Israeli Augmented Reality company Infinity AR is raising an $18 million round of finance, reports e27. This will bring the company’s valuation up to US $60 million. Investment is said to come from Alibaba and Sun Corporation. The post also reports that Infinity AR has left the public market.

Working in the field of AR, Infinity is developing an SDK to help incorporate virtual images over physical objects with uses in training and remote assistance.

A post on Farm Industry News blog showed industry excitement about the possibility of using Augmented Reality on the farm. Whilst the article concedes that it may be some time before the technology is mainstream in farming, there are plenty of uses that the post encourages readers to consider:

• Interacting with projection of farm building models, e.g. segmenting sections and “going inside”
• Visioning potential for farm equipment manufacturers
• Could reduce costly errors even at the design stage
• Live yield maps and access to real-time weather data whilst on the farm
• Potential for wearable or windshield technology to be used

A press release dated November 9 2016 is available. Scope AR is an AREA member providing advanced AR training solutions. Scope AR has announced a licence with Caterpillar Inc to provide an Augmented Reality based live support video calling platform built specifically for the unique remote assistance needs of industries using heavy machinery. A first-of-its kind partnership, Scope AR and Caterpillar are delivering the unprecedented ability for the Caterpillar dealer network to leverage the benefits of augmented reality (AR) for live support in repairing, troubleshooting a problem or conducting maintenance on equipment.

Scope AR’s platform will be available to more than 160 Cat dealers, Cat machinery users and others under the Cat brand worldwide.

The full press release can be read here.

A conference, AR in China, was recently held in Gui’An. A summary article (link here) noted important points from the conference, including:

• Augmented Reality works best in apps when consumers are unaware that AR is involved.
• B2B will be a significant driver of Augmented and Mixed Reality, as companies will invest in such technology to reduce errors, save costs, and improve efficiency.
• Brands should focus their value proposition be making relevant apps.
• One of the most important components of headsets is the quality of the lenses.
• The aim of the Virtual Reality Summit was to bring together support for business development, content creation, hardware and software innovation, manufacturing, financing, and infrastructure.
• In February, Alibaba (China’s e-commerce leader) led the $800 million Series C round for the Mixed Reality startup Magic Leap, based in Florida.
• The AR, VR, and MR field is connecting companies and creators across the globe.

A recent article on Healthcare Innovation discusses the use of Augmented Reality technology in medicine. According to ABI Research, use cases such as improving the operating room, and viewing surgery remotely will boost the use of medical AR.

Michael Inouye, the Principal Analyst at ABI Research, is quoted to have said that applying AR in medical education will be vital because future experts can use it following graduation. He also said that investment and safety trials are needed for AR in surgery, though it has great potential and is expected to start up next year.

Augmented Reality companies mentioned in the article are Vuzix, Ubimax and Pristine. The article concludes with another comment from Inouye, who is quoted to have said that the medicine industry will help to advance new technology, and that growth of AR will undoubtedly happen soon.

A recent article on PCQuest addresses how Augmented and Virtual Reality are becoming more mainstream, and that application of the technologies is looking promising for businesses rather than just consumers. A report by Juniper Research suggesting that Augmented Reality revenues from the enterprise will overtake consumer AR revenues until 2021 is mentioned.

Significant points in the article include:

• The biggest adoption of ARVR in the enterprise is expected to come from collaboration.
• The retail industry has been one of the first adopters of ARVR technology
• Marketing will also benefit from AR, as adverts can be interacted with by pointing a smartphone camera at them
• ARVR can be used in design departments of larger organisations to reduce costs of production and make changes more quickly
• Industries such as health and fitness, entertainment, and real estate will also be improved due to ARVR technology; a recent International Dementia Conference in Australia demonstrated how 3D VR goggles had improved the quality of life of dementia patients
• Higher levels of connectivity, data storage, and computing power are required for ARVR to be properly integrated in the enterprise
• IDC reports that 1/6 IT hardware sales will be connected to an AR use case by 2020
• Having the appropriate storage infrastructure and being able to humanize the data will be vital as increasing amounts of data is produced

An article written by AREA Member APX Labs’ Brian Ballard for the WardsAuto.com website, tells how the automotive industry needs to quickly upskill its workforce.

US manufacturing jobs might be plentiful, skills are lacking. The ‘jobs crisis’ comes from a shortage of skills.

US automakers have added 300,000 new jobs in the past six years. It is suggested that the biggest challenge facing employers is filling the skills shortage to keep factories operating at capacity. Technology: automation, robotics, etc improves process productivity. Specifically smart glasses, are improving productivity by brining critical information to the front line of manufacturing, empowering workers.

Deploying wearables is one solution to filling the skills gap. The article details how the following can help:

• Digital inspections and reference
• Knowledge capture
• Real time video collaboration

An announcement was made today by EON Reality who have announced 3 milestones:

1. Opening a state of the art R&D facility in Singapore
2. The first regional call for proposal targeted at VR/AR start-ups
3. Asia release of EON Experience AVR – a gamified augmented reality and VR learning library 

The focus is on improving R&D capabilities, finding new creative uses of VR and AR. The boom of the Augmented Reality and VR market has meant that the Asian market is a key part of growth due to its large population including the need to education millions of students.

A central location in Singapore has been chosen to enable collaboration with key partners and vendors and to deliver high quality solutions to an increasing number of clients. Additionally to empower interaction with VR and AR entrepreneurs and to build an ecosystem to support start ups.

Full details of the article can be read here.

Business Insider recently posted an article foreseeing AR’s transition away from apps such as Pokémon Go to the factory floor of the manufacturing sector, beginning with tasks in maintenance and support.

IoT is moving factories and industrial machines to become more automated, and Mike Campbell, Executive VP of industrial software firm PTC’s Vuforia AR segment, says that “the contextualization of IoT data is a big deal”; where Augmented Reality can work in the industrialization of the IoT.

The article refers to sticker labels placed on machines, and gives workers the ability to scan these stickers with their phone or AR headset and obtain all currently available information from that machine part, resulting in factories running with little-to-no downtime. Overlaying graphics showing how pieces fit together and how to disassemble them along with presenting which other pieces of the machine that part might connect.

Microsoft is working on this kind of application too, with its HoloLens goggles. ThyssenKrupp, a multi-billionaire elevator manufacturer, uses HoloLens to allow their field service technicians to look at a piece of IoT-connected elevator equipment and instantly see what went wrong and how they can fix it. ThyssenKrupp employees can use IoT sensors to know when something is going to break even before it does.

In both examples of AR in the workplace, everything becomes quicker, machines are working for longer and there is less downtime, “a business revolution,” says Sam George, Microsoft’s Azure IoT Director.

An article in the Guardian sets out how Augmented Reality is building a better future in construction and reinventing the industry. Construction projects can come along with a variety of problems. Research by McKinsey & Company found that construction was one of the least digitized industries, until now.

AREA Member DAQRI is mentioned in the article for their smart helmet which is designed for industrial settings.

Digitization allows information to be shared in real-time and leads to better outcomes such as those summarised below:

• By overlaying virtual data and images on to a physical space, potential flaws that may arise in complicated processes can be spotted early.
• Workers can see how a construction schedule might be affected by potential problems and take measures to avoid them.
• The construction industry is being reinvented, since clients want to speed up their time to market
• Designs and systems are growing in complexity e.g. buildings are being assembled in new ways.
• Quotes in praise of Augmented Reality come from Gilbane Building Company who tested Microsoft’s HoloLens.

AR is also making it easier for planners and architects to collaborate with contractors and to reassure clients and address their concerns. AR is attractive due to its ability to deliver cost savings and reduce the chances of a build falling behind schedule. This in turn may lead to increased investment in the construction industry.

Using AR may be used to showcase a building or piece of infrastructure to potential investors in its proposed real-world location. This makes it more understandable (for example how the asset connects with its surroundings) and thus more attractive to potential investors.

Going further still, software is being developed that will enable companies to deliver an end-to-end service, showing clients what the inside of a build will look like when furnished a certain way.