The more practical cousin of virtual reality, AR is mainly used to provide remote training and technical support to production sites and R&D centers with the help of smart glasses and 3D imaging similar to Google Street View. It allows viewers to pause videos, draw circles and lines into the image, and even use their own projected hands to point and gesture.

After remote teams helped complete a new beverage factory in Thailand seven weeks ahead of schedule, test new KitKat confectionery molds in absentia and commission new pet-food production lines in the US, Nestle plans to expand the technology across the company.

“Today we understand the full potential of the positive impact of the crisis as well,” Thomas Hauser, Nestle’s head of product and technology development, said in an interview. “We enjoy a higher level of efficiency, speed and a reduced impact on the environment.”

Philips, Electrolux

Joining Nestle are appliance makers Royal Philips NV and Electrolux AB in betting on the use of augmented reality due to the pandemic.

While Electrolux used it to deal with not being able to install equipment it shipped to North America and Latin America, Philips relied on the technology while urgently expanding ventilator capacity to cope with a surge in critically ill Covid-19 patients needing help with breathing.

In a race to set up additional production lines, the Dutch company remotely connected different sites to help train workers and exchange knowledge, bypassing the need for travel. Part of that drive is also focused on artificial intelligence in an attempt to detect how patients are trending on the basis of data analytics. The technology helps to forecast whether they fall into a delirium or into sepsis, and whether they need help.

“You see a rapid integration of virtual reality technologies,” said Philips chief executive officer Frans Van Houten. “The whole world will see an acceleration in the adoption of informatics.” – Bloomberg

Original article appears here.

This technology, combined with Oculus or Microsoft headsets, empowers executives, sales teams, trainers, and educators to present immersive content to their audience resulting in increased engagement, satisfaction, and retention while avoiding burnout and fatigue. As the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic sweeps across the globe it’s ramifications can be felt in every facet of daily life. Perhaps most visible is that in the workplace and education. As many employees and students are working and learning from home, they rely heavily on remote software. According to Time Is Ltd., a productivity software company, online meetings doubled from February to April 2020. As the debate rages over the safety of in-person schooling, the quest to make remote learning efficient and efficacious is paramount. The drawback to more popular platforms has resulted in experiences such as ‘Zoom Burnout’. Additionally, many people feel the typical video set-up doesn’t fit their particular working style. Current research shows Virtual Reality training actually results in increased engagement, retention and satisfaction. AfterNow Prez Remote makes use of Virtual and Augmented reality, proving more effective than Zoom or Powerpoint for communicating, learning, and exchanging ideas. “Over the past few years, we’ve been building high end custom immersive presentations for the largest companies in the world and we’ve seen how effective the technology is – we’ve seen positive outcomes when our customers have used AfterNow Prez for sales and internal meetings.” said Philippe Lewicki, Co-founder of AfterNow. “This private beta of our new remote platform is the first step to bringing this technology to everyone – small and medium companies, schools and universities.” AfterNow is an augmented reality company specializing in custom visualizations and presentations. As a Microsoft Mixed Reality partner, AfterNow has created and designed AR presentations for Fortune 500 companies.

Though there are existing VR/AR collaboration platforms like Spatial, Glue, MeetinVR, EngagedVR, and Virbela, to name a few, AfterNow Prez Remote is designed specifically to present which makes it more effective for sales, training, and education. The presenter prepares content specifically for the meeting and goes through that content with the team or students. “Almost all of us present ideas to one other. Presenting has become central to how we educate our children and work with our colleagues,” says Dave Birnbaum, HCI expert and AfterNow client. “As we spend an increasing amount of our time in immersive spaces, we will need welldesigned software that allows us to make presentations that are richly sensory, nuanced, and convincing. Software that gets this right will be a key enabler of the XR revolution.” AfterNow Prez Remote requires an internet connection and supports one presenter with up to 500 participants. Platforms supported are Hololens 1 & 2 and Oculus Quest.

The easy to use platform allows a presenter to upload images, audio, videos, 3D objects, as well as enter text and organize them into Slides with transitions. “In 5 to 10 years everyone will be using this technology. Today it’s a great solution for teachers to bring their classes into a students home with engaging 3D animated content and live interaction or a sales team that can go and see their prospects or present a virtual tradeshow.” adds Lewicki. Large tech companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and Magic Leap have invested billions in Augmented and Virtual Reality. The Coronavirus pandemic can be seen as the type of black swan event that illustrates dire circumstances often lead to innovation.

Humans are 3 dimensional creatures and with AfterNow Prez Remote, moving away from 2D flat screens and into immersive technology to better learn, communicate, convince and understand, proves the future just got real.

For more information, please visit www.afternow.io or email today@afternow.io or call 424 258 0776.

Read AfterNow’s AREA member profile 

About AfterNow

Since 2015 AfterNow specializes in envisioning, designing, and building mixed reality applications for Microsoft’s Hololens (1 and 2) , iOS, Magic Leap and Quest. Notable clients include Anthem, T-Mobile, Sprint PCS, Hershey, Marvel Disney, WB, Hyperloop (HTT), Boeing, Becton Dickinson and Qualcomm. Auggie award winner and Microsoft Mixed Reality partner since 2016, AfterNow, is building the future of spatial computing.

How can a business make itself ready to successfully apply AR? What will make implementation easier and more effective and ensure that the initial efforts provide a solid foundation for future transformation?

Knowing Where You Are And Where You Want To Go

There are two things you need to do at the very beginning: Identify a business goal, and assess what you are currently doing to achieve that goal.

A business goal can be retaining expertise by transferring skills from older or retiring workers to newer or unskilled workers. It can be providing product demos to prospects for products in a portfolio. It can be ensuring that engineers collaborate successfully on meeting permitting and safety requirements for new assembly lines across global locations.

Most importantly, what are the processes and procedures? Where are the bottlenecks or particular difficulties?

When considering where best to apply AR, further assessment is necessary — technology readiness. An impressive AR demo can be created for almost any business situation, but it’s important to choose a use case that can scale. AR can be used to improve routine, repetitive activities, but it won’t show its true value there, and investment in it will show less return.

AR really shines at helping with complex, varied and changing circumstances. The wider the range of product types, manufacturing procedures or workforce capabilities, the more clearly AR will show its value and the wider the organizational uptake will be.

Delivering AR To The User

AR content can be delivered to the end user in a variety of ways, and careful consideration of that user’s needs and the constraints of their work environment is necessary for a successful demonstration.

For example, a sales rep may need to present a broad portfolio of thousands of product configurations to prospects and customers. Currently, that may involve shipping samples to trade shows, providing spec sheets, and linking to diagrams and videos on webpages.

With AR, a customer can see all the details of a specific product, get a good idea of how it works and understand how it differs from the competition. Implementing AR on a phone or tablet can allow that sales rep to easily build a relationship with that customer, demonstrate a product of interest, communicate its details and use, and answer any technical questions while maintaining the touch essential to the sales process.

However, if the goal is to improve worker productivity on the production line, where various tools need to be picked up and used, AR content can be best delivered through a hands-free wearable, whether binocular eyewear such as Microsoft HoloLens or Magic Leap or monocular eyewear such as Google Glass Enterprise or the RealWear HMT-1. That information is overlaid on what the worker is seeing, whether it is instructions, fill levels or safety precautions, without interfering with the worker’s tasks.

It’s worth spending some time to really consider the various possible ways your AR could be used now and in the future so the chosen technology presents the information in an optimal way for the user.

Ensuring Access To The Necessary Content

An audit of the information necessary to build an AR experience that communicates effectively to the user can turn up gaps. This is fairly common because the range of information AR can communicate is much wider than is possible with existing channels. Ensuring the availability of this information as early in the process as possible can make for effective implementation.

If you want to provide procedural guidance to line workers, you must have — or be able to create or capture — digitized work instructions. If you want to provide 3D instructions on how to maintain and service a newly acquired machine, you must have the 3D CAD data. If you want workers to see diagnostic information about a machine’s performance such as vibration, temperatures and fill levels, that machine must have the necessary sensors and connectivity.

Identifying this information will require acquiring, storing, managing, distributing and analyzing new types of data and repurposing data you already have.

While not ideal, the lack of some information is not fatal. For example, if there is no 3D CAD data for your machine, using a head-mounted device to record an expert performing all the required maintenance procedures can fill the gap. However, identifying those gaps and planning methods for filling those gaps is essential.

Presenting That Content In A Useable Way

Technologies such as web and mobile apps, which were new not so long ago, are now established, and the methods for creating them and making them usable are defined. AR is much earlier in the process of becoming routine, so the specifics of AR usability still require attention.

Even an AR project that addresses a business goal, understands user needs and is supplied with the right content can fail if the user experience is inadequate. There are many ways to go wrong, from excessive or poorly organized information to inadequate visual contrast.

The need for usability is great, and tools to assist in AR content authoring are developing quickly. They’re already providing significant assistance to content developers, but understanding the capabilities and needs of the worker and rigorously establishing what information is most important in what context is key in this step.

You are Ready For AR

Almost every business can improve efficiency, reduce costs, more quickly skill workers or ensure compliance through the information AR communicates. Choosing the right place to try AR first takes some thought and planning, which will enable an effective AR implementation that will provide a foundation for future growth.

This Hype Cycle highlights several key mature and emerging technologies that are focused on helping frontline worker productivity, including the following:

• Remote Expert Guidance Solutions: Remote expert guidance solutions provide industrial-level collaboration between subject matter experts and remote workers or customers utilizing mobile or wearable devices. Typical features include chat, live video, file sharing, and annotations, which provide visual cues that overlay the worker’s view. These tools help guide remote workers as they perform tasks, and are used across a variety of use cases – maintenance and repair procedures, remote factory acceptance tests, post-task audits, or training.
• Connected Factory Worker: Connected factory workers use various digital tools to improve the safety, quality, and productivity of the jobs they perform. This technology helps connect workers to the “digital fabric” of the business, providing insight into the tasks they perform so that they can be optimized and continually improved on.
• Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality (AR/MR): Connected workers use augmented and mixed reality technologies to improve and integrate their interactions with both physical and virtual surroundings. Through the use of digital work instructions, as well as augmented/mixed reality delivered through mobile and wearable devices, they are able to make faster and better decisions that optimize and improve a process or workflow that they participate in.

Augmentir’s Approach to the Connected Frontline Worker

Augmentir sits on the intersection of these innovation profiles, using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to amplify the value that digital technologies bring to the connected worker.

Augmented Work Instructions and digitized workflows help guide connected workers with visual aids while AI-driven insights provide contextual information that enable workers to perform at their best.

Remote Expert Guidance helps companies virtually connect and collaborate with their frontline workforce and their customers to provide remote guidance and support.

AI-based Operational Insights help companies identify the largest opportunities in improving the skills of the frontline workforce, and helps to drive continuous improvement throughout the organization.

At Augmentir, our AI identifies patterns and generates insights based on analyzing data from connected workers. These insights improve worker performance as well as provide positive impact on training, operational workflows, and quality. According to Gartner, “The possibility of predicting performance is extremely attractive for manufacturers. This is driving the strong interest in ML. ML is an essential enabler of artificial intelligence (AI), smart factories and intelligent automation.”

Our view at Augmentir is that the purpose of a connected worker platform isn’t simply to deliver instructions and remote support to a frontline worker, but rather to continually optimize the performance of the connected worker ecosystem. Artificial intelligence is uniquely able to address the fundamental macrotrends of skills variability and the loss of tribal knowledge in the workforce. With an ecosystem of content authors, frontline workers, subject matter experts, operations managers, continuous improvement engineers, and quality specialists, there are dozens of opportunities to improve performance.

If you’d like to see how our AI-Powered Connected Worker platform improves safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

The technologies underpinning the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are key to the success of Industry 4.0. I recently had the honor of hosting a panel during IIoT World Days virtual conference looking at the role and power of analytics in IIoT.

Each of the five guests on the panel had insights into what they called the “Manufacturing Analytics Journey” – taking a detailed look at how analytics impacts profitability, powers prediction, informs intelligent optimization and leverages big data.

The insights they offered about the importance of data and analytics got me to thinking about the important role that AR, AI and mobile devices can play in actually making use of that data on the front line.

As it happens, integration with industrial IIoT infrastructures is something that our team has spent a great deal of time working on over the last several years. Since the first release of our “Transforming the Enterprise” white paper back in late 2018, we have been clear about the relationship between IIoT, AR and AI.

In the latest release of that White Paper, we spelled out exactly how we saw the connections between AR. AI, IIoT and machine learning. We start with the context of the frontline team member in an industrial setting who is servicing a piece of equipment.

This context could leverage data about:

• the work identity profile of the frontline team member
• the skill set data of the frontline team member
• historical data covering the work instructions they may have previously worked with in relation to a particular piece of equipment they are servicing
• the remote experts or colleagues they typically work with
• and what level of certification and training they may have in undertaking the job they’re about to do.

Once we have that foundational context, we can combine it with information about location, time and date (all drawn from the mobile device itself) – and then start using relevant industrial IoT data to provide:

• very specific assistance that is relevant to the task at hand,
• insights into how the equipment that the frontline team member is working on may relate to other useful IoT data from similar equipment
• live diagnostic data from the equipment itself.

We believe that front line teams need to be able to use their mobile devices (including smart glasses, tablets and smartphones) to get information from machines, sensors, and the IIoT infrastructure and see the the data flow into their field of vision.

The IoT data can come from the frontline team member’s immediate work environment – with QR code or object recognition scans being used to perhaps draw information about when a piece of equipment was last serviced, provide immediate access to all relevant service records, work instructions and performance data for the equipment itself.

And the utility of having these technologies linked doesn’t stop there. Context is also a vital component of helping systems become more intelligent (though ML and AI technologies) and predictive.

Leveraging both edge computing and AR technologies, enhanced by machine learning and artificial intelligence, creates a platform that can anticipate what members of the extended enterprise will need to do next – sometimes before they know it themselves.

It builds on the idea that an organization has the capability, with the simple introduction of something like our Front Line OS (powered by AR and AI), to hold up a mirror to itself – and its supply chain – to gain true predictive insight in both the specific and broad collaborations of the extended enterprise.

The division uses Unity to create a mixed reality pipeline connected to systems and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) data, then deploy applications to multiple platforms, including Microsoft HoloLens, Oculus devices, and smartphones.

This blog details a few of the ways in which they create and deploy HoloLens applications at various stages of the automotive lifecycle.

Production

Daimler Protics uses Unity for a variety of use cases in the production phase, from planning factory layouts (e.g., previsualizing machinery and architecture) to assembly training (e.g., training workers on how to assemble the cars). Safety inspection is one of them (see video above).

Automakers often use robotic laser welding to precisely and efficiently fuse various parts of the vehicle together. When Daimler’s robot cell is in operation, however, the space is closed off to prevent anyone from looking inside and losing their sight, making safety inspections difficult.

The team developed an application that replays each robot’s logged movements on the HoloLens once a session is complete. This application displays predefined safety spaces, so it’s easy to verify whether the robot’s movements have adhered to safety protocols.

Sales and marketing

Mercedes-Benz formed the EQ brand for its new fleet of electric vehicles. For the Mercedes-Benz EQC, the automaker’s first fully-electric compact luxury SUV, the Daimler Protics team created a HoloLens experience to help drivers better understand the inner workings of an electric vehicle compared to the gas-powered versions to which they’re accustomed.

Designed for auto shows and dealership showrooms, the self-serve application guides users – the vast majority of whom have never used a mixed reality headset – showing them where to look and identifying various points of interest as they walk around the vehicle. Daimler’s goal is to tell a rich, interactive story about the Mercedes-Benz EQC, including the location of the battery powering the vehicle, and how it works and charges.

After-sales: Maintenance and repair

Traditional training programs use cut-section models to instruct technicians on how to service an automotive transmission. While working on a full-scale physical model is helpful for understanding, the educational value of a cutaway version that’s disconnected from the car is limited.

Daimler Protics solved this dilemma using mixed reality. The application not only surfaces the transmission’s various hard-to-see components, it also makes it easy to replicate the experience of the running engine, and visualize how it changes when shifting gears or braking.

Read the original article here.

Pixee anticipates the number of total knee replacement cases using the Knee+ technology will increase quickly as they already have a sizable list of surgeons interested in trying this innovation using the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses. The combination is compact, easy to use, wireless and does not require disposables.

Pixee Medical expects to sign their first distribution agreements with implant manufacturers over the next few weeks, allowing their solution built around the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses to be promoted by them worldwide. Pixee Medical is pursuing and expecting FDA approval (510k) for Knee+ before the end of 2020.

“The team at Pixee Medical created an innovative path to bring the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses into the operating room to perform knee replacement surgeries and we look forward to supporting the worldwide distribution of their innovative AR solution,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix.

Read more in the full press release

To maintain operations and keep employees safe in the ongoing pandemic, more and more businesses are turning to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR or XR), particularly XR remote support, training and collaboration solutions. A big step up from familiar video conferencing solutions like Zoom, AR/VR allows teams to effectively collaborate, train, and deliver services from a distance. (Basically, you don’t have to completely cease operations.)

In a lot of cases (as you’ll read below), the pandemic ‘simply’ pressed fast forward on companies’ existing AR/VR plans. Though there were plenty of case studies demonstrating the benefits of immersive tech at work pre-pandemic (not to mention the first rollouts at large companies), we were likely several years away from widespread daily use of these tools in enterprise. Thanks to the virus, what was expected to take five to ten years occurred in a matter of weeks or months—an incredible transformation when you think about it. Microsoft has seen a 13-fold increase in remote assist on HoloLens 2 since January, while other AR/VR solution providers have been offering their products and services for free to assist small businesses. The following are a sample of forward-thinking companies using XR ‘on the daily’ during quarantine:

‍

Genesis Energy‍

Two years ago, the New Zealand-based electricity and gas supplier purchased a basic HoloLens kit in hopes of using the device to perform tasks typically carried out in person by local and overseas experts. Unfortunately, the technology didn’t stick then. Fast forward a few years to when coronavirus convinced the company to revisit HoloLens in an effort to keep several major engineering projects on track. Now, Genesis is using the technology multiple times per week and will continue to do so beyond the pandemic to cut down on engineers’ travel. 

To perform remote/hands-free inspections and even virtual certifications, an on-site engineer wearing HoloLens shows aspects of a project to different experts. Genesis is also eyeing the mixed reality headset for training, to help fabricate replacement parts for machinery no longer produced and to capture (i.e. record) older engineers’ institutional knowledge.

Lowe’s

Since 2016, Lowe’s has delivered XR apps to help customers measure rooms at home, locate products in store, and even virtually practice home improvement projects. For the quarantine, the home improvement chain launched Lowe’s for Pros JobSIGHT powered by Streem, an AR video chat solution allowing Pros to conduct virtual home visits with homeowners and clients. These contact-free consultations are critical, as homes are no longer just ‘where the heart is’ but also serving as work offices. Pros can troubleshoot issues, using an on-screen laser pointer and AR ‘quick-draw’ to guide customers through the consultation or a simple repair.   

Ford

The automobile giant was already using virtual reality in vehicle design; the virus, however, took the technology from the office into employees’ homes, enabling Ford designers to finish up development on the Ford Mustang Mach-E and begin work on a brand-new car from home. Represented as avatars with emotive movements and voice, Ford’s designers can review CAD-generated models of in-development vehicles ‘together’ in a virtual studio. Though VR won’t replace clay modeling (at least not yet), Ford has been researching technologies and tools like haptics and Gravity Sketch to imbue digital work with some of that same hands-on physicality. 

BNP Paribas Real Estate / Cornell

Conscious of the cost and carbon footprint of constant overseas flights, the BNP Paribas subsidiary was already using Spatial pre-pandemic to broker corporate deals across the world. Agents’ work has continued despite stay-at-home orders thanks to the VR meeting solution, which allows them and their clients to manipulate and walk through 3D models of properties. At Cornell’s med school, clinicians are also using Spatial, wrapping HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap One headsets in PPE in order to connect with remote colleagues during rounds (thereby limiting exposure).

AWL

This Netherlands-based system integrator specializes in joining technology. As some of its machines are made to order, customers would often travel to AWL in Harderwijk to perform Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs). When the pandemic hit, AWL worked with Recreate Solutions to take this process virtual. Using HoloLens and Microsoft Remote Assist, customers can connect to an AWL representative who can, in turn, share design documents and place 3D annotations in the customers’ world to guide them through machine delivery and service requests.

Cox Communications

Broadband Internet provider Cox Communications considered using AR in customer service before this year. What the pandemic did was add urgency and so in March, Cox rolled out AR to its 5,000-strong workforce, including home technicians and contractors.