The AREA Research Committee recently distributed to members two deliverables produced as part of the organization’s third research project, Assessing Safety and Human Factors of AR in the Workplace. This groundbreaking, member-exclusive research project produced the first framework for assessing and managing safety and human factors risks when introducing AR in the workplace. In addition to a tool to support decision-making, members also received an in-depth report of findings based on primary research.

Through the knowledge of its members and detailed interviews and research conducted with the wider enterprise AR ecosystem, the AREA’s reusable framework will promote a consistent approach to assessing safety and human factors of AR solutions.

This research was undertaken by AREA member Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and managed by AREA sponsor member Christine Perey of PEREY Research and Consulting.

“For the first time, AREA members have a framework that will enable them to consider important requirements from the perspectives of key project roles and at each stage of the AR project,” said Perey. “The framework and supporting report are invaluable tools, built on the experience and knowledge gained by members and the larger community through many AR projects.”

“Through a combination of desk research and interviews with experts in the enterprise AR field, we captured rich and comprehensive insights into best practices and potential issues to overcome in these previously under-researched areas,” noted Amina Naqvi of the MTC, the author of the framework and research paper.

“This is another great example of the value the AREA brings to its members and the wider enterprise AR ecosystem,” said Mark Sage, Executive Director of the AREA. “By working together and learning from our fellow members, we’ve been able to produce research results that bring real benefits, and help to reduce the barriers to adoption for AR projects.”

The AREA has prepared a free Executive Summary of the Best Practice Report and a case study for non-members, “Assessing AR for Safety and Usability in Manufacturing” to help companies in the AR ecosystem to adopt or design safer and more usable wearable AR solutions.

If you’d like access to these resources please follow the links below hereto download them.

Hot on the heels of delivering its third research project, the AREA has launched a new project, defined and voted for by the AREA members, targeting barriers to AR adoption in manufacturing.

While many manufacturers have implemented AR trials, proofs of concept, and tests, relatively few have rolled out fully industrialized solutions throughout their organizations. The goal of the fourth AREA research project is to identify issues and possible strategies to overcome these barriers.

This is the first AREA research project that focuses on a single industry in which there are many use cases that can improve performance, productivity and safety, and reduce risks and downtime. The project will have both quantitative and qualitative components and the deliverables will include an AREA member-exclusive report and a framework for identification of common barriers and the best mitigation strategies. In addition, there will be a case study illustrating the use of the framework that will be published for the AR community.

Dr. Philipp Rauschnabel of the xReality Lab at Universität der Bundeswehr in Munich and his team will be leading this research. Enterprises interested in providing input to the project may complete this form or send an email to research@thearea.org.

Mozilla is the not-for-profit behind the popular web browser, Firefox. The company works to ensure it stays open by building products, technologies and programs that put people in control of their online lives. In April of this year, Mozilla officially announced Firefox Reality, a browser designed specifically for VR and AR headsets. Firefox Reality currently runs in developer mode on Google’s Daydream and Samsung’s and Ocular’s Gear VR, with more devices on the way. We spoke recently with Lars Bergstrom, Director of Engineering, Mixed Reality at Mozilla Research, to learn more about Mozilla’s plans.

AREA: Tell us about how Mozilla decided to get into augmented reality.

Bergstrom: As a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, Mozilla believes in protecting the user online. We want everyone to be able to get online, use information on the Internet and have it delivered to them in a safe and private manner. We had been experimenting with VR and AR headsets for a while and saw a couple of years ago that the technology was finally getting to a point where it’s ready for wide scale adoption in enterprises and very soon, consumers. And so, in order to get to a place where we could ensure that the web was safe, private and relevant for consumers, we knew that we needed to start investing in building browsers and web-based technologies for these VR and AR headsets so that, by the time people were ready to buy them, the web was already there.

AREA: What’s different about Firefox for AR compared to other headset-enabled browsers?

Bergstrom: The biggest thing we’re trying to do is to partner and build a really great immersive experience for each headset, customized for the hardware. Each one has its own sweet spot, field of view, and ergonomics. What gestures does it support? How long can people use it and be comfortable? We’ve tried to work with each of the headsets, either with the manufacturers directly or ourselves, to figure out how to build a browser that’s customized to work well on that hardware, is comfortable, and offers something that users want to be in all the time. So, one of the biggest things that distinguishes us is that we’re working directly with the hardware vendors.

AREA: What are some of the fine points of browser design when you’re talking about the augmented reality environment?

Bergstrom: The web as a platform didn’t do a lot with computer vision. The camera is only available to the browser through generic media APIs, but when we transition to augmented reality, everyone using these devices expects to have access to the specialized hardware APIs available on those devices. They expect to have some sort of object recognition, they expect to be able to find QR codes, and they expect reasoning about the environment, whether that’s object detection or surface detection. So one of the big things that we’ve had to do in the browser was work with the hardware vendors and other people to determine how we were going to expose this information, up to web pages and do it in a safe way? How are we going to ask users for privacy? Because right now, if you build a Unity app, you just get access to all of these APIs and then there’s some assumption of trust. You install the application and it doesn’t really prompt you again. However, with the web, we’re talking about potentially untrusted content; you go to some website that’s selling a poster and they ask you if you want to put the poster on the wall. We need to be very careful for the user. How are we asking them for permission to display that in the real world and how much information is actually being transmitted back to that website? Because the expectation of trust is very different.

AREA: It sounds as if you’re trying to be very responsible about safety and privacy.

Bergstrom: We have to. We are a nonprofit and we’re mission-driven so that is our measure of success – getting people to safely and privately use the Internet on these devices.

AREA: You announced Firefox Reality in April. What’s the roadmap and what milestones can we look forward to?

Bergstrom: We’re focusing on the standalone device experience right now. We think mobile phone AR is really great, as is mobile phone VR, for getting developers experimenting with the hardware. But it’s hard to see people integrating it with their daily lives until it’s in a standalone headset. So, we’ve been focusing on all of the unique requirements there. For example, how do you load a URL when you don’t have an onscreen keyboard to fall back on? Our latest milestone is the release of versions of both the VR and AR browsers in application stores for several standalone headsets.

AREA: And after that?

Bergstrom: The big thing we’re working on is going beyond stores and actually getting it installed on devices for distribution with the headsets because that’s really where we want to be. We want to make sure that all of these headsets that ship have a good browser on them for doing web-based virtual and augmented reality.

AREA: What does Mozilla hope to get out of its membership in the AREA?

Bergstrom: One of the things that I really like about the AREA is that it brings together a lot of very experienced large organizations that have been running pilots and programs with augmented reality for many years. These are organizations we normally wouldn’t have contact with, as a nonprofit organization that’s mainly consumer focused. The AREA bridges that gap to help us connect to enterprises and industry in the way that we haven’t traditionally had. I am always surprised at how much I learn every time I talk to members of the AREA.

AREA: What kind of response have you had from the marketplace about the Firefox Reality announcement?

Bergstrom: We wanted to reach out to more hardware vendors and strongly signal to the market that we’re bringing a browser to AR and VR headsets and they should reach out to us. In our view, there’s no value in being exclusive to one device. Most of the value comes when we are on every device. Then people can build a web app and they get the experience to work across all of them. We’ve gotten a lot feedback. Immediately after we went live, a number of hardware vendors reached out to us. They’ve tried it on their devices and they’d like us to tune it for their hardware. We’ve also engaged developers to begin experimenting with it. Their feedback has been, “Okay, when are you going to have this installed on devices by default so I can ship my application?”

AREA: What’s the biggest question developers have?

Bergstrom: How is the performance relative to a native solution? In some ways, the web is not as mature a platform as Unity, in particular in terms of access to the raw graphics compute hardware. So we’re working to help developers get answers to those questions.

On September 18 to 20, I had the opportunity to attend the VR/AR Summit at the TechXLR8 event at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore. Produced in collaboration with the XR Alliance and the VR AR Association, the VR/AR Summit spanned the value chain of solutions driving enterprise adoption of AR and VR across Asia.

For me, the highlights of the AR/VR Summit were the presentations by early adopters of AR and VR. We heard talks on implementations in Healthcare, Education, Entertainment, and Retail/eCommerce. Presenters included representatives from: Japanese telco KDDI; the National Institute of Education; Deloitte; the Singapore Radiological Society; payment provider Wirecard; and a few small Enterprise AR providers.

These speakers shared their expertise, use cases, and useful tips for a successful AR/VR implementation. The overall tone was guarded optimism. While they generally agreed that AR/VR offers great promise, many presenters stressed the need to carefully calibrate customers’ expectations in the near term.

I took advantage of the opportunity to introduce participants to the AREA – who we are and how we are working with our members and the ecosystem to advance the successful implementation of enterprise AR. It was a promising first step in developing the AREA ecosystem in Singapore and Asia-Pacific.

What’s the value of a comprehensive, vertical industry-focused AR solution? For AREA member Apprentice.io, it’s worth at least $8 million. That’s what a group of investors led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital has invested in Series A funding for the pharma- and biotech-focused AR solution provider.

The Apprentice platform is an all-day workflow solution that the entire pharma and biotech organization can use, from the scientist doing drug discovery to the manufacturing operator. Apprentice calls it “the first conversational AR and AI platform.”

“We like to say that we don’t just augment reality; we augment human ability,” said Angelo Stracquatanio, co-founder and CEO of Apprentice.io. “AR and AI are changing the way workforces across all industries solve problems and share information, ushering in the next wave of human potential.”

Learn more here.

The AREA Publishes Exclusive Free Report on Improving Acceptance and Adoption of AR through Communication

We tend to think of AR adoption as being primarily a technical exercise, but the fact is that any new technology will only succeed in the workplace if its users accept it. Without their buy-in, even the most revolutionary technology could founder.

That’s why the AREA is pleased to offer for download the latest value-added content from its Research Committee, a report entitled Six Steps to Improving Acceptance and Adoption of AR Technology in the Workplace Through Communication.

Written by Carly Kroll, the 18-page report provides readers with a step-by-step method to help workers become increasingly comfortable with AR as a tool to perform their work tasks. Kroll provides helpful instructions for each step along the way: Inform, Simplify, Visualize, Influence, Demonstrate, and Encourage.

If you want to ensure that your AR initiative is successful from the start, you have to have the users on your side. Download the report today and get everyone on board.

The AREA is issuing a request for proposals for a funded research project that will develop a methodology for identification of, and strategies for, overcoming barriers to AR adoption in manufacturing environments.

Organizations with relevant expertise in the research topic may respond to the invitation on or before 12 PM Eastern Daylight Time on August 21st.

The goals of the AREA-directed research project are:

• To document all potential barriers to AR adoption in manufacturing and develop a step-by-step methodology for their identification and subsequent implementation of strategies (proven and proposed) that can be used to overcome barriers. The AREA members will then be able to follow the methodology when working with their internal and external manufacturing management and/or operator stakeholders, or to assist their customers and partners in the deployment of AR in production environments.
• To increase understanding of barriers and resolution strategies that can reduce the time, cost and risks for AR adoption in manufacturing.

The research project will produce:

• An AREA-member exclusive report that describes a methodology for identification of and strategies for overcoming barriers to AR adoption in manufacturing environments.
• A tool or framework implemented in the form of an annotated spreadsheet with instructions on how to fill in fields and with which the user organization will identify common AR adoption barriers.  Based on identified barriers, the tool will suggest strategies for AR introduction managers and stakeholders to follow for the reduction or management of AR adoption barriers.
• A case study (suitable for public release) illustrating the use of the methodology by AR introduction managers in a fictional (or anonymized) manufacturing organization.

The research methodology should include primary research (i.e., interviews with the owners/managers of AR proof of concept projects in manufacturing industry, surveys, etc.), secondary research (i.e. review of peer-reviewed literature and web-based information) and a broad, system-level view of AR in manufacturing in order to capture organizational and environmental factors as well as suitability of AR for specific manufacturing use cases, and technology acceptance by operators.

All proposals will be evaluated by the AREA research committee chair and research manager on the following criteria:

• Demonstrated knowledge of manufacturing environments and organizations managing manufacturing, and the use of AR for the purpose of improving operational performance of manufacturing systems and organizations.
• Clear qualifications of the proposing research organization and any partners in the domains of AR, manufacturing management and/or adjacent technologies.
• Review of prior research reports and process management tools.
• Feedback of references.

The AREA will provide detailed replies to submitters on or before August 27th. Unless otherwise negotiated in advance, the research project is expected to be completed and finished deliverables produced by October 31st. 

Any questions concerning this project and the AREA Research Committee, please send an email to the Research Committee.

The AREA Research Committee budget for this project is $15,000. Organizations interested in conducting this research for the fixed fee are invited to submit proposals. Full information on the project needs and desired outcomes, including a submission form, can be found here.

Act quickly to take advantage of a great money-saving offer from AWE Europe 2018 and the AREA – €100 off the cost of access passes to the two-day must-attend event. Coming to the MOC Exhibition Centre in Munich on October 18 and 19, AWE is the world’s #1 AR and VR conference and expo and is expected to attract 100 exhibitors and 2000 attendees, including many enterprise AR leaders.

It’s a great offer, but it’s only good through Sunday, July 22, so act now. Click here to register and save €100!

Founded in 2017, Wunschsicht GmbH is a Swiss-based AR solutions provider led by Lukas Zimmerli. Wunschsicht is taking a novel approach that Zimmerli hopes will open the AR market to more small companies. We spoke with Lukas Zimmerli recently to learn more.

AREA: Tell us how you became involved in Augmented Reality.

Zimmerli: After earning my diploma from ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, I went to Barcelona to work on my first Mixed Reality project. In 2007, I came back to ETH Zurich for my PhD, exploring how Virtual Reality can be used to motivate stroke and spinal cord injured patients during motor rehabilitation. In 2015, I then went to Swisscom, the biggest telecommunication company in Switzerland. As team lead for mobile apps and Augmented Reality, my team and I developed AR experiences for the larger enterprise customers of Swisscom. After two years, I decided to start my own AR company in November of 2017.

AREA: Are you focusing on particular vertical industries or niches in the business?

Zimmerli: We’re exploring all opportunities to start, especially concentrating on the German-speaking market (Switzerland, Germany, and potentially Austria). We recently released our first product called insight, which allows companies to easily create AR-enabled digital instruction manuals, enabling their employees with skills they might not have. It’s a device-independent solution that allows companies to quickly get a first impression on how AR might help them.

AREA: So the idea is to show people what the capabilities are, then work with them to tailor it to their specific needs.

Zimmerli: Right, because we believe that this approach allows small companies to quickly get a first experience of what AR could do to help them without having to invest a huge amount of money for a tailored proof of concept.

AREA: What’s the market for AR solutions like in Switzerland?

Zimmerli: There is a push in the country to get Swiss companies to adopt digital strategies and AR is definitely one part of it, although AI and IoT at the moment have a bigger audience. Many companies I have approached are however saying they are looking into AR and are open to learning about the advantages.

AREA: What do you hope to get from your membership in the AREA?

Zimmerli: As a startup, we are hoping to talk to and learn from companies that have already been in the field for a long time and vice versa to inspire them. We’re also interested in actively participating in shaping how AR is deployed in enterprises. Certainly, we also hope to find opportunities to collaborate with other companies.

AREA: Are you planning to participate in any of the AREA committees?

Zimmerli: We’d like to begin by participating in the research and marketing committees.

What is the AREA doing to foster the adoption of Augmented Reality in the enterprise? What kinds of benefits are AREA member organizations beginning to realize from their AR deployments? AREA Executive Director Mark Sage provided the answers to these and other questions in a video interview by TechTV at the AR & VR World conference at the TechXLR8 event in London in mid-June. Watch the interview here.