In this Christmas Day blog post on TechCrunch, developers of hardware and software for Augmented Reality, including Osterhout Design Group and charter AREA member APX Labs, discuss the future of enterprise use cases. The experts agree that there needs to be more AR experiences before people will purchase the personal displays. Weight, size and fashion are significant concerns for both enterprise and consumer markets. Modularity and integration with enterprise IT remain important obstacles for these companies to achieve their goals with enterprise customers.

Utilities continually invest in technology as they strive to become digitally-managed organizations. In this article on Intelligent Utility portal, the authors describe hands-free displays as one of the new tools that will enable the use of data in utility industry workflows. Features of several products that could be introduced shed light on the requirements of utility companies. The authors describe use cases and suggest that utilities have been working with regulators to fund future technology pilots using Augmented Reality. The AREA member, EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) has partnered with numerous utilities and is a though leader in this domain. 

Access to situational information has the potential to improve the ability for front line and field-based professionals to make decisions during construction, repairs and maintenance or facility management activities. Information such as specifications, drawings, health and safety indicators can assist in rapid identification of differences between information initially reported and actual facts as seen on the ground.  This paper published by Capita IT services on the Create Tomorrow portal presents a literature review of Augmented Reality uses within the target industries. The review identifies barriers to adoption of these technologies and some areas where technologies such as these could have an impact. The paper also presents results of an on-line survey of thirty professionals on their expectations for and experiences with Augmented Reality.

In this feature on the Advanced Manufacturing Insights portal, the reader will be introduced to concepts of Augmented Reality and use cases most likely to add value to manufacturing. Projects developed by Bosch, iQuest, ITAMCO (Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies) and XOEye Technologies illustrate the state of the art and the challenges ahead for those who are introducing Augmented Reality in Manufacturing.

On its Innovation portal IQ.Intel.com, Intel describes Augmented Reality use cases and the enabling technology for people who may not already be familiar. In addition to educating end users, the company is promoting its RealSense technology and the user interfaces made possible with 3D sensing.

Enterprise AR developers and customers seeking to use hands-free Augmented Reality displays will soon be crossing paths in Barcelona at the new Moverio Center of Excellence. The center is a collaboration of Epson’s Spanish branch and the Industrial Internet research center, I2CAT. The center will provide a reference testing environment for validation and development of new products and services related to the smart glasses and promote use of Moverio in different areas. The center will initially focus on use of hands-free AR displays in industry, culture and healthcare sectors. New programs will be announced in 2015.

The US Office of Naval Research continues to study use of Augmented Reality to help front-line warfighters conduct cyber and combat operations simultaneously. Marines demonstrated such operations during a recent amphibious exercise at the ONR’s Tactical Cyber Range off the coast of Virginia. This article on the Sea Power Magazine portal explains the operation’s objectives and cites a few of those who participated about their experiences. Further discussion on cyber, training using Augmented Reality will occur at the upcoming Naval Future Force Science and Technology EXPO in February 2015, where many of the innovative technologies coming to fruition for the Navy and Marine Corps will be on display.

CNH Industrial, a global leader in the capital goods sector with established industrial experience organized and invited its leading customers to a technology showcase featuring Augmented Reality at CNH Industrial Village, the company’s European showroom and multipurpose centre, located in Turin, Italy.

The event’s discussions focused on the potential prospects that the emerging technologies of Augmented Reality and Image Recognition can generate for the capital goods industry. Topics included the implementation of Augmented Reality for Innovation, Assembly Operations, Warehousing and Advanced Diagnostics.

Wearable technology as well as mobile, gesture control and speech recognition devices were also made available for participants to experiment with. CNH Industrial took the opportunity to address how it is currently testing Augmented Reality and Image Recognition through its various businesses. To date, the company has found that by applying these technologies, multifold advantages emerge along the entire value chain from Research & Development to Manufacturing, Aftersales Services and Quality Product Support.

Autonomous ocean-going vessels are soon going to be commercially available according to Rolls Royce. In a video developed by Rolls Royce in collaboration with VTT, the Finnish national research group, Augmented Reality is a key ingredient of the xO bridge concept, a set of advanced technologies for captains to monitor and visualize data about the vessel and its contents. In this article on Design Boom portal, the president of Rolls Royce Marine provides additional details on the vision and how far we are from reaching it.

The International Space Station is a testbed for new technologies. The primary objective of the mission begun December 15 and being carried out by Kentucky Space (KS) alongside the Tufts University’s Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, is to assess the regeneration methods of planarian flatworms in the microgravity space environment. Though Google Glass is not part of the original mission, it will be assessed as part of a study in the preflight integration and post-flight operations. Further details are in this article in Computer Business Review.