The design is a prototype from electronics company Goertek, which has worked with Qualcomm before. It looks a lot like Qualcomm’s earlier XR1 reference design, as the company’s VR/AR (or collectively, “XR”) head Hugo Swart admitted to reporters. But it can show off the XR2’s new capabilities, including support for 5G networks and up to seven cameras — although it still uses 2K display panels for each eye instead of the maximum 3K resolution for XR2.

Read the full article on Verge here 

Read Qualcomm’s AREA member profile .

AR has proven useful for industrial and professional applications, such as providing interactive guidance in manufacturing, for reference in system repair, as an aide in medical training as well as in the practice of medicine; and in similar situations where a professional can benefit from access to all kinds of reference data. MR and XR, meanwhile, still tend to be invoked only in special cases.

The article discusses the key definitions of and differences between VR AR MR and XR in a table.

The market for VR and AR gear is projected to grow to $18.8 billion by the end of this year, according to Statista. That includes mostly headsets and glasses, but also handhelds, wearables and body cameras.

Research-And-Markets has a more expansive view of AR and VR. It takes into account enabling technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, edge computing, and robotics. The firm points out that advances in those areas are going to pave the way for VR and AR being adopted in a number of different areas, including media, gaming, telepresence, retail, medicine, and education.

Microsoft and Intel have been investing heavily in AR and VR and have yet to commercialize their technology.

Intel, for example, has been working on a set of technologies that capture live activity, and then replay it in such a manner that the viewer can review the action from literally any angle. The demonstrations of True View are almost always of sporting events, and after several years they are still astonishing. At CES, company executives said they might have the processing power necessary to cost-effectively commercialize the technology in two or three more microprocessor generations.

The original article has links to other use cases of immersive technology in industry.

Spatial Brings Remote Employees Together

What’s Happening: Spatial looks to build out how brands and teams work collaboratively with a global workforce and has raised 14M to continue work on their collaborative AR tool that let’s remote employees work together through augmented workspaces. Think Slack or Google Hangouts, but one where you can visually see and work with each other through a shared virtual workspace.

Why It Matters: Over the last 5 years there has been a 44 percent growth increase in remote work. In order to adapt to this shift of flexible work becoming the new standard, tools will be necessary to bring employees across disciplines so they can collaborate effectively. Spatial looks to jump into that market to bring people together over work in a way that feels natural and supports collaboration.

Canon Still In The Augmented Reality Game

What’s Happening: Canon announced it’s AR successor with some really impressive visuals. Beyond hyper photorealism, Canon is touting many new features to make AR 3D models seamlessly integrate with real life objects.

Why it Matters: Oftentimes when we think of augmented reality, it’s for fun or marketing purposes. However, advancements in technology are providing businesses with the tools to create efficiencies across many development processes. If you’re looking to create a better workflow, it might be time to look into XR enterprise solutions for your business.

VR In The Cloud

What’s Happening: Amazon announces Wavelength, a new addition to Amazon Web Services (AWS) called Wavelength for 5G devices. Wavelength promises single digit millisecond latency for AR/VR applications that are latency-sensitive applications over 5G connections.

Why It Matters: Currently high-end virtual reality devices rely on expensive local computing. Wavelength aims to take that processing into the cloud to render and AR and VR content remotely. This drastically reduces the processing power required for applications that require low-latency and can let battery-powered devices take advantage without the need for said expensive local computing and enables these devices to access from any 5G location. Varjo, the maker of high-end VR enterprise headsets, believes this is a necessary step to scale VR usage.

To hear the purveyors and early adopters of augmented reality platforms tell it, the technology is emerging as the ultimate “measure twice, cut once” reference check for an increasing number of mission-critical aerospace and military systems.

Last fall, we reported on Lockheed Martin Corp.’s embrace of augmented reality technology as it builds NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The world’s largest defense contractor is working with large and small AR developers to speed the presentation of workflow data spanning assembly, test and maintenance.

Among the aerospace giant’s key AR suppliers are Microsoft, with its “mixed reality” HoloLens platform and Scope AR, a software vendor specializing in AR training tools. Those companies are at the leading edge of efforts to push augmented and mixed reality tools into the mainstream. In November, Scope AR announced support for Microsoft HoloLens 2 on its flagship AR platform called WorkLink.

That combination is aimed directly at large enterprises like Lockheed Martin that can afford to invest in AR tools for huge projects such as Orion while getting a return on investment in the form of manufacturing efficiencies. The company is using AR tools to assemble various Orion components, including the skeletal framework of the spacecraft’s titanium heat shield.

Among the goals in adopting AR technology for aerospace projects with the strictest of tolerances is what Scope AR’s Scott Montgomerie calls “real-time knowledge transfer.”

On the factory floor, the AR specialist is working with Lockheed Martin to develop training manuals that include animations for assembling spacecraft components. Training time for Orion technicians was reduced by 85 percent, according to Shelley Peterson, Lockheed Martin’s augmented technology project leader.

The resulting workflows have been used to reduce touch labor for Orion spacecraft components, including fasteners and accelerometers with narrow tolerances.

The company estimates that AR technology has reduced touch labor for drilling by 45 percent and 50 percent for torque applications. The task of tightening Orion’s fasteners was reduced from six weeks to two using AR.

Peterson said AR and “mixed reality” tools also have streamlined the translation and presentation of workflow data ranging from assembly, manufacturing, test and maintenance steps. AR software also can be used to add part identifiers or color coding of components. Assembly steps can then be animated.

In one example, Peterson said technicians don virtual reality goggles that display the precise spot where a spacecraft component should be attached. For volume parts like connectors, technicians previously had to manually measure before installing individual components.

Lockheed Martin, which also pioneered the use of disruptive technologies like quantum computing to help debug mission-critical code, is among a growing list of manufacturers embracing AR technologies. Others include Boeing, Siemens and Toyota.

Indeed, market watchers say manufacturers are embracing augmented reality for a range of applications. In a recent AR adoption survey, business consultant PwC reported that product design and development is the most popular AR application, followed closely by safety and skills training along with maintenance and equipment operation.

“What we’re seeing, then, is [virtual reality and] AR as an advanced manufacturing technology tool—just like robotics, 3D printing and the Internet of Things,” the PwC survey concludes.

The bottom line for aerospace companies applying AR, says Lockheed Martin’s Peterson, is a 50-percent reduction in the time needed to complete manufacturing tasks. “Augmented reality is allowing us to complete space manufacturing activities in half the time,” she asserts. “It’s becoming a reality today.”

Read the full original article here. 

According to Deloitte Consulting Managing Director Allan Cook, “Every ten or 15 years, there’s an impactful shift in the way people use and interact with technology and data… Mixed reality is going to be the fourth shift [after the PC, the internet, and mobile], and it will be as big as each one of those earlier shifts.”

On the surface, that statement may seem like a stretch. But the business impact of these technologies, which are well documented across numerous industries and enterprise use cases, support such a bold claim.

For instance, using VR for employee training improves pass rates and significantly reduces training time compared to traditional classroom lecture models. Likewise, when directions and data are provided in AR across field guidance and maintenance scenarios, human error can be eliminated entirely.

These impressive results have led many enterprises to test the waters, yet few have fully taken the plunge. A recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study found that 87% of large companies are currently exploring, piloting, or deploying mixed reality, but the vast majority are still in the exploratory or proof-of-concept stages.

Enterprise XR grows up

XR has proven to be a paradigm shift for enterprise in terms of boosting productivity, cost-savings, and learning and development, particularly in relation to highly skilled and specialized areas ranging from surgery to spacecraft engineering. Yet where so far we have seen pioneering companies work largely on an experimental trial-and-error basis, this next decade will see research catching up to meaningfully support this deployment on the ground.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, enterprise stakeholders will increasingly have the information and expert guidance at their disposal to tailor and customize solutions optimized for their specific industry, goals, and needs.

As more studies are conducted, and more use cases are shared among enterprise stakeholders across an expanding ecosystem of different industries, we will move on from the heady days of experimental exploration and marveling at the power of immersive technologies towards more targeted, considered, evidence-based and industry-specific approaches.

In other words, enterprise XR is about to enter its grown-up phase.  AREA Members Taqtile, NVIDIA and PTC are mentioned in the report.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from AFWERX to build AR tools to improve training for airmen. After conducting research on the available AR and MR glasses on the market today, ThirdEye’s track record of execution and success in military environments was a key reason its X2 MR Glasses were chosen for research and development purposes, along with a larger deployment into the Air Force and U.S. Department of Defense. The X2 MR Glasses align with the military’s needs, from its industrial capabilities, platform built for working applications, and ability to connect with subject matter experts in harsh environments.

The X2 MR Glasses fit a wide field of view with powerful sensors, providing advanced MR features that are not available on a monocular device, all while remaining entirely hands-free – important for being out in the field where wires can be a potential hazard. The X2 MR Glasses also run on the latest Android operating system (OS) allowing software to be easily ported onto the glasses.

Read the full story online

Logistivew is an augmented reality visuals and voice system that is changing the way warehouses operate and function, increasing put rates by 20% with training in 15 minutes or less. Operations staff are more connected and wear specific small devices, similar to glasses with an attached earpiece allowing them to hear instruction as well as see where in the warehouse to go. Studies confirm that humans learn much faster through visuals over audio, 65% of the population are visual learners and visuals can improve learning by up to 400% stimulating imagination and faster processing in the brain. Paired with audio, no wonder augmented reality is increasing productivity in the warehouse.

Imagine the yard is a warehouse and pair that with augmented reality. Not only do you have a great software telling you on tablets and desktops where everything is located and/or scheduled to arrive or depart, now you can be at the dock or in the yard with these glasses and just look up with the naked eye to see any trailer you are looking for. Additionally, what if you could now see what dock you need to get to just by looking at the doors instead of down at the tablet? These efficiencies could make a big impact and transform the way yard management operates today.

For further information, read Logistiview’s AREA member profile and follow them on Twitter.

Looking more like an optometrist’s tool than a pair of glasses, the new Mreal Display model MD-20 includes twin screens inside a black plastic housing, held in front of the user’s face with a large padded head ring. The odd design enables Canon to include atypically high-resolution 2,560 x 1,600-pixel displays for each eye, and achieve a large 70-degree horizontal by 40-degree vertical field of view. Canon’s latest screens operate at roughly 60 frames per second and cover 99% of sRGB colors, using graphics provided by a tethered PC.

Another element is a front-facing camera with a “uniquely developed global shutter” that uses three CMOS sensors, matching the wearer’s line of sight with high-precision compositing of real and computer-generated imagery. Canon claims that the MD-20 generates real-time spatial maps that precisely account for the user’s current location and field of view, so that digital objects — the car on the right, above — will seamlessly integrate with real ones, such as the car on the left. Optional external markers and sensors can also be used to provide 3D positioning data without on-device mapping.

Beyond just visualizing photorealistic 3D objects, MD-20 can display virtual touch menu interfaces for controls and access multiple applications — more than 10, Canon says, including third-party apps. The headset appears to be compatible with Mreal software developed for the predecessor model, MD-10, which had a narrower 60-degree horizontal field of view, 1,920 x 1,200-pixel resolution, lower color gamut, and 54Hz frame rate. Even in prototype form, the new model weighs only 60% as much as its predecessor — 620 grams versus 1,040 — though Canon hopes to reduce the weight further ahead of its general release.

There’s no specific timeline or pricing yet for MD-20’s sale to interested companies, but the prior model’s ¥9 million (~$82,260) price tag suggests that it could be sky high. That said, increased competition in the enterprise AR space could bring this model closer to earth: Companies such as Varjo are offering enterprise-class mixed reality headsets in the $10,000 range, combining AR and VR capabilities for businesses. Users interested in seeing MD-20 in person can visit the 28th 3D & Virtual Reality Exhibition, running from February 26-28 at Japan’s Makuhari Messe.

“Augmented reality can help van drivers find the precise address in the most efficient way, tackling road closures, beating traffic, and so on.”

In a fast-paced digital world, 84 percent of customers never repeat purchase from a vendor who has failed to deliver on time — that’s a statistic from a recent survey and it drives Koleva and her team to constantly look for ways to optimize last-mile delivery in a world where the volume and size of e-commerce transactions are skyrocketing year on year.

According to Statista, retail e-commerce sales in APAC grew from US$646.92 billion in 2014 to US$1.49 trillion in 2018 to US$2.34 trillion last year. This year, multiple forecasts suggest that revenues will touch between US$2.7 trillion and US$3.6 trillion this year.

Thanks to the recent coronavirus outbreak, retail e-commerce has spiked significantly just in the first two months of 2020 — making analysts even more optimistic about their forecasts.

Of course, the APAC has been leading the world in terms of retail e-commerce growth at 25 percent (2019), but a global average of 20 percent indicates the accelerated pace of growth, and the urgent need to make last-mile delivery more efficient.

At CES, Here Technologies explained that the company has been using LIDAR (light detection and ranging)-powered imaging devices mounted on cars (called True Cars at Here) that drive around the world, including the APAC, to collect 360-degree information about urban landscape to create maps in augmented reality.

“Using such data, logistics companies can help their on-ground staff to pin-point the exact destination of the parcels they’re carrying. When traffic and other data is factored in, this becomes even more efficient.”

Given the way that logistics companies around the world run their business, even the slightest scalable improvement helps save meaningful sums of money. A one percent improvement in last-mile delivery efficiency could easily result in a saving of more than US$20 million or more for a sizeable operator.

Koleva is passionate about the (unlimited and untapped) potential of augmented reality. She believes new and emerging technologies such as 5G, the internet of things (IoT), and others will play a big role, but ultimately, expects that industry players will be keen and swift to adopt new technologies to optimize last-mile delivery.

“The time to wait and watch has passed, it’s time to leverage digital innovations, it’s time to buckle up and race ahead,” concluded Koleva.