Onkos Surgical is a surgical oncology company that is incorporating various cutting-edge technologies into comprehensive solutions that enable oncologists to improve performance in the surgical suite.

Insight Medical seeks to apply its Augmented Reality Visualization and Information System (ARVIS) technology to the initiative. Currently under development, ARVIS has tracking and visualization capabilities that would enable surgeons to make precise and efficient execution of surgical plans. It uses a headset with the ability to project virtual models of the patient’s anatomy into the surgeon’s field of view during the procedure, thus showing anatomical structures that otherwise are obstructed.

In addition, ARVIS would enable virtual models of the implants or instruments to be projected so that the surgeon can see their relationship to the hidden anatomical structures.

The report spans the period 2017-2022. Leading Manufacturers in global Wearable Devices for Enterprise and Industrial Market featured in the report include:

• Apple
• APX Labs
• Augmate
• DAQRI
• Epson
• Fitbit
• Google
• Jiff
• Microsoft
• Nymi
• com
• SAP
• SmartCap
• Thalmic Labs
• Vuzix

Type Segment Analysis:

• Smart Watches
• Smart Glasses
• Fitness Bands
• Smart Clothing
• Body Sensors
• Wearable Cameras
• Other Wearables

Sample copies can be requested at this link.

With the advancements in augmented reality and low-cost computing, healthcare providers (HCPs) and pharma companies alike can leverage interactive marketing methods to virtually reach the patient in their time of need with treatment and prevention information. Here are three ways in which AR marketing will enhance the patient experience in the future:

Dynamic Interactive Learning

Patients often struggle to grasp the complex concepts of their conditions in a 2D learning format. Printed materials and even video can lack the immersive engagement needed for a patient to truly understand the depths of their diseases and how best to treat them. By immersing the patient in AR content – such as looking at a skin condition overlaid on their actual arm through a pair of smart glasses – knowledge becomes ingrained because the patient is involved in the learning. In addition to learning about the condition, the patient can practice treatment options with augmented reality. For instance, the patient can walk through the application of a topical ointment overlaid on their arm in real time. This reduces errors in treatment and improves patient confidence.

Prosthetics And Implant Virtual Experiences

It can be unnerving for a patient to deal with a major catastrophe such as the loss of a limb. In these times, empathy and guidance are critical to the patient’s mental and physical well-being. One example of empathizing with patients and immersing them in the experience is to allow them to use AR to overlay prosthetics and other medical implants (facial or other) to understand the impact and outcome of such a life-changing event. This provides comfort by giving the patient a sense of control and choice over the outcome in an otherwise uncontrollable situation.

Product Visualization And Advertising

Patients can be overwhelmed when trying to understand and select the correct over-the-counter medication in a supermarket or pharmacy. Without knowing dietary restrictions, drug interaction information and side effects at a glance, they can make incorrect selections, leading to further medical issues. Soon, consumers will be able to interact with products in the store simply by looking at them through smart glasses or their phone. By providing consumers with an engaging and immersive experience, pharma companies are able to distinguish their brands and create stronger bonds and loyalty going forward.

In summary, the need for more immersive and self-sustaining patient engagement is top of mind for patients and HCPs. Rising healthcare and pharmaceutical costs coupled with the increase in chronic illnesses creates an opportunity for the emergence of a new model. As marketing professionals, we have a unique opportunity to leverage AR in our marketing and content strategies to drive deeper patient engagement while showing empathy, driving brand awareness and improving lives. With the improvement in smart glasses and immersive AR applications, the market is primed to evolve into this new mode of health care.

Employees whose jobs affect every aspect of one’s trip, including aircraft maintenance workers and flight crew can make use of wearable XR technologies to ensure the end goal: A safe and satisfied traveler. Find out how XR might be used on the ground and in the air when you go on your next business trip or vacation.

The article goes on to walk the reader through a variety of applications in the aviation industry:

On the Ground: AR for Assembly

Both Airbus and Boeing employ augmented reality (AR) glasses in the aircraft assembly process. Airbus workers follow plans directly in their field of view, superimposed on the plane’s interior during cabin installation. They use the same solution to check the accuracy and quality of their work (image recognition technology and artificial intelligence at work); while Boeing employees use smart glasses to view a heads-up, hands-free roadmap for wire harness assembly over their real-world view. In each case, AR functions to form a stronger connection for the user between textual or diagrammatic instructions and the real working environment.

Other areas of wearable AR and VR in aviation and aerospace discussed include VR for Training, AR for Guidance in the air and XR in Flight Service.  This comprehensive and digestible article is a great resource for those interested in how wearable technology is being used in aviation.

I2 will now deliver its suite of AR products on Upskill’s Skylight AR software platform, enabling enterprises across Europe to benefit from more flexible, scalable and secure AR deployments that support their Industry 4.0 initiatives.

I2 selected Upskill as its platform software provider due to both the company’s strong reputation and market traction globally, and its product leadership with the most recent release of Skylight. With Skylight, I2 can now configure AR applications more securely, and deploy them quickly on its AR Suite of solutions. This will, in turn, enable I2 to scale up the impacts it is already delivering customers, including operational efficiency, quality control, maintenance, safety management and training.

The full press release can be read on Upskill’s website here and Upskill’s AREA member profile.

Despite a significant uptick in investment in emerging technologies in the past 12 months, UK executives lack confidence in their own digital skills. According to a survey recently published by Deloitte as part of its Digital Disruption Index, less than half (45 per cent) of executives are confident in their own digital skills and ability to lead their organisation in the digital economy, while just 16 per cent believe their talent pool has enough knowledge and expertise to deliver their digital strategy.

One hundred and six executives responsible for digital technologies and ways of working from FTSE listed companies, large private companies and large UK public sector organisations participated in the survey. The combined market value of the 106 survey participants is £707.8 billion, which equates to approximately 27 per cent of the UK quoted equity market. This information, which was collected between February and March 2018, has been analysed in aggregate and forms the basis of this publication.

Confidence in digital skills is currently low, almost half (49 per cent) of executives plan to invest more than £10 million in digital technologies and ways of working by 2020. 35 per cent plan to invest more than £10 million in the 2018 alone. 38 per cent of executives who say their organisation will invest in three or more emerging technologies over the next two years say that they do not have a coherent strategy in place.

“The pace of technological change is accelerating, however in the rush to keep up many organisations are yet to develop a coherent strategy for investing in digital technologies. More efforts need to be made to align learning and development alongside strategy and investment,” Explains Oliver Vernon-Harcourt, partner at Deloitte and author of this year’s Digital Disruption Index. “End-to-end digital transformation is not just about advances in technology, but about changing the ways of doing business.”

The full article can be read on Tech Trends.

AR and VR in healthcare is the hottest new sector for 2018. From genetic research and emergency room management to virtual nurses and drug discovery, patient experience can be improved and the cost of care lowered. Companies such as MindMaze are transforming healthcare, with products such as MindMotion™ which uses the world’s first virtual environment neurorehabilitation system to support early motor rehabilitation and improve patients’ recovery potential.

In manufacturing, one key example is Boeing’s introduction of Google Glass to the wire assembly process of its 78-7 Freighter. Using AR headsets, the company’s employees see the information right before their eyes, with video streaming and voice commands, making the process faster and more comfortable. Boeing’s wire assembly process was reduced by 25 percent and errors lowered to nearly zero. Importantly, employee satisfaction increased as well as efficiency.

As for retail, e-commerce giant Amazon is pursuing augmented reality tech to fuel a new focus on auto parts. Amazon already uses AR tech via its iOS and Android apps, allowing customers to project renderings of furniture and electronics on their homes.

The Hampleton Partners M&A Market Report on AR/VR details how the global market size of the Virtual Reality sector is estimated to reach $17.8bn in 2022, up from a base of $2bn in 2016 a 44.5% CAGR. As for Augmented Reality, its projected growth is even more impressive, reaching $161 bn in 2020 up from $4 bn in 2016 a CAGR of 85.4%.

Heiko Garrelfs, sector principal, Hampleton Partners, says: “The new reality for many businesses will involve augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies to increase efficiency and improve customer service and employee engagement.

“With AR and VR’s technical roots in the gaming industry, it’s transfer to the entertainment industry was always the next likely step, but what we’re finding exciting and what we believe will fuel the major growth in this sector is its take-up by in industry and manufacturing processes. Progress is slower than the optimists had hoped, yet it seems to be stronger and more sustainable than the pessimists predicted. The reality is that many businesses now need to have a full AR/VR strategy to ensure they are not left behind.”

The full report and analysis can be read here.

AR technology simplifies complex processes by placing the right information in the right place at the right time. Moreover, it bridges the gap between the cyber-physical IoT and the real world and creates a composite environment showcasing the impression in real time. Manufacturers are implementing advanced AR technology into their shop floor and assembly processes by which they are able to reduce cost, increase efficiency, and improve the overall production. This trend is changing the face of manufacturing. AR superimposes holographic images and merges them into the real world and enables workers to identify effective ways to enhance the product design process.

Several major players such as Google, Inc. (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Qualcomm, Inc. (U.S.), are constantly innovating on this front and are focussing on new developments using the AR technology to dominate the AR market.

The gap between the real and the virtual world is disappearing as the concept of AR is gaining momentum across industries and end users. This technology is extremely comfortable, easy to use, and opens multiple doors for users to interact with the equipment providing fundamentally new experiences.

AR applications have taken a step further by enhancing experiences in maintenance, marketing, customer support, and others areas of manufacturing. AR is opening doors for a number of opportunities enabling the transformation of the organizational structure by simplifying complex processes and solving operational problems across the value chain.

So in what way does AR disrupt manufacturing?

Factory floor operations these days are quite advanced. In this digitally driven world, consumers believe what they see. With an interactive technology such AR, consumers witness the “touch and feel” experience.

Hand-on and safety experience:

AR applications and devices are intelligent to provide hands-on training to inexperienced professionals without wasting any additional resources. AR tools have the capability to engage operators in a dynamic and an interactive way by offering step-by-step task guidance. This ensures safety for inexperienced professionals on the shop floor.

Streamlined Logistics and Maintenance:

The highly automated factory floor operations demand workers to multitask keeping a record of multiple things at one. Such manual work is highly tedious. The AR technology enables workers to scan the required information allowing the workers to work much faster. AR also has the ability to track the current state of the system remotely and recommend necessary actions for the same. Apart from this, AR also provides expert assistance to workers at remote locations to carry out effective maintenance operations, thereby improving the productivity of the worker.

Product Design and Development

Using AR technology, designers can experiment and experience different designs and visualise different hypothesis by overlapping visuals onto the real environment. This technology allows designers to be more creative, improves their decision making, and adds or removes specific product features as per the requirement without much investment. This technology speeds up the design of the product and the manufacturing processes.

AR Use case: BOSCH and AR

Bosch uses AR applications for the automotive sector. With its current updated version of Common Augmented Reality Platform (CAP), Bosch has become a pioneer of the AR applications. Cap provides fast and easy integration of digital and visual data into various platforms such as technical documents, repair manuals, and sales and training platforms (Source: Bosch.com). The newly updated CAP platform is used for high end AR applications and is available to any industry. Not only has it proved to be cost effective for its customers, but it also helped in increasing sales revenue complemented with the reduction in training, repair, and warranty costs. This has helped its workers to improve their productivity providing support for maintenance tasks.

AR is capable of delivering accurate and critical information when needed. It simplifies and speeds up manufacturing processes and ensures that the machine inspection is done on time to ensure the best condition of the machine. It is indeed a technology for the present and the future!

From the Atheer blog: 

That’s the view expressed by Patrick Anderson, Chief Technology Officer of the well-respected IP Wire patent industry blog. Although the patent with number 10,000,000 was issued to Joseph Marron and assigned to Raytheon Corp., Anderson says that this patent is actually not the 10 millionth patent because patents filed before 1836 when the patent identification system was created were not counted towards the 10 millionth total.

There were an estimated 9,957 patents issued before that date, which make up the so-called X-patents, he explains that it is actually an Atheer patent that likely holds the title of 10 millionth US patent. “Using the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO’s) best estimate, that honor should go to US Patent 9,990,043 issued on June 5, 2018 to a team of inventors including Ryan Fink, Ryan Phelps, and Gary Peck and assigned to Atheer Labs of Mountain View, California, entitled Gesture Recognition Systems and Devices For Low And No Light Conditions,” says Anderson in a June 20th blog post.

Anderson also explains that finding out the truth of US patent history is a lot more complicated than it might at first seem. “For the first forty years or so, the government didn’t even see fit to index patents by number!,” he says. “The number of patents issued So congratulations to our team for their innovation and pioneering work in Augmented Reality – and to our friends at Raytheon for holding the country’s 10,009,957th patent!