Testimonials are rare in enterprise Augmented Reality so when a customer describes their use cases and the benefits of implementing solutions, even if the system is not full optical see-through Augmented Reality, it’s important to share the outcomes with others that may be considering similar projects.

For the past two years Ubimax has worked with WS Kunststoff-Service (German), a manufacturer of plastic components for the automotive industry, to develop and improve the use of Vuzix M100 and similar hardware with Ubimax xMake software and platform. The xMake software application places step-by-step assembly instructions in the display so that the user does not need to stop their procedure to go to the next step or to verify compliance.

In this video, the customer describes the current state of the art for worker guidance applications in the WS Kunststoff-Service factory. The company reports that the system is used for training workers as well as in production environments. The manager of the project predicts that the system will offer long-term competitive advantage through higher speed assembly, error reductions (perhaps even the elimination of errors) and greater flexibility on the factory floor.

Today’s smart glasses for Augmented Reality have problems. Some do not have sufficient transparency. Others offer only a narrow field of view. Many are too heavy to wear comfortably for more than brief periods. Most are not designed for high volume manufacturing at an affordable price point.

The race to address these issues and access the next user interface technology continues to heat up with new entrants almost every month.

According to an announcement on the VTT Research website, Dispelix, a VTT spin off, is going to begin commercializing technology that will address several of the issues. The announcement says that the company is ready to manufacture at volume, but first needs to raise some funds and develop its distribution partner network. Those are not trivial issues.

On the technical side, the description suggests that the 1 mm thick (thin) lightguide can be applied, as a film, on plastic or glass lenses. It is highly transparent and, as a result of high flexibility, it can be shaped. There will be monochrome and color options with, presumably, the monochrome offering significant power savings.

Further details should come out in 2016 when the company plans to ship its first customer deliveries.

Over 20 years ago research projects demonstrated projection Augmented Reality to assist a desk worker but very few commercial or residential implementations were built and the technology seemingly lost in favor by comparison with mobile and wearable systems. Perhaps the tides are changing.

According to short analyses published on Wired UK website and on CBRonline news site, the US patent office has published patents granted to Amazon and Apple that build upon those early demonstrations. Amazon’s patent describes “a room equipped with computerized projection and imaging systems that enable presentation of images on various objects within the room to facilitate user interaction with the images and/or objects” while Apple’s uses two cameras to scan a room and then projects images onto objects detected.

The Apple patent also describes an “improved content projection device, which is aware of objects in its field of view, recognizes such objects as suitable for projection of content thereon.” Other research projects similar in design and purpose have been described in the published literature but remain uncommercialized.

It remains to be seen if the systems described in these patents are approaching the level of maturity that would be useful in enterprise environments, but others, such as OPS Solutions that provides Light Guide Systems, are proving that spaces in which objects are already well mapped are very suitable with current camera and projection technologies.

In a recent webinar produced by Harvard Business Review (HBR), co-authors Michael Porter and Jim Hepplemann, CEO of PTC, summarized concepts presented in their article entitled “How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Companies” and discussed the implications of these new technologies. The primary emphasis is on the use of sensors and other embedded technologies into products, and how by using the data generated by the connected products, companies can be more informed about how their customers are using the products.

The co-authors stress how important it will be for companies to embrace not only technologies but also organizational changes. Without both, the benefits of either are far less significant.

During the webinar (play the archive below), both Porter and Hepplemann repeatedly described how, using Augmented Reality as a UI, the assembly and use of smart connected products will become commonplace, reducing the need for training in complex procedures. The power of Augmented Reality can also be applied to increase end user customers’ ability to leverage new features in more complex and intelligent products as a result of the dynamic interfaces that AR-assisted systems can offer.

HBR provides a link to download the webinar slides.

Etisalat, the multinational UAE-based telecom provider serving customers in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, has announced plans to conduct trials of smart glasses. Government agencies and enterprise customers of Etisalat will explore the business potential of smart glasses in logistics, construction, automotive, oil and gas, field maintenance and retail use cases.

Although no details about the providers of hardware to be tested are shared in the announcement issued by Ubimax, the primary content delivery and presentation platform partner, one would expect Ubimax preferred suppliers mentioned by the company (e.g., Vuzix and Google) to be involved.

The announcement is important for at least two reasons. It suggests that the potential to improve business processes and increase efficiency with contextually displayed information is getting attention among business leaders in the Middle East region. While businesses in all geographic regions are sensitive to risk and seek to avoid unnecessary costs, the fact that CIOs and CTOs in wealthy, oil-producing nations with large service industries are being exposed to these new technologies could pave the way for introduction of smart glasses in some very large scale projects.

The second aspect of this announcement that is intriguing is that Etisalat, a telecommunication service provider, is taking the lead. The article in Khallej Times about this announcement suggests that, if the trials produce useful results and demonstrate customer demand, hands-free displays and wearable devices bundled with AR delivery could be offered as a way to entice those customers to switch to next generation (5G) services. Other telecommunications service providers that have previously explored AR services include SK Telecom and Telecom Italia.

In many environments where Augmented Reality can provide benefits, explosion-proof devices, such as cameras and displays, are a requirement. Bartec Pixavi, a Norwegian company specializing in R&D of ATEX and Ex certified video conferencing solutions, cameras and Wi-Fi infrastructure, has introduced the latest version of its explosion-proof, WiFi-enabled wearable camera that could be valuable to systems integrators of AR solutions.

The product page on the Pixavi website says that the Orbit X is lightweight, battery-operated, designed to be mounted at eye level and to transmit the “eyesight” of users in the field. The Orbit X streams 1080p video wirelessly from users in zone 1 hazardous areas while also supporting duplex audio communication over WiFi. It can also record images and video locally.

Use cases range from inspection and maintenance to emergency response.

AREA member APX Labs recently announced the closing of an investment round with partners led by New Enterprise Associates. Other parties to the investment include GE Ventures, CNF Investments, Salesforce Ventures and SineWave Ventures.

According to a post on TechCrunch on the topic of the investment, GE is planning a large-scale deployment of the Skylight platform within a year. Skylight, APX Labs’ flagship product, runs on smart glasses such as Google Glass and Vuzix to control the display, camera, sensors and user inputs. Use cases include service and repairs to remote collaboration with experts.

The post also mentions that Salesforce, another APX Labs partner, sees smart glasses as a user interface for the Internet of Things, enabling visualization of key data and information in work environments.

Brian Ballard, CEO of APX Labs, expects the company to help enterprises improve workplace efficiencies across an expanding number of use cases.

Clinicians in medical practice are exploring new display and interaction techniques to streamline patient monitoring and care. Masimo, a leader in noninvasive monitoring technologies, provides Root, a patient monitoring and connectivity platform and the Iris gateway technology guarantees connectivity to other devices and services. Through Iris, Root provides integration with multiple standalone devices, such as IV pumps, ventilators, beds and other patient monitor systems.

At the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual conference in October 2015, Masimo and AREA member Atheer Labs demonstrated the Root Iris technology using the Atheer AiR (Augmented interactive Reality) platform and AiR Glasses.

Demonstrations permitted attendees to experience a prototype of display and touch-free interactions powered by the Atheer AiR Glasses. The companies used the opportunity to obtain feedback on features, usability and requirements from medical practitioners.

Evena Medical provides an AR-assisted point-of-care visualization system for performing medical procedures. Released in 2013, the first generation product for peripheral vein detection helps nurses visualize patient veins in real time to choose the best targets when performing venipuncture (inserting needles). Evena’s Eyes-On system was the first to deliver clear, anatomically accurate, real-time vascular imaging in a hands-free and cart-free system.

In a press release issued during the MEDICA 15 conference, Evena Medical launched its Eyes-On Glasses 3.0 platform. The new product features Evena’s DeepVu ultrasound as well as multispectral light technology utilizing a custom camera by Xacti, an OEM/ODM of digital still/video camera technologies. The platform now supports visualization of deep tissue vascular images such as the femoral vein and artery.

Augmented Reality capabilities are available on the new platform, enabling digital overlays during medical training or when performing certain procedures.

EM-Sense, a new technology developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research, was introduced at UIST 2015, the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology on November 8-11, in Charlotte, N.C. and information about it was published in a post on the CMU website.

The technology, which has been demonstrated using off-the-shelf consumer electronics components, takes advantage of the body’s natural electrical conductivity. In essence, the body serves as an antenna to detect whether a person is touching an electrical or electromechanical device and, based on the distinctive electromagnetic noise emitted by such devices, automatically identifies the object.

Kitchen appliances, power tools, electronic scales and door handles with electrically triggered locks are among the first items that the researchers have demonstrated can be detected and identified. Further training demonstrated that the sensitivity is sufficient to distinguish between different smartphone models. This technology could help users in an instrumented workplace receive instructions about the tools they touch and use.