FourPlus launched in April, and provides high-end virtual laboratories allowing technicians to train using head-mounted displays. The Birmingham (UK) based company is already liaising with customers and working on a project; they design bespoke solutions, however are also working on off-the-shelf software. Mulhall will be talking about her company at the 17^th Annual bioProcessUK Conference this December at a pitching event for best new technology.

According to her, reducing consumable costs and “taking equipment out of production” for training is beneficial. Further advantages of VR technology mentioned in the article include:

• “Learning by productive failure” – technicians can make errors in VR that they couldn’t in a physical lab
• Allows for data capture and visualisation – for example, locating which areas a technician has cleaned
• Personalised training to the experiences and background of each user

Mulhall explains why she founded the company, stating that the oil and gas industry is advancing in its use of VR, therefore she thought the technology would also be useful for life sciences. FourPlus have a large, multi-disciplinary developer team working on transferring life science processes into VR, overcoming industry obstacles.

Read the full article here.

Arvind Rao, the director of product management at Rockwell Automation, is quoted to have said that increased workforce productivity, innovation, and optimal operations have accelerated the requirement for digital transformation. Rockwell’s collaboration with PTC has allowed them to meet customers’ demands of scale, expertise, and ease by extending their technology and solutions. The senior vice president of strategic alliances at PTC, Don Busiek, has also said that they are “confident” that InnovationSuite provides the most effective way of optimising “people, products, and processes” via digital transformation.

Advantages of FactoryTalk InnovationSuite mentioned in the article include:

• Offers fully integrated Augmented Reality, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Manufacturing Execution System, and edge-to-cloud analytics
• Rapidly develops, operationalizes, and scales solutions to global operations

Enhancements of InnovationSuite include:

• Accelerating IT/OT integration: FactoryTalk® Edge Gateway enhances the fidelity of operational technology data via the FactoryTalk® Smart Object capability.
• Simplifying edge-to-cloud enterprise analytics: FactoryTalk® Analytics offers an array of simplified data capabilities.
• Enabling enterprise-class digital thread: the Rockwell Automation Digital Thread enables a collaborative workflow, optimising design process.
• Delivering value through world-class consulting and professional services: Kalypso allows Rockwell Automation to provide a complete suite of technology, consulting, data science, and business process management.

Read the full article here for more detail about the IoT solution.

Digital twins are nothing but the 3D digital replica of a physical thing. They have been in existence since the days of computer-aided design (CAD) became mainstream during the ’90s. However, they remained stand-alone replicas for the next 20 years until augmented reality (AR) became prominent in the gaming and entertainment industries.

As TechNewsWorld notes, AR — often referred to as mixed reality — is an immersive and “interactive experience of a real-world environment where computer-generated perceptual information enhances real-world objects.” The technology expands our physical world by adding a digital layer and generating the AR. We can view AR on many devices, such as mobile phones and iPads with a camera capturing sounding images in real time and superimposing the augmented portions to enhance the object or environment surrounding it. AR glasses incorporate the field of view and project images onto glasses providing the composite view. Digital twins with AR unite the physical and virtual worlds and provide a dynamic digital representation for us to interact with. AR is gaining momentum in higher education and monitoring hazardous environments like oil rigs remotely.

With advances in IoT sensors, specialized video processing in real time, support of machine learning (ML) and deep neural networks all rendered into slightly bigger eyewear, there is an opportunity for enterprises to leverage this technology. This article explores how data, ML and cloud can further augment and add value to enterprises leveraging AR.

First, A Few Industry Examples

• Following through on a new product like an e-bike from early design to final product launch, including detailed design, road testing and road riding by the potential customer all in AR and offering guided repairs to customers.
• Oil rigs floating in the Arctic being remotely monitored from Houston using IoT sensor-enabled digital twins.
• Off-floor monitoring of a continuous process manufacturing like soaps and shampoos.
• Guided assembly of complex components like airplane engines.
• Remote-guided repairing of connected devices like ATMs, coffee machines and vending machines.
• Remote roadside assistance for basic diagnosis for broken-down cars.

Leveraging The Data They Generate In The Enterprise

One of the significant differences between the previous generation of digital twins and AR-enabled ones is the amount of data they generate from the sensors. The increased number of sensors emitting frequent data provides a more immersive experience and offers vast operational data, and it can be precious to the enterprise. Therefore, we need to ensure we capture that data in a cloud-scale data lake, not throw it away after the first real-time use in AR glasses.

We can analyze these data in real time or offline and leverage it for many uses, such as scheduling preventive maintenance to replace a part’s wear and tear before it happens. In the field service examples, telemetry data can offer significant insights into how the end users operate the product and train them better. We can use the usage data from the field and feedback into the product design. The more sophisticated advanced process controls (APC) can interact with the physical twin with the same gesture controls from AR. They can also take operational feedback from ML algorithms and feed it into the physical twin (wherever possible today), like resetting the factory line to the next batch of products. It can adjust the process line to support the next product variant’s need, from can to bottle or skipping individual wrapping of teabags with just bulk pack.

What Do We Need From Technology?

Most large enterprises are already investing heavily in data lakes and analytics. They are modernizing their plants and warehouses with sophisticated IoT sensors. We can easily extend the same architecture to support enterprise AR. We need the following:

1. APCs in places where we want to create digital twins to enable the generation of telemetry data from the components that form the physical twin.
2. The IoT edge capabilities to gather the data and provide an execution environment to run cloud services in order to process data locally if required.
3. A cloud environment to store the sensors’ and other physical twins’ data in the data lake. We need ML algorithms’ processing capabilities. We also need integration capabilities to connect operational IT systems and physical twins to execute business decisions as well as a secure and optimal network path between the IoT edges and cloud-hosted locations with minimal latency.
4. The IoT hub capabilities in the chosen cloud to act as the central hub for bidirectional communication between the enterprise applications and the physical twins. It can support methods to control the physical twins via AR gestures.
5. Real-time processing capabilities to process the data from the sensors and feed it into AR applications rendered in the web/mobile/holo lens to visualize and interact with the digital twin in order to understand what is going on in the physical twin.
6. Mixed reality software development toolkits to build the digital twins and other mixed reality experiences to render on different screens, including AR glasses.

Some Challenges

Early this year, Science Daily reported that some basic AR (and VR) movements can contribute to muscle strain and discomfort in the shoulder and cervical spine. AR glasses also don’t yet offer alternatives to people with eye impairments like long-sightedness or astigmatism, forcing them to wear contact lenses that could incorporate safety issues due to prolonged use. Therefore, any enterprise-wide use of wearing these devices should adhere to strict time limits in order to avoid long-term health issues.

Traditionally, most networks supporting industrial operations are not resilient or secure, unlike typical IT networks. Therefore, before enterprises take a plunge in this, they should audit their networks and ensure they are highly resilient and secure.

Summary

Digital twins supplemented with AR and other ML capabilities offer numerous opportunities for aerospace, defense, automotive, transportation, energy and utilities. Equally, it is likely to change the manufacturing sector with the emergence of cooperative bots commingled with AR, making manufacturing more efficient and optimized while reducing the throughput times. However, users’ health and safety challenges and the cyberthreats are still at large.

Read the full original article by Forbes Augmenting The Augmented Reality For Enterprises

The intelligent scanner is worn on the back of the hand and can be paired with an augmented reality headset or other smart device, which displays real-time information about storage locations, product identifiers and inventory levels. The technology integrates with XPO’s warehouse management system and digital tools used in the order preparation process.

XPO expects that the benefits documented by the pilot should produce similar results across the company’s broad network of logistics sites. Notable findings include:

• Six seconds saved per pick, representing an efficiency gain of approximately 10%;
• 75% reduction in errors per million units picked;
• Valuable data assimilated by the company’s XPO Smart™ labor productivity tools; and
• Employee health and safety supported by the scanner’s ergonomic design, as well as the ability to set social distancing alerts.

Ashfaque Chowdhury, president, supply chain – Americas and Asia Pacific, XPO Logistics, said, “Wearable technologies make it easier to work with precision in the fast-paced logistics environment. It’s not unusual for each of our e-commerce fulfillment centers to manage thousands of different product SKUs during peak seasonality. With ProGlove, we can realize sustainable gains in productivity, while delivering a better experience for our employees.”

“We’re excited to be working with XPO Logistics on the expansion of their wearable technology initiatives,” said Andreas Koenig, chief executive officer of ProGlove. “By seamlessly integrating with XPO’s warehouse management system and prioritizing the ergonomic needs of their workers, we can enhance efficiency as the sites accommodate e-commerce growth.”

XPO is an industry leader in e-commerce order fulfillment – a fast-growing area of logistics that accelerated when consumers shifted to online buying during COVID-19. In July, XPO released an independent research study that found 94% of US respondents expect to buy the same or more goods online going forward, compared with prior shopping habits.

The five partners involved in the project are:

• ESI Group (project coordinator)
• Whirlpool
• IPC (Innovation Plasturgie Composites)
• ENSAM
• LMS (Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation)

Technologies such as predictive models, in-line quality control, and in-mold sensors have already been introduced in the plastics industry to improve the process. However, AR provides new ways of interacting with manufacturing, product models, and machines. The article does acknowledge that current AR tools require more specification for each industry.

In providing real-time knowledge, the aim of the AMPLI project is to improve working procedures and decision-making via an AR tool for the polymer forming process. The tool will be based on the combination of numerical simulation integration and plastic domain-based knowledge.

The three main benefits targeted by the project mentioned in the article are:

• Improve manufacturing efficiency: -10% time reduction for tuning a work cell, +8% increase in machine availability via preventive maintenance, -25% reduction of work force training period, -10% reduction of scrap
• Capture and return process knowledge to eliminate skill shortages
• Foster use of digital tools to increase shop floor work appeal: as work becomes more visual, accessibility is increased and training facilitated

The AMPLI project is based on improving AR usability and mechanisms via:

• Customised plastic and composite processing interface – mixing measured information from the manufacturing work cell and models
• Reduced order model leading to embedded process simulation results

The consortium partners will be testing, developing, and validating simulation and AR technology for the thermoforming process for a year. The role of each company will be as follows:

• ESI will integrate the final output, a challenging step due to the need for real-time information in order for efficiency; ESI’s innovative technologies such as its model-order reduction platform, as well as its expertise, will make this stage possible.
• IPC will provide knowledge rules concerning supervision and setting, using skills in process control and machine interoperability. They also simulate thermoforming process using PAM-FORM, ESI’s software.
• LMS has developed an AR solution for the maintenance phase of infection molds due to their extensive experience in manufacturing AR applications.
• ENSAM will blend manufacturing simulation with reality via AR feature development.
• Whirlpool is a plastic converter, and will provide a thermoforming pilot case to test and validate the product industrially.

Remote working environments require an appropriate substitute for physical human interaction in addition to compelling digital content. Scott Likens, PwC’s Emerging Technology Leader, emphasises that VR is suitable for learning human skills, and is a more immersive vessel for training than face-to-face or standard online training.

VR training statistics stated in the report include:

• Employees’ confidence to act on training increased by 275% when using VR, compared to 198% for classroom training
• VR was up to 4 times faster than classroom training, and took two-thirds as long as e-learning methods

Likens further commented that VR enables participants to focus better due to less distraction. He also suggests that, during remote work, employers could send out sanitised headsets to workers’ homes. Towers-Clark recognises that this could nullify the time and cost effectiveness of VR, although research is being put into solving this issue. For example, Dr. Anna Carolina Muller Queiroz, an expert in VR education research, is quoted to have said that many businesses are developing a virtual workspace to “bring the environment closer psychologically”.

The article concludes by assessing the revolutionary possibilities of VR in the working environment. Even after the pandemic, new technology will be required for engagement, accessibility, and mental wellness during remote working. Currently, continued fervour is needed for keeping VR costs and content in check while it is utilised for training and work.

Workforce issues are constantly evolving, and as manufacturers struggle to meet their need for skilled workers and digitalization and the IIoT proliferate across industries, it can be hard to keep up with the most important trends and topics. Manufacturing Tomorrow’s Workforce is a podcast about workforce issues impacting companies and individuals across industries. In each episode, we talk to experts about the innovations and ideas that are keeping our workforce trained and informed.

In this episode, Amanda Del Buono is taking a look at a technology that may be gaining more traction as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to define a new normal for the workplace: Augmented Reality.

It’s worth noting, that this interview was recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting North America. Del Buono was joined by Dirck Schou, CEO of Taqtile, to discuss the benefits of augmented and virtual reality for training. Here’s their discussion.

A transcript of the interview is provided in the full article here.

The idea of the piece is that Combier hacks the Hype Cycle, observing at each point that very early on, much like the technology’s journey through the Hype Cycle, the customer themself goes through a similar cycle as well. The piece follows the customer journey through the technology trigger, the peak of inflated expectations, the trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment and plateau of productivity.

The Hype Cycle

1. Technology trigger

This is the initial phase of any rising technology where the concepts and ideas related to technology take place. No products are launched in the market, and the management is keen on people’s interest.

Following our customer journey metaphor, no attempt to use the technology has happened yet.

2. The peak of inflated expectations

In the second stage, the technology is implemented in the market and a lot of publicity happens on both successful and unsuccessful criteria.

Hopes for AR and knowledge distribution skyrocket as key influencers in the customer’s organization get onboard, spawning long-term strategy impacts on whiteboards. It’s in these meetings where the technology is heavily oversold to blue sky futures, and distanced from the practical realities for which they were intended.

3. Dip/Trough of disillusionment

This is a crucial phase where many companies fail to alter their products with upgraded versions and [too] few who were successful in addressing problems [have the ability to] continue investing more.

The first results with a customer are in, and they are a bit of a let-down. What happened?! The fair-weather champions in the management team now flip 180 degrees.

4. Slope of betterment/enlightenment

At this point, innovation and investment become more important for growth as, companies establish products based on future technology and test them in the real environment.

Now somewhat seasoned, the end users and adjacent teams within the customer learn more about their own use cases and applications for AR.

5. Elevation/Plateau in productivity

In the last phase, productivity elevates and deepens its root in that technological field. Products become widely implemented in technology and producers establish quality standards.

Finally, long term productivity improvements set in, however it only experiences a gradual growth in impact because of internal scarcity in AR authoring skills and the difficulty of scaling customization for their use cases.

The author then goes on to explain their approach in terms of the 3 key things that you can do to help a company scale augmented reality faster, more productively, and more legitimately.

1. Realize early that AR is not a silver bullet
2. Start with the right use case, then scale
3. On-board, enable and train with the right Partners

These three key topics are then explored in detail in the full blog.

RealWear cameras provide video and audio links, which allow real-time, remote interactions with suppliers, colleagues, and systems such as Microsoft Teams. The technology consists of a special camera placed on a helmet, giving the user a hands-free experience, allowing them to manipulate equipment and tools while transmitting live video and audio. Voice commands control the camera, which increases safety during complex tasks.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, a supplier in Italy was unable to support local employees on-site, which led to the adoption of the RealWear smart glasses in June.

RealWear provides field training and in-situ information via both hardware and software, increasing productivity and safety at work. See their member profile here.

COVID-19 was a catalyst for the technology development, as it has increased the demand for real-time, remote support, and ensuring complex tasks are completed safely via live video connection with experts, and augmented, IoT data overlays. Librestream’s Onsight is an industry-leading platform that uses AR, created specifically to perform in rugged environments, which The AVR Lab required for meeting the demands of the Australian environment.

Industries in which Onsight is utilised include:

• Energy
• Oil and gas
• Aerospace
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Heavy equipment
• Health

As the most comprehensive AR enterprise software on the market, Onsight offers insights via robust dashboards and data analytics. Advantages of the platform include:

• Creation of intelligence data via advanced AI and Computer Vision
• The ability to capture and centralise content for both audits and training
• Improved productivity and consistency via digital instructions
• Support and verification via remote expert video assistance
• IoT data visualisation from sources and test instruments

Danny Gambaro, Director of The AVR Lab, is quoted to have said that the company have been looking for a solution to Australian market requirements and rugged industries, and concluded that Librestream’s Onsight was one of the best. The teams are very much aligned and have found collaboration easy.

The VP of Business Development at Librestream, Tim Harader, is also quoted to have said that the organisation is “honoured” to have had their software chosen by The AVR Lab. Their platform allows customers to “achieve the benefits of AR”, for example, productivity, cost savings, and increased revenue among others. Harader believes that The AVR Lab’s choice to partner with Librestream, as an independent provider, reflects the strength of their solution.

Read the full article here.