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Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform Receives FDA Clearance

CLEVELANDSurgical Theater, LLC today received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance on the recently launched Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform (SNAP).  The SNAP integrates with operating room technology to provide advanced 3D capabilities and augmented reality, allowing surgeons to enhance their surgery performance and “see what cannot be seen.”

The SNAP is the second of the company’s line of products combining flight simulation technology with advanced CT/MRI imaging for use in brain surgery to receive FDA clearance. It enables surgeons to perform a real-life “fly through” of a “patient-specific” surgery and receive unique virtual reality guidance to determine the safest and most efficient pathway to remove cerebral tumors and treat vascular anomalies.

With the SNAP, surgeons can execute their surgery plan while in the operating room utilizing a patient’s CT/MRI scans, allowing enhanced accuracy and efficiency. It provides the ability to rotate the image or make it semi-transparent in order to see behind arteries and other critical structures, something not possible until now, affording for accuracy to be sustained during complex procedures. Also, SNAP’s augmented reality and simulation capabilities allow surgeons to analyze virtual “what if” scenarios before making the actual incision.  This precision enables surgeons to gain clinical insight that was previously unavailable.

“We have used the SNAP in the operating room in a handful of surgeries. The SNAP’s realistic 3D imaging is one-of-a-kind and has been introduced as an integrated OR device for the first time at our medical center,” said Warren R. Selman MD, Chairman, Department of Neurological Surgery, University Hospitals Case Medical Center.  “It is just like watching a football game when multiple cameras are located around the arena and an editor can freeze the image, rotate, zoom in, zoom out and see things that he could not otherwise see. In my recent surgeries, I was able to pause the navigation scene during the surgery to rotate the image and to verify that I removed the entire tumor and to make sure that I was within a safe distance from a vital artery while removing the tumor.  With the SNAP connected to the OR navigation platform, the OR team coordination is enhanced, and we are utilizing the best imaging technology tool to benefit our patients.”

Surgical Theater’s first product, the Surgical Rehearsal Platform (SRP), paved the way to the operating room by providing surgeons with a way to plan and rehearse their surgeries outside of the operating room.  To date it is estimated that the SRP has been utilized by surgeons wanting to pre-live their procedure more than 500 times. Now the SNAP will be utilized to take the pre-planned pathway into the operating room to be used during the surgical procedure thanks to its ability to integrate into operating room navigation equipment. In addition, the flight simulator technology used in the software permits remote connection of multiple platforms; participants anywhere in the world can simultaneously work together and practice the same case with real-time feedback and collaboration.

“We are extremely excited to expand our offerings beyond planning and rehearsing surgeries outside the OR,” said Moty Avisar, Surgical Theater CEO and Co-Founder. “The SNAP, our advanced imaging platform, allows us to connect to the operating room navigation system and become a part of the surgery as its performed, enabling a surgeon and OR team to achieve their goal of delivering the best care and outcome for the patient. We are witnessing strong anticipation from the medical community about this new technology, with multiple pre-orders for the SNAP already placed from hospitals across the country.”

Since Surgical Theater obtained FDA clearance on their first product in February 2013, SRPs have been installed in leading research and teaching hospitals across the United States. Hospitals include: University Hospitals Case Medical Center, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mayo Clinic, NYU Langone Medical Center, and others.

Surgical Theater has received generous recognition from the media.  Last week, the company was named in Forbes as one of 10 Health Tech Companies Changing The World.  Surgical Theater was also featured on CNN as a breakthrough technology in surgery, and also recently featured on FOX News and Extra.




Virtual Surgery: The Operating Room Goes High-Tech

Bloomberg TV features the use of Augmented Reality in surgery in this news segment. Watch the video for more.




Augmented Reality Tablet Enables Designers To Sketch 3D

Currently in design environments and scenarios, there are no real shared digital-creation platforms. Furthermore, designers must master some complex CAD software products before they can begin to share their design. A young London-based company is seeking to put design in the hands of more people using Augmented Reality.




Lowe’s Turns to Augmented Reality for Planning Projects

The second-largest home improvement store in the United States will transform the in-store experience it provides to customers by building a room that enables customers to view a 3-D representation of their renovation projects before they start with demolition. The same technology can be used to assist in the process of manufacturing space design. For more information watch the video and visit the Lowe’s site.

 




Salesforce.com Launches Software Program for Wearable Devices

Salesforce.com’s Wear cloud platform is a developer pack that is targeted towards app developers to create enterprise apps for all major wearable devices in the market. It allows developers to build on existing mobile apps on its Salesforce1 Platform.

For more information, read the article at Mobile Commerce Press.

 




Bosch Mobile Architect Believes AR and Smart Glasses will Revolutionize Manufacturing

During the SAP 2014 SAPPHIRE event in Orland, Florida, a panel included Bosch global mobile architect Sascha Markus. Markus asserted that IoT will be one of the biggest trends driving new innovations in industries like manufacturing.

“In five years we’ll see new device types, watches, glasses, anything you can imagine that will all be connected and sharing and bringing information to users,” he said. “This is great as connected devices have the potential to help our users and customers in a lot of ways.”

Markus highlighted Bosch’s success deploying Android smart glasses to its warehouse workers as proof of the industry potential for wearables and connected devices.

“We saw in our production sites we had lots of paper processes and had 150 SAP installations. With this setup, our workers just had desktops and were still printing off work orders, going to the warehouse and physically scanning the items there. This is not efficient,” he said.

“We thought, ‘let’s add smart glass to increase productivity and remove the paper process.’ We now provide workers with a smartphone and an Android smart glass to execute the process in the warehouse and have seen great success. Augmented Reality is the next step in industries like this.” Read more in this blog post.

 




Festo Augments its Biomechantronics Poster

Festo is a worldwide leader in automation and a world market leader in technical training and development. When presenting its projects to investors and customers, it uses an Augmented Reality-assisted poster. The Biomechatronic Footprint folding poster shows a selection of completed projects and illustrates the line of thinking from natural models to basic technical principles and bionic adaptation through to industrial applications. The Biomechatronic Footprint is suitable as a door opener to explain why Festo is involved with bionics and what advantage is gained from this method of procedure that is unique among its competitors.

For more about this project, read the blog post.




AR is the Future of Technical Documentation: Juergen Lumera Explains Why Bosch Automotive is Getting into Augmented Reality

Press Release: Augmented Reality applications specifically provide computer-assisted, additional information. For example, three-dimensional objects, explanatory texts, pictures or videos are overlaid onto the real environment on the user’s tablet or smart phone as soon as the user focuses the device’s camera on an area for which Augmented Reality information is available. A good example for this augmented presentation of reality is shown during the broadcast of a football game when the offside line is blended in as if it were part of the field.

Use of Augmented Reality Facilitates Tasks in Workshops

Bosch will use this modern technology in the future to support vehicle workshops in repair and maintenance works. Augmented Reality solutions provide the mechatronics technician with three-dimensional work instructions, required tools or even training videos. As soon as the camera of the tablet scans a motor component, the contextual information is superimposed onto the physical object – exactly where it is needed. The mechatronics technician can control superimposed objects via the touchscreen and call up further information. The time-consuming consultation of service manuals is thus omitted. Also, components that are hidden behind panelings or the cabling below the dashboard can be depicted to scale with Augmented Reality. This clarifies the next work steps and unnecessary assembly works are omitted. Thus, Augmented Reality facilitates the repair process, improves the quality of the work results and minimizes the effort. Besides, the new technology allows even less experienced employees to carry out repair works that are more complex.

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Broad range of application for Augmented Reality

Bosch uses a modern software platform that creates the applications using construction drawings, 3D data and animations for the creation of complex Augmented Reality solutions. Bosch sees the application possibilities of Augmented Reality in the support of diagnostic, maintenance and repair tasks, as well as in technical training and service information.

The Automotive Aftermarket division (AA) provides aftermarket and repair shops worldwide with a complete range of diagnostic and repair shop equipment and a wide range of spare parts – from new and exchange parts to repair solutions – for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Its product portfolio includes products made as Bosch original equipment, as well as aftermarket products and services developed and manufactured in-house. More than 18,000 associates in 150 countries, as well as a global logistics network, ensure that some 650,000 different spare parts reach customers quickly and on time. In its “Automotive Service Solutions” operations, AA supplies testing and repair-shop technology, diagnostic software, service training, and information services. In addition, the division is responsible for the “Bosch Service” repair-shop franchise, one of the world’s largest independent chains of repair shops, with some 16,500 franchises. In addition, AA is responsible for more than 800 “AutoCrew” partners.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch-automotive.com.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In 2013, its roughly 281,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros. (NB: Due to a change in accounting policies, the 2013 figures can only be compared to a limited extent with the 2012 figures). Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Automotive Technology, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 360 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 50 countries. If its sales and service partners are included, Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. In 2013, the Bosch Group invested some 4.5 billion euros in research and development and applied for some 5,000 patents. This is an average of 20 patents per day. The Bosch Group’s products and services are designed to fascinate, and to improve quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial. In this way, the company offers technology worldwide that is “Invented for life.”

Further information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com and twitter.com/BoschPresse.

 




Logistics 2.0 – Augmented Reality Transforms Logistics Processes

Bonn, Germany: DHL has issued a new study on Augmented Reality in logistics, focusing on possible applications of this emerging trend in the different stages of the supply chain. The trend report illustrates how operations in warehouses, during transportation and last-mile delivery as well as value-added services could be enhanced by computer-generated sensory input such as videos or graphics. The trend report has been developed by DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation’s Trend Research team as part of an on-going research project into Augmented Reality in logistics. DHL is planning to test some of the derived use cases in proof of concept studies.

“Recent headlines such as heads-up displays on windshields or use of Augmented Reality for vehicle repairs from the automotive sector shows how rapidly this technology is developing and finding its way into industries outside of the IT sector. We believe that the technology also offers high potential for the logistics industry, and are currently selecting use cases for further research”, explained Dr. Markus Kückelhaus, Director Trend Research, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation.

The trend report explains briefly the emerging trend and innovation in Augmented Reality technology and hardware and how it can be implemented in logistics. It also provides an overview on best practices from various industries. “Augmented Reality in Logistics” presents 11 different possible applications for the industry, among them improved picking in warehouses, for example, by equipping staff with head mounted displays, they could find the right route and the right item more efficiently. The surplus in information would also reduce picking errors.

The report also sketches how transportation could be perfected, for instance, by equipping delivery vehicles with augmented windshields that can display real time traffic data as well as other valuable information such as cargo temperature and alerts, minimizing driver distraction. Moreover, drivers and staff at the parcel hub could be equipped with wearable devices to gain critical information on each parcel such as contents, weight and destination. This would improve loading processes and reduce handling damages. Finally, Augmented Reality could improve maintenance and repair services offered by logistics providers, if workers are equipped with smart glasses that blend in step-by-step instructions.

DHL is open to collaboration with partners to further research Augmented Reality applications in everyday operations. Furthermore, in order to make the technology more tangible for customers, DHL is currently developing an interactive augmented reality exhibit at the Deutsche Post DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Germany.

The trend report “Augmented Reality in Logistics” has been created on the basis of the overarching Logistics Trend Radar, which DHL uses to identify and leverage trends and technologies relevant for the logistics industry. The report is available online at www.dhl.com/augmentedreality.




Seabery’s SOLDAMATIC Training System Receives 2014 Auggie Award for Best Enterprise Solution

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Seabery’s SOLDAMATIC, the Augmented Reality-assisted training technology (SATT) system for welders, has been recognized for its innovation and ability to deliver results. The Auggie Award for Best Enterprise Solution was awarded on June 2, 2014, during the Augmented World Expo. To learn more about the SOLDAMATIC system, visit the company’s web site, watch the video or read the technical specifications.