lockheed’s quick, instant feedback and customer collaboration, as stated by Ms. Hodge.

Lockheed Martin’s AREA member profile can be read here.

CIMC’s focus is on innovation and promoting the development of smart manufacturing, following suit of ‘Made in China 2025’ in addition to efforts to promote integration of the Internet, artificial intelligence, big data, and the real economy. Qingdao CIMC Reefer Container Manufacture Co., Ltd (QCRC), its subsidiary, lead the piloting for the integration of IoT and MES.

As the overall platform for the pilot project, ThingWorx will connect to the company’s MES to create an integrated factory information platform and data application consumption platform in order to achieve full-course visual operations, conduct big data analysis of major technologies, and essentially aid reduction of operating costs as well as boost production efficiency. ThingWorx is the award-winning Industrial Innovation Platform from PTC consisting of tools and tech that allows users to quickly develop, deploy, and extend apps and Augmented Reality experiences. The platform includes a wide range of features, such as a variety of connectivity options, analytics, and application development tools all built around a single, real-time view of a physical object in the virtual world.

ThingWorx supports remote data collection of connected devices, manages devices / sensors, integrates with multiple enterprise-level systems, and enables independent and secure connection between devices. The analysis function and big data learning in Thing Worx also allows predictive maintenance and lowers energy consumption as well as unplanned downtime of said devices. Project leaders of QCRC will be able to understand the factory’s operations, warnings, and abnormalities in real-time as well as future production trends.

Jinjie Pan, CIO at CIMC, is quoted to have said that information tech is used in the QCRC pilot project to solve the issue in business management by providing data for management, decision-making, and operations. The aim of the project is to integrate an information-based platform and automated devices as well as explore the integration of informatisation and automation.

Jerry Liu, DVP and President of Greater China, PTC, is also quoted to have said that the company is looking forward to seeing CIMC utilise ThingWorx as part of industrial IoT for digital transformation and smart manufacturing. PTC believes that the successful launch of this project will boost CIMC’s development, aid its digital transformation, and in a wider context, help to promote smart manufacturing development in China.

PTC’s AREA member profile can be read here.

The market opportunity for AR goes far beyond gamers or consumers and has the potential to disrupt the enterprise market of technical and skilled workers – from engineers to architects, to healthcare professionals.

The potential for the technology is perhaps best underlined by the fact that major tech industry players are committed to developing AR marketing. For instance, global tech brands such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook are providing deep toolsets for developers to create apps targeting the use of AR.

Many have also quietly adopted the implicit assumption that a persistent, wearable artificial reality is the next big thing, according to Epson Singapore.

As AR adoption gains momentum and an increasing number of industrial applications being launched, some businesses are expected to start incorporating smart glasses into the core of their Internet of Things (IoT) systems, in their quest to enhance worker productivity and streamline backend operations.

According to Amy Kwa, regional manager of visual products at Epson Singapore, “Deploying AR will enable processes at work to be more efficient, by enhancing the reality of the user, so they can, for example maintain an engine or a complex electrical board in an intuitive and easy manner. They’ll be able to see the internal structure of a device and act on the information in real-time.”

Smart glasses have a wide variety of features that offer new AR experiences for a broad range of commercial and industrial market applications. For instance, Epson’s latest Moverio smart glasses offer video and can benefit several sectors, including healthcare.

The glasses have proven to be helpful for surgeons and clinicians, allowing them to fully concentrate on their patients by freeing them from manually handling data, allowing them to focus on complex tasks. Dentists have also been greatly assisted by smart glasses as they are capable of providing a precise heads-up overlay of their patient’s teeth. This allows them to have better hand-eye coordination and a more precise treatment time.

Augmented Reality through smart glasses

As smart glasses evolve to become a truly seamless experience that users interact with on a daily basis, one of the most important issues for developers of AR wearables is form factor. Future generations of smart glasses are expected to be equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities, stereo 3D graphics, and enhanced processing of images and audio.

The user’s choice of smart glasses will depend on their purpose. Key considerations include their ability to deliver digital information crisply and legibly, and also whether the smart glasses are comfortable, especially when worn for long hours.

For use in applications such as healthcare or at museums, galleries and tourist destinations, smart glasses have the benefit of enhancing the overall experience for visitors. With smart glasses and AR, background data on whatever the visitor is viewing can be shown in real-time as part of the tour they are experiencing.

In other applications, operators are using smart glasses in heavy industrial jobsites that may be hot and cramped. In situations like these, it is crucial that workers remain focused as any distraction could result in safety issues. The smart glasses, in this case, need to be in the form of a headset, secured with a firm headband, so that safety is guaranteed.

Looking ahead

According to Kwa, it is likely that adoption of AR technology will reach a tipping point this year. “Developers will launch innovative new apps to grow the commercial and consumer markets, and they will be working to overcome issues such as predictive head motion tracking to reduce ‘motion to photon’ latency, as well as the constraints on power and thermal factors necessary to keep the glasses cool.”

As smart glasses become the norm, we are likely to see them entering additional industries, such as fashion. Whether smart glasses appear on the catwalks of Paris and Milan or not, the potential for AR combined with wearables is huge.

“Following the personal computer, the Internet and the smartphone, AR and smart glasses are likely to be the world’s next transformative technology,” Kwa predicted.

It’s a valid question, which Scope AR goes on to address in their blog.  The WorkLink platform was built primarily around the concept that organizations would be leveraging their own products’ CAD models to create augmented reality training and instruction materials.  Many of our clients are using it in exactly that way, and having no difficulty in achieving that workflow.

The scenarios where this approach doesn’t fit tend to be in a few general categories.

• “We need to assist our employees on equipment that is supplied by a vendor”
• “The CAD files exist and we own them, but we are struggling to get them released to us”
• “This equipment pre-dates our CAD software”

In actuality, most of these scenarios are likely to be short-lived. Where IP protection is a concern, for instance, CAD files can be converted and simplified at source to maximize the value to instruction while minimizing the exposure of proprietary information. In addition, the very nature of self-authoring keeps that exposure limited to your internal content authors and a pre-approved workforce working across a secure network. As the benefits of AR instruction and assistance become more commonly understood, these barriers are starting to fall.

The rest of their blog is devoted to sharing some useful techniques for these situations.

See Scope AR’s member profile page. 

In 2015, PTC purchased Vuforia, a mobile vision platform that was one of the first software developer kits to enable AR on a wide range of mobile devices, from Qualcomm. Thousands of Vuforio-based apps exist in the real world as it can be used to create AR apps for Android, iOS, and UWP. PTC also has software called Vuforia studio that allows users to create AR experiences using existing CAD assets and a simple drag-and-drop interface. Vuforia Chalk is the company’s purpose-built remote assistance app that allows field workers to communicate with experts using an AR interface. Most companies are using PTC-based tech through mobile devices present in the enterprise, although an increasing number of companies are testing on headsets from partners such as AREA member RealWear.

PTC recently acquired new tech that will be delivered in future products enabling the creation of step-by-step AR experiences by an AR headset (Waypoint) user and editing for consumption (Reality Editor). This software will increase ease of streamlining knowledge transfer between professionals and trainees for companies.

The article states that one of the powerful things about AR is that is has the potential to allow humans to see into IoT, which PTV demonstrated during its keynote. Another demonstration was made of moving a digitally created control switch from an AR interface to a physical control panel, and PTC also created a working manufacturing line on the expo floor to demonstrate the integration of IoT, AR, and robots. One working session that PTC ran during the show was about connecting AR to business value, in which real-world advice was given to IT decision makers trying to integrate AR with sectors such as manufacturing, service, and sales.

It is mentioned in the article that PTC is aware that partnerships are key to building out new tech such as AR and IoT, as they had announced in the weeks before the show their partnerships with companies such as ANSYS, Elysium, and Rockwell Automation. The article concludes by addressing PTC’s awareness that, despite mobile AR being powerful, AR on headsets is game-changing for workers requiring a hands-free experience, and this will be a key driver for AR’s progress in the enterprise.

With a broad range of system-related technical trainings and advanced trainings, a total of 31 Bosch Training Centers worldwide support automotive workshops in keeping up with technical developments concerning vehicle servicing and repair. The training center in Plochingen close to Stuttgart (Germany) develops the courses and trains more than 3 500 workshop employees annually. For the first time ever, Bosch will now use the innovative Augmented Reality technology for its technical service trainings thus literally increasing the transparency of the training contents for the participants.

Practical insights into future learning

During the Automechanika fair in Frankfurt, Bosch offers daily accredited trainings on high-voltage engines. Automotive mechatronics can get acquainted with the new training technology free of charge after pre-registration. By means of Augmented Reality technology, the differences between hybrid and fully electric vehicles, the functions and features of different high-voltage components as well as troubleshooting strategies – among others – are explained to the participants. The transparent AR-assisted depiction provides the mechatronics with a detailed insight into the structure and the functionality of high-voltage components. Besides information on electric vehicle components, the participants are also provided with exciting insights into future learning. Supported by experts on site, they are able to experience the new Augmented Reality training method live. In addition, AR experts will also show and explain this new technology at the Bosch exhibition stand in hall 9.

Different training scenarios using Augmented Reality

Starting in autumn/winter 2018, Bosch will offer the first service training supported by Augmented Reality, the two-day apprenticeship for “high-voltage technicians – working on intrinsically safe HV vehicles” carried out at the Bosch Service Training Centers in Plochingen (Germany) and Ballerup (Denmark). Once they passed the final exam, the trainees are allowed to de-energize HV systems of hybrid, electric and fuel-cell vehicles and to work on HV components. An additional service training for the “calibration of driver assistance systems” supported by Augmented Reality is planned as well.

Bosch developed a special Augmented Reality Platform (CAP) specifically for AR applications. It allows publishing new contents and applications – also for the training sector in particular – in a device-independent manner. Fed with locally and centrally stored contents, the platform compiles the required data for each specific AR application. This even allows different training scenarios to be implemented. In “Trainer Mode”, the trainer controls the devices of the participants and decides which case shall be displayed on their devices. And yet each participant keeps an individual point of view – for instance onto the engine compartment. The whole group of participants and each and every one of them can actively follow and experience the explanations the trainer provides for each training situation. In “Trainee Mode”, the trainer accesses any participant’s device. He can thus provide useful hints and tips and explain the next steps lucidly.

Augmented Reality (AR) complements reality overlaying useful additional information. In case the workshop employee points his smartphone or tablet camera – or even his smart glasses – onto an area on the vehicle’s engine compartment featuring AR information, explanations, 3D objects or videos are added to the real image. In this manner, AR technology shows structures hidden behind panels, for instance, such as the cable harness behind the dashboard.

For further detailed information on the Bosch AR workshops and online registration.