According to the Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker, while the market for these products is likely to decline by 10.5% in the first quarter of this year followed by a further decline of 24.1% as a result of supply chain disruptions created by the current global situation, there will be a rebound later in the year with growth of 23% globally in the market, up by nearly 24% on last year.

For any vendor in any of the workplace technology sectors these figures would be welcome. But AR and VR are the new darlings of remote workers and are pushed by the combined forces of the consumer and the enterprise market. “Much of the supply chain for AR and VR headsets is shared with smartphones and PCs and many of these products are facing supply constraints as factories are operating at much lower capacity resulting in component shortages,” said Jitesh Ubrani research manager of IDC mobile device trackers.

“However, the spread of the virus is having the opposite effect on demand as an increasing number of consumers and employees stay indoors and look to AR and VR solutions for ways to collaborate with colleagues and entertain themselves and their families.” He added that interest in VR within the enterprise continues to grow as more companies use the technology to drive a wide range of training initiatives.

Connecting Real and Physical

There is a number of interesting aspects to this report, not least of which is the fact that late last year Gartner predicted that by 2022, 70% of enterprises will be experimenting with immersive technologies for consumer and enterprise use, and 25% will have deployed them to production. “Digital transformation in the workplace is edging towards an inflection point as enterprises are incorporating immersive solutions that connect the real world with the virtual world,” Maria Pardee, Tysons, Va.-based DXC Technology senior vice president and general manager for workplace and mobility said in a statement “We’re re using the power of AR, VR and MR to align the next-generation digital capabilities employees want so they can be more mobile and independent, with the critical security, production prowess and agility that today’s businesses demand.”

Globally, and again according to Gartner, through 2028, conversational platforms, which change how users interact with the world, and technologies such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR), will lead to a new immersive experience. AR, MR(Mixed Reality) and VR show potential for increased productivity, with the next generation of VR able to sense shapes and track a user’s position and MR enabling people to view and interact with their world.

Eventually, the technology and thinking will shift to a point where the experience will connect people with hundreds of edge devices ranging from computers to cars.

AR/VR Proof of Concept

Vaclav Vincalek is a partner with Canada-based Future Infinitive. He told us that IDC’s predictions are no great surprise in that we are most of the way towards developing enterprise AR/VR proof of concept. “We’ve seen Google Glass (its rise and fall) and the coming of newer, better, cheaper products that aim to do similar things. VR is of course already gaining ground in gaming, but also in the entertainment sector and in high-tech training programs by the armed forces, aviation companies” he said.

What is happening now is more and better commercialization. The critical part will come with B2B rather than B2C for the VR segment. “You can easily imagine energy and resource extraction companies and mining firms investing millions in this technology, to make their operations more efficient and profitable” he said.

As an example, he points out that VR/AR products are a perfect fit for a college providing training for technical roles. Imagine you’re learning how to fix engines. How many engines could they bring into the workshop, if you needed to learn more engines to understand the differences between them? Suddenly, you have access to 100 engines and an infinite simulator.

He points to the fact that there is a global shift where workers are moving from working in offices to working from home. However, for many field service jobs, this model is challenging as the job requires an expert to be physically present at a site – so there is a bit of a distance barrier to overcome.

AR and VR solutions is the answer to these logistics challenges as it allows professionals whose job is to be there in person, such as field inspectors, technicians, production line managers and medical specialists, to conduct their jobs remotely without compromising accuracy, effectiveness or productivity.

Mobile WebAR

There are other developments too that will help the situation. The global market of WebAR-compatible devices is approaching three billion and as standards continue to improve, mobile WebAR is set to become a key delivery platform for immersive experiences in the coming months and years, said Caspar Thykier, CEO and co-founder of  Portland, Wash.-based Zappar. 

He says this will be fueled by smaller businesses who don’t have the budget to maintain an app and large CPG brands who have no need for one. However, it’s worth noting that while WebAR is a promising technology, some content is still best served through native apps — think loyalty apps for retailers, fan apps for sports or gaming apps. Most importantly, together both technologies will drive more mainstream adoption of AR.

AR, VR and 5G

Behind all this is 5G and how it will affect a vast number of industries. AR is no exception. What has many excited is 5G’s ability to remove AR’s reliance on a strong WiFi signal, allowing for greater flexibility in use case and environment. “In 2020, we can expect 5G to super-charge AR campaigns designed for use in live and outdoor environments, such as conferences, concerts, and sports games — spaces where reliable Wi-Fi connection is currently a luxury. These activations would be greatly improved by the power and speed of 5G, while allowing designers to further push the boundaries of their creativity,” he said.

He also predicts that the media world will begin to wake up to the power of AR as a programmatic ad format for greater engagement and interaction. We’ll also begin to see the creation of a whole new outdoor AR landscape for advertising, governed by new rules of permission and usage. In other words, as with every year, there are going to be more instances of people having that light bulb moment for how AR can work for them.

AR and VR solutions are slowly progressing from buzzwords to having legitimate use cases, but seamlessly blending digital experiences and physical retail in a realistic manner can be a complicated, Joe Rohrlich, CRO at Austin-based Bazaarvoice told us recently. 

At this point, the retail industry doesn’t appear to be fully ready for widespread AR integration, and with brands and consumers not seeing them as critical to the shopping industry, it could remain this way for the foreseeable future. However, while much of the retail industry may not yet be ready for AR and VR, it’s clear that even having these conversations is showing brands’ commitment to innovation and providing unique experiences for modern consumers.

By combining ThirdEye’s X2 MR Glasses and TROIA’s AR platform, TROIA AR, enterprise organizations within energy, utilities, oil and gas sectors will have access to a suite of applications that prioritize safety and more efficient workflows. Technicians working in the field can expect to see dramatic improvements to the way work orders, job plans and other real-time mission-critical information are delivered, along with improvements in productivity, effectiveness, accuracy and safety. TROIA AR combines innovative technologies and use of AI elements to understand data from integrated IT systems and helps increase work productivity and safety, including EAM, GIS manager, SCADA, IoT, MDM, ERP and other related background systems.

“The safety of technicians that wear our X2 MR Glasses is always our number one priority. We are excited about the advanced capabilities that TROIA AR will bring our customers within energy, utilities, oil and gas industries. This partnership will ensure personnel are safe, while also being as efficient as possible,” said Nick Cherukuri, CEO and Founder of ThirdEye. “We’re excited to be able to fortify our current offerings with TROIA’s AR solutions.”

Through TROIA’s TAGMANAGER application, customers can display real-time measurement data visualization, such as SCADA and IoT sensors, on ThirdEye’s X2 MR Glasses. Technicians will be able to place asset information tables and digital meters into scene environments on-demand, in real-time and within their field of view. This will improve the safety and efficiency of workers.

ThirdEye and TROIA customers have shown excitement about TROIA’s GISMANAGER platform, which can transform the spatial (flat) GIS data into AR data solution, enabling users to visualize assets and topology data in the X2 MR Glasses’ field of view. Full underground utility infrastructure, such as cables, smart meters, switchyards, shafts, water pipes and sewage systems, appear in a user’s field of view and will be digitally present on the AR supported devices with an extended option of adding real time data from SCADA/IoT.

“By combining our knowledge and experience, we’ll be able to change the way companies see and experience augmented reality. Great things in business are never done by one person,” said Matjaž Breznik, AR Sales and Development at TROIA.

Read ThirdEye’s AREA member profile 

Visit ThirdEye’s website

Visit TROIA website 

Results indicated both expanding avenues for monetization and growing momentum for nearly every area of immersive technology’s use. With applications ranging from sports, video games, and entertainment to healthcare, education, and disaster preparedness, it is evident that immersive technology will create significant opportunities across industries.

“Industry leaders are noticing tangible and significant advances in the adoption of AR, VR and MR across sectors, such as healthcare, education, workforce training, manufacturing — including advanced manufacturing — and retail,” said Elizabeth Hyman, CEO of XRA. “During times of global economic uncertainty, feeling connected and maintaining efficiency and productivity are more important than ever. We are hopeful that the results of this survey demonstrate that the fundamentals are in place for a bright future of XR technology.”

Additional key findings include:

• Expectations for AR technologies continue to outpace VR in terms of expected revenue, market penetration, and consumer adoption, with three-fourths of respondents expecting the AR market to eventually surpass VR in total revenue.
• Six of the 10 top cities selected for their pioneering work in smart city immersive technologies are in the United States, including New York City, Austin, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco. Beijing, Tokyo, Dubai, and Barcelona round out the list.
• Respondents pointed to continued device upgrades as an improvement that will most impact consumer adoption of immersive technology in the next two years. Devices being smaller, fashionable, and comfortable followed.
• With AR devices in half of the world’s pockets via mobile phones, more than two-thirds of respondents expect that businesses will be investing slightly or significantly more in immersive technologies in 2020 compared to 2019. Just six percent expect the investment level to be lower than the previous year.
• More companies are proactively addressing and updating privacy policies and disclosures regarding consumer data. More than half (54 percent) of the respondents said they were doing so this year, compared with 47 percent in 2019.

These insights represent further progress toward XRA’s mission of promoting the thoughtful advancement of XR technology globally. The survey indicates strong tailwinds, with nearly 200 professionals representing, showing stronger optimism for the future of immersive technologies than ever before.

Get more information on the study.

Asia/Pacific* spending on AR/VR products and services will continue this strong growth throughout the forecast period (2018-23), with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 62.0%.

This growth is primarily driven by commercial industries which are going to be more than $11 billion larger than the consumer segment by the end of the forecast (2018-23). Despite this, the consumer segment (which is currently at $1.7 billion in 2019) continues to be larger than any other industry segment over the forecasted period.

The high growth in the commercial segment is primarily due to the AR/VR capability to solve complex business problems and streamline operations. The two industries that are seeing the most activities/implementation in Asia/Pacific* are education (US$ 495.3 million in 2019) and retail ($244.4 million in 2019), spending the most in this technology among other industries.

“Specialized training programs in the education system that includes VR pilot training through simulations, learning of human anatomy, etc. have given an opportunity to develop a specific skill set in the virtual environment. Leveraging this technology, the chances of making errors will not have fatal consequences during the training process. This has turned out to be a huge transition for institutes to save time for distance learning purposes and help in reducing cost due to the travel expenses incurred on students. Similarly, high-end retailers came across improvised customer engagement programs using this technology. This has also helped them in delivering the products based on customizing to a specific customer’s choice with the same or less time and effort. The technology has seen an increase in consideration and solutions around Online retail showcasing, retail showcasing, and virtual test drive,” says Ritika Srivastava, Associate Market Analyst at IDC India.

Despite the fact that the two industries have the highest market spend, there are other industries that have high potential to grow at a faster pace over the forecast period (2018-23) – with some of the new use cases in the pipeline. Retail (94.8% CAGR), followed by utilities, securities, investment services, and process manufacturing are the industries that are gaining momentum to explore the new use cases, and are lucrative in terms of investments. Use cases that dealt in operational tasks with the help of the Augmented Reality for performing tasks like assembly, maintenance, and repair have a lot of impetus within the industries.

Over the past week the consortium has been working hard to investigate production of a range of ventilator design options to meet a high-level specification for a Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System (“RMVS”) developed by clinicians and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”).

The consortium has evaluated all requirements to design, manufacture, assemble and test components, as well as finished medical ventilators.

Companies in the consortium have now received formal orders from the Government in excess of 10,000 units.

The consortium will now accelerate production of an agreed new design, based on existing technologies, which can be assembled from materials and parts in current production.  The device combines existing proven clinical equipment and is the clinicians’ first choice for the RMVS.

The regulator has been involved throughout and we anticipate a straightforward and very prompt regulatory sign off after the final audit.

The consortium is now working at full speed to take the necessary steps in order to increase production of this design. Production will begin this week.

The consortium also includes another producer of medical ventilators and it will provide them with additional manufacturing support and assembly facilities in order to scale up production of a second existing ventilator design which has full regulatory approval.

In response to the NHS’ requirements to treat coronavirus patients, there are a range of other projects aiming to increase ventilator production.

The VentilatorChallengeUK consortium is committed to playing its role in delivering both medical ventilator designs to the required specifications and, in conjunction with these other companies, organisations and groups, aid the delivery of additional ventilators to the NHS. The companies involved have taken many of their people from key company projects to do this and serve the national need.

​Dick Elsy, the HVM Catapult’s chief executive, said:

“This consortium brings together some of the most innovative companies in the world. Every day, their highly-skilled staff collaborate to create solutions that help millions of people, and this project is no different. They are working together with incredible determination and energy to scale up production of much-needed ventilators and combat a virus that is affecting people in many countries. I am confident this consortium has the skills and tools to make a difference and save lives.” 

The LiDAR Scanner measures the distance to surrounding objects up to five meters away, works both indoors and outdoors, operating at the photon level at nano-second speeds. 

Not only Apple has got LIDAR-Features, Google is also working on this. They are planning to offer LIDAR-like features, with and without the use of a depth camera.

Application types using depth cameras

ViewAR AR system that supports all kind of AR scenarios – from AR product visualization and indoor navigation to remote assistance and much more. They also developed various applications using depth cameras and reconstruction using external cameras like the Structure.io sensor.

Measuring (Surface & Volume computation)

Using a depth sensor allows you to create a 3D reconstruction of a room or objects. This can be used in order to compute measurements and volume like they did in a project for Lufthansa Cargo a video of which can be viewed here.

The LiDAR Scanner also improves the Measure app, making it faster and easier to automatically calculate someone’s height, while helpful vertical and edge guides automatically appear to let users more quickly and accurately measure objects. The Measure app also now comes with Ruler View for more granular measurements and allows users to save a list of all measurements, including screenshots for future use.

Flooring

A depth sensor is also highly relevant for industries in the field of flooring. It allows you to visualize different flooring materials in a room. Also it provides accurate measurements of the flooring area.

ViewAR is currently working on a solution for flooring. If you are interested in this solution, register at portal.viewar.com and request early access for the flooring template. 

Product Visualization – Occlusion

One of the main aspects in product visualization is that objects should look and behave like they were real, they should merge with the environment. The 3d reconstruction allows to…

Indoor Navigation

There is also a huge opportunity for 3d reconstructions in indoor navigation. Scanning 3d environments can help to determine your position and also add advanced occlusion effects while using the application.  The 3d scans can also be used for admin interfaces of indoor navigation. 

Using the ViewAR system and the LiDAR sensor

The idea of the ViewAR system is that users can very easily create AR applications using pre-defined templates or use the ViewAR JavaScript API to create custom applications. 

Read the original article here.

The ETSI GS ARF 003 introduces the characteristics of an AR system and describes the functional building blocks of a generic AR reference architecture and their mutual relationships. The global architecture gives an overview of an AR system which is based on a set of hardware and software components as well as data describing the real world and virtual content. The functional architecture applies to both fully embedded AR systems and implementations spread over IP networks in a scalable manner with subfunctions. These subfunctions can either be deployed on the AR device or be provided via cloud technology.

“In the context of the work undertaken by the group, Augmented Reality is the ability to mix in real-time spatially-registered digital content into the real world, thus augmenting the user’s reality with accurate contextual information” says Muriel Deschanel, Chair of the ETSI ISG ARF. “AR can be a real asset for many use cases in Industry 4.0 or in the medical sector. With the significant improvement to network performance brought by 5G, in particular in terms of bandwidth and latency, cloud services will become essential to a larger number of AR use cases”.

One of the applications of Augmented Reality for Industry 4.0 is to help face the unexpected peak of activity of a factory, in case of confinement or staff shortage. When a manufacturing plant needs to significantly increase its production, the Operation Director will hire temporary workers or shift operators from another line. This new staff may not have the expertise and/or the time to learn his job. Augmented Reality will therefore enable an experienced operator located in another area to train, guide and give precise instructions to the new operator while limiting physical contacts.

How The AREA contributed to the work

“Through our Interoperability and Standards program, the AREA contributed directly to the ETSI ISG ARF’s work on this specification. Members also carefully reviewed and provided substantive and editorial feedback. The final specification offers insights about how products and services can be combined to provide rich experiences to customers in many use cases. With this ETSI framework, companies can begin to focus on their true “core competencies” and trust that their products will be easier to integrate with third party products and services.”

Learn more

To know more about this architecture, the Chair of the group, Muriel Deschanel, and one of the technical and scientific leaders in the group, Jérôme Royan,  will give you an “Overview of ETSI reference architecture for Augmented Reality solutions” in a free live webinar on 28 April 2020 at 4:00 pm CEST.  Register here

According to PTC, there are five common use cases for AR/VR in field service: identifying parts that need replacement, viewing technical information, remote customer service, employee training, and following complex maintenance procedures. Companies that help employees perform tasks more safely and quickly using up-to-date information delivered to their visor or headset will be rewarded with greater job commitment and motivation.

Another function is sales and marketing. VR and AR can dramatically improve or disrupt outdated processes and engagement models to demonstrate a brand’s unique value proposition. Companies utilizing virtual product models are finding real competitive advantage.

“Interactive applications engage prospects earlier, train sales/channel teams faster, shorten sales cycles, reduce product shipping costs and increases win rates,” said Dana Drissel, vice president of marketing at Kaon Interactive, provider of B2B sales and marketing applications. “Companies need to embrace and adopt new ways of working with the latest emerging technologies if they want to truly differentiate and stay competitive.”

One area with high ROI from virtual sales and marketing is savings in product shipping costs. Large, complex products cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to ship to and from sales meetings and tradeshows. 

Commercial and industrial printing firm, Ricoh USA, Inc., has a strong brand, product, message and customer service ethos. However, it was seeking an innovative, efficient and effective way to convey that strength to its customers and prospects virtually.

Ricoh’s portfolio of production presses and platforms are high-powered, technological innovations that offer high levels of customization and complementing software services that can cost up to $2 million at the highest end of its spectrum. For such a significant investment, potential customers want an in-depth examination of the products. Customers want to see them, watch how they work, and explore the features and benefits.

To ship Ricoh presses to demo sites around the world cost over $150,000 per printer, per event. With between six to 10 tradeshows in a typical year, the marketing team started asking themselves what alternatives could they offer their customers that delivered a similar experience, yet without the physical equipment.

The solution? A virtual product tour that is also available in augmented reality. Having an interactive, photo-realistic, 3-D-animated, virtual tour and AR experience of the printing press suddenly made it possible to demonstrate the capabilities and show the value in sales meetings on the sales rep’s tablet or laptop.

“To me, the application is just a virtual extension of our product,” said Mike Herold, Ricoh’s director of inkjet solutions. “Of course, it doesn’t take the place of visiting one of our Customer Experience Centers, but it’s a good interim step in the sales cycle.”

The Onsight platform allows workers to collaborate securely across multiple industries including aviation, defense, manufacturing, energy and inspection. The system also works in challenging areas where bandwidth and network connectivity are limited, such as a basement over cellular or an offshore oil rig over satellite.

The AR system can be used for remote inspections of equipment, diagnostic assessments and telemedicine consults. With travel restrictions and shelter in place becoming the norm, in-person meetings are not feasible anymore, so the AR platform allows workers at home to communicate with those in the field using both visual and audio aids.

The software runs on smartphones, tablets, smart glasses, wearables and computers.

The Coronavirus outbreak will cause manufacturing delays at the source and reduce the overall demand for Augmented Reality (AR) Smart glasses. At the same time, there will be a significant increase in demand on both the enterprise and consumer side as telepresence and content demand grows. The balance between these two will see 16 million AR & Virtual Reality (VR) head mounted display (HMD) shipments in 2021, maintaining the trajectory of the 3.5 million consumer AR shipments in 2024, states global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.

“The coronavirus outbreak will cause temporary manufacturing and shipment delays, however the demand for consumer AR and VR devices and content has been increased due to home isolation, balancing initial drop in demand and financial losses for providers,” says Eleftheria Kouri, Research Analyst at ABI Research.

COVID-19 has affected most CE companies, especially in mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea. “As anticipated, COVID-19 has impacted the Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) market as well, causing temporary delays in AR/VR device production, increased costs, and revenue losses,” says Kouri. MAD Gaze, a Hong Kong based consumer AR smart glasses provider, has announced delays in shipments, and changed its display panel supplier from a Chinese factory to Korean and Japanese factories due to production delays in Chinese factories. Nreal, a China-based AR consumer smart glasses provider, announced production/ shipment delays as well. At the same time, bigger companies with higher demand and larger-scale supply chains face similar issues, such as Oculus, HTC, and Vive struggling to meet VR headset demand.

“In the short term, the delays in production and scheduled shipments, and potential decrease in demand will have a huge financial impact on AR/VR device manufacturers, generating reduced revenue and unexpected extra costs for employee salaries or for alternative suppliers. Also, delays and reduced funding series are expected, mainly affecting startups,” Kouri explains. Finally, delays are anticipated in AR/VR application development and upcoming upgrades due to the cancellation of developer conferences (Apple, Google, Facebook).

Long-term production and shipment delays will mainly affect smaller companies, especially those launching devices for first time in the market (like Nreal or small VR companies). Delays may encourage potential customers to purchase products from competitors and bigger companies that are supported by high-scale supply chains and product stocks. Moreover, continuous delays of product delivery will negatively affect user experience (even if the delays are caused by unexpected reasons). “The impact will be more significant on new companies/startups aiming to get established in the market and build a reliable brand name. Delays will also push roadmaps into the future and depending on how significant a reduction is in demand and manufacturing capabilities, some may be unable to last,” Kouri points out.

The AR consumer market and smart glasses manufacturers are at a relatively lower risk in terms of losing potential customers and may not notice significantly reduced pre-orders/shipments, because AR consumer devices are not a high demand product at the current stage of the market, and the competition is still weak (consumers do not have range of options as in the VR or AR enterprise sector). “However, both AR and VR solutions can contribute to addressing challenges. AR/VR can be a useful tool to support/supplement online education courses (in regions where schools/universities are closed and rely on online learning (e.g., some schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)). Also, AR remote assistance applications or AR/VR training can be a valuable solution to avoid unnecessary travel, and hardware choice is less impactful on these use cases,” recommends Kouri.

Press release source.