We are all facing unprecedented challenges in our lives and at work due to the impact of Covid-19. With much of the world being asked to shelter in place, we’re all looking for ways to reinvent how we get the work done to serve our customers, our companies, and all the people who work for them. It’s becoming clear that we will all be increasingly reliant on the tools and technology that keeps businesses connected to its customers and stakeholders. Now more than ever, we’re all in this together, and communication is vital.

As we find new ways to stay connected, I am very optimistic enterprises will find ways to speed innovation and rethink business-as-usual. At Scope AR, we’re committed to helping our customers leverage AR where possible as a tool for keeping essential operations moving forward. Over the past six weeks, we’ve seen that take on many forms such as virtual workforce training, remote expert assistance being used to guide factory equipment repairs and maintenance procedures, as well as the use of intuitive AR work instructions to help manufacturers stick to production timelines as best as possible.  

We will continue to spotlight successful AR deployments and share lessons learned and best practices so that other enterprises have real-world examples of how augmented reality can be used to solve complex business challenges. I recently had a great discussion with Walter Davis at Aggreko. Walter was kind enough to share three takeaways from an AR remote employee training project now underway. 

Aggreko brings power, energy storage, heating & cooling to sites around the world. Their generators help power emergency services, hospitals, and other major events.  Aggreko’s products ensure that manufacturers and construction sites can keep production on track and maintain efficiency. They also work with the utility industry to ensure power keeps flowing to their customers. 

With more than 200 locations of its own worldwide, Aggreko can deploy its equipment to any part of the globe. In their over 50 years in business, they’ve powered everything from massive hurricane recovery sites to global mega-events like the 2012 Olympics in London and FIFA World Cup events.

As the Head of Talent and Learning Technology at Aggreko, Walter is always looking for new ways to build expertise across the company’s workforce deploying Aggreko products — wherever and whenever their customers need them. Given the current limitations to travel, the need for delivering digital training knowledge has gone from a “nice to have” to ‘mission critical’ from an operational standpoint. He’s been a champion at the company for the use of AR to train employees on its 1600 CFM diesel compressor – a massive piece of equipment that weighs 12 tons and is 20 feet long.

Aggreko built an AR training program using the Scope AR WorkLink platform to create a virtual, full-sized model of the compressor. “They can do a full walk-around,” Walter said, noting the experience is an “immersive training on a life-sized, full-scale model of our product.” Employees can get familiar with controls, key features, and components. 

The AR experience also shows how to turn on or decommission the equipment, as well as how to conduct essential maintenance procedures like changing out fuel and oil filters. To deliver the AR experience, they’re using devices their workforce already carries – like smart phones and tablets – so no additional hardware investment is needed. This means training is now available wherever their workers are.  As an added bonus, physical equipment doesn’t have to be taken away from a job site, which is a huge cost savings for Aggreko.

Here are three takeaways Walter said he learned from this initial AR deployment that might resonate with other businesses considering AR as a reliable and scalable way to train and share expert knowledge amongst their workforce:

1. AR reinvents and optimizes an essential process. To train its workers on the 1600 compressor, Aggreko used to fly them to training centers all over the globe to get face-to-face and hands-on training with the equipment. This model is costly and inefficient. AR can bring distance learning to the workforce, not the other way around.
   
2. AR helps unlock tangible ROI. To train in-person, Aggreko has to ship its massive compressors to training centers. In addition to considerable shipping costs, they can’t use that equipment out on a customer site. Walter estimates that they would be saving $500K if AR was used in place of physical products for all current technical programs.

3. Companies can help speed innovation across their business. Walter notes that while the plan was always to scale from the 1600 compressor experience to create training experiences for other pieces of Aggreko equipment, the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have definitely accelerated this process. As the company has currently banned all non business-critical in person training and business travel, they are quickly building processes and creating content to distribute worldwide so that employees can continue to receive the training and knowledge they need to deliver an optimal experience to their customers. 

Uncertain times like these spur innovation in using new technologies and how we do our work to keep things moving forward. Just as Aggreko is transforming its workforce training, we undoubtedly will see other businesses figuring out new ways to leverage technology to help navigate these volatile times.

Learn more about Aggreko and the work they’re doing to power business across the globe.

Read Scope AR’s AREA member profile.

Link to original article.

A digital transformation strategy implies that your focus should be about the “digital”.  However, in the 21^st century the human remains absolutely critical to how your business operates.  Therefore, in the world of connected machines, and through the implementation of XR, we need to digital enable our human workforce.

Theorem Solutions have developed a range of 3D CAD and hardware neutral, use-case based apps for XR.  These immersive experiences utilize your existing 3D assets, enabling your teams to perform tasks in the most efficient way possible, reducing costs and providing real measurable benefits.

Visit this link to access the whitepaper how to digitally enhance your workforce.

Read Theorem Solutions AREA member profile.

Remote work has been positioned as an answer to several global issues, including economic inequality and even climate change (a climate-friendly alternative to daily commuting).

Author Emily Friedman shares her thoughts, statistics, use cases and more that she found whilst researching the topic pre-COVID19.

In the article she talks through the specific types of remote work – particularly the future of AR/VR-enabled remote work, which was perhaps one of the earliest recognized use cases for enterprise AR

There are many​ ​terms for this – remote assistance, remote guidance, remote collaboration – but it’s essentially telepresence, using the front-facing camera and microphone in a pair of smart (AR) glasses to share one’s view of a situation with a remotely-located expert, colleague or customer via live audio and point-of-view video.

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Many of those early remote support cases revolved around enhancing service efficiency​ ​in the field, where technicians spend their days responding to issues as they arise. With a global shortage of skilled technicians, AR-enhanced remote support or see-what-I-see has allowed less experienced employees to show issues to remotely located veteran techs in real time. This allows remote over-the-shoulder coaching, and has helped increase first-time fix rates, reduce travel costs, decrease downtime, and train new technicians on the job without jeopardizing customer satisfaction.

The ability to share your view and collaborate in a virtual space with people in different locations will transform how many of us work. It’s not just about saving time and money, cutting down on travel, providing better customer service, or remaining productive when practicing social distancing.

Remote working via AR/VR, from collaborating on a design in mixed reality to business meetings in virtual reality, might be the answer to a number of employment issues, including stagnating wages, the rising​ ​cost of living, and the child-care crisis.

The ability to be ‘present’ anywhere will also help us address some of the biggest social issues of our day—like ballooning housing costs and inequality of opportunity by geography.

Today, many people feel like they have to move to cities because that’s where the jobs are. But there isn’t enough housing in many cities, so housing costs are skyrocketing while quality of living is decreasing. Imagine if you could live anywhere you choose and access any job anywhere else.

Women, especially working moms, would greatly benefit from the kind of XR-enabled remote working that Zuckerberg predicts. Friedman explains various issues such as gender pay gap around this, care giving responsibilities, unemployment and other social issues.

In an economy (and society) that devalues care-giving, women do paid labor and a disproportionate amount of unpaid labor within the home. Though not viewed as economic output, this unpaid labor is essential to the overall functioning of the economy.

New realities, however, could break down traditional work requirements and help create a more equal reality by allowing women to work flexibly and hold down good​ ​jobs from home. In an ideal world, remote work technologies would allow women to work for any company in the world from any city in the world.

Employers would benefit, too: Not only are women incredibly valuable to the economy (if every woman in America stopped working for a day, it would cost the GDP over $20 billion) but flexible work arrangements make a company more competitive at a time when skilled labor is in​ ​high demand.

Bill Gates predicted that “companies that give extra flexibility to their employees will have the edge.”

Now, a global pandemic is showing that the technology isn’t really there for office workers and that AR and VR for more everyday work tasks has been largely overlooked.​

Read the article in full.

Read BrainXChange’s AREA member profile

MEDICAL TRAINING – AR DEVICE ASSEMBLY & SET-UP

The challenge was that the assembly of medical devices requires intense training and experience. At the same time Operating Procedures (OP) documentation lacks user-friendly guidance for medical staff and trainees. A quality event can pose significant financial and credibility risks for payers.

Assembly instructions are not user-friendly without visual representation of work steps

Complex operating procedures cause long on-boarding of new operators

Quality System Regulation requires easy-to-follow work instructions for assembly

The solution is simplified AR Training
Take the most crucial parts of your instructions and visualize them with Augmented Reality. Build your own AR-guides with the right mixture of videos, text and images. Make training content available instantly – in the right place, at the right time, on the right device.

Read more on the RE’FLEKT blog and download their whitepaper on Enterprise Training with Augmented Reality

Their solution promises:

90% lower risk of human errors
60% faster training and on-boarding times
40% fewer errors in changeover
25% faster line changeover time

Read more on the RE’FLEKT website and their AREA member page.

As COVID-19 continues to spread across North America, the CDC has suggested that businesses implement remote work policies and travel restrictions to help slow the spread of the virus. The situation has become more troublesome over the past few weeks, and many companies are looking for ways to help limit business disruptions while keeping the health of employees a top priority.

Russell Fadel, CEO of Augmentir, said on LinkedIn, “After hearing about the steps that Zoom, Microsoft, Slack, et al are doing to support remote work for White Collar workers – it became clear to the Augmentir team that we could do the same for manufacturing and service workers who rely on direct support for troubleshooting, maintenance, and repairs.

Augmentir’s Remote Assist software enables this support to be performed virtually, so that travel is eliminated and face-to-face meetings are reduced. Both are key to flattening the curve with respect to COVID-19, and to enabling our manufacturing sector to continue to supply the country with the goods it needs.

We have committed to providing this software free through the end of 2020 so that every industrial company can move to this new way of work, without encountering financial barriers to making the change.”

Therefore, in a response to COVID-19, Augmentir will be offering its Remote Assist tool at no cost through the end of 2020 in an effort to help the many businesses affected by the sudden increase in work-from-home policies and travel restrictions resulting from the global outbreak of the virus. We hope to curb the predicted impact this virus will have on industrial companies and will remain steadfast in our commitment to serving the industry we call home.” 

During this challenging time, video-conferencing, chat, and remote support and collaboration will be more important than ever in maintaining the wellbeing of employees while also enabling people to continue to work and businesses to operate. Augmentir’s Remote Assist tool helps to minimize the negative impact that COVID-19 is having on businesses by providing a remote collaboration and support solution that can be adopted in less than 60 minutes, so that workers, technicians, and customers can get the support they need to do their jobs without compromising health, safety, or productivity.

Companies that sign up will have free use of the tool for the remainder of 2020, and have access to the following features: 

• Stream live video and audio to remote experts to improve issue resolution and remote knowledge sharing
• Guide your field technicians and customers with live annotations for enhanced collaboration
• Support remote users on their existing devices as well as AR-enabled smart glasses

For more information on Augmentir’s Remote Assist, and to sign up for free, please visit the Augmentir website.

Vuzix is continuing a previously announced partnership with Librestream, maker of Onsight AR and collaborative software, to bring the thermal imaging technology to frontline screeners. While Vuzix provides the glasses, Librestream is supplying an industrial wearable camera called Onsight Cube, as well as Onsight software that helps wirelessly connect the screeners to viewers located elsewhere.

Backed by global medical experts or other officials. Colorful images provide heat maps that can be used to quickly detect body temperatures in excess of specific thresholds, as well as other heat flare-ups or reductions.

As the wearer looks at people around them and sees the camera’s raw thermal video, practitioners located elsewhere can capture snapshots or videos, adjust the lighting and zoom, and otherwise control the thermal settings. The companies expect that the wearable will speed up health data sharing and increase practitioners’ safety, in addition to letting front line workers take measurements without using their hands.

Concerns about the coronavirus have reached a fever pitch this week, as U.S. cities have clamped down on large public gatherings and the federal government has restricted travel from multiple countries. Infection and death tolls continue to mount, as the virus is believed to have a relatively high contagion rate while remaining largely undetected for days.

Read the full article on VentureBeat. 

To further boost its efforts, XYZ Reality has closed a £5 million Series A funding round, led by Amadeus Capital Partners and Hoxton Ventures, with participation from Adara Ventures and J Coffey Construction. The company will build out its AR cloud and software platform and build its team to serve the EU market and expand to the U.S. and Asia.

The idea behind it is highly innovative. A dedicated helmet with an attached visor projects a highly accurate hologram — based on laser positioning — in front of the wearer’s face, allowing them to place objects precisely according to plans projected in front of their eyes.

The company claims its HoloSite headset is the “world’s first engineering-grade Augmented Reality device,” that allows construction workers to view Building Information Models on-site to a five-millimeter accuracy.

The problem it’s solving is an age-old one. In today’s construction industry, buildings are designed in 3D and then converted into 2D drawings. But tradespeople are asked to interpret those 2D drawings and turn them into 3D buildings within construction “tolerances.” This process creates inefficiencies that mean up to 80% of the construction being “out-of-tolerance.” It’s estimated that 7-11% of project costs are wasted this way and, of course, in mega-projects like huge bridges, this amounts to an average of more than $100 million.

Founder, CEO and builder David Mitchell, who has spent his career in the construction industry, says: “Works are currently validated after the fact through laser scanning. But 80% of the time the construction fails to meet acceptable tolerances. With HoloSite, we can prevent errors happening in the first place.”

Mitchell came up with the idea of eliminating 2D designs after the 2008 recession devastated the industry.

I tried out the headset for myself and found that I could, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, from scratch complete a basic assembly of bricks according to the plans projected in front of my eyes.

XYZ says it is possible to build a bathroom in two hours using the headset, versus a day without it, using the technology.

The hope is that as this technology improves, any tradesperson would be able to work on a construction site with less need for training in 2D plans, but still with a high degree of accuracy.

The project is not without risk. Daqri, which built enterprise-grade AR headsets for construction, shuttered its HQ last year. Earlier, Osterhout Design Group unloaded its AR glasses patents after acquisition talks with Magic Leap, Facebook and others stalled. Meta, an AR headset startup that raised $73 million from VCs, including Tencent, also sold its assets earlier this year after the company ran out of cash.

But Amadeus is bullish. Nick Kingsbury, partner, Amadeus Capital Partners  said: “Construction is a sector that’s ripe for radical innovation. This technology has the potential to revolutionize how the construction industry sets out and validates its work, reducing costs and the chance of project slippage from mistakes.”

Technavio has been monitoring the augmented reality (AR) and it is poised to grow by USD 76.99 billion during 2020-2024. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. 

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will during the forecast period. Qualcomm Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Upskill, Vuzix Corp. and Zugara Inc. are some of the major market participants. The adoption of AR-enabled smart glasses will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Adoption of AR-enabled smart glasses has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Learn more out the segmentation and scope of this report including sections and analysis on Business Wire.

You may download a free sample from Technavio

VisionAR is the name for Augmented Reality Safety Glasses that meets all the highest levels of eye safety standards as a PPE equipment. Complying with the Safety requirements ANSI and EN 166 these safety glasses have increased robustness for professional use. The AR optical engine is designed for impact test, 1 frame with 2 covers guarantee maximum security in industrial environment. They even claim to have comfortable fit even over prescription glasses if necessary.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that every year 2.3 million people around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases.

Jordi Boza of Vuzix recently commented, “If we want the augmented reality industry to scale, that will happen only with the approval from company’s Labor Risk Departments validating the devices to be used by their employees at normal everyday use cases with large deployments.”

Find out more about the benefits of VisionAR safety glasses including:

• Field of View
• Interchangeable lens
• Over spectacles
• No harmful radiation

Read more about VisionAR safety glasses here 

Vuforia enables users to visualize digital information in a physical context for employee training and design reviews and to create operator and service instructions.

Vuforia offers an easy way to capture, create, and deliver content for industrial AR experiences, enabling organizations to digitally transform their products, processes, and people.

The combination of Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses and Vuforia software enables users to improve workflows and open new market opportunities in the enterprise. The Vuzix M400, a wearable computer with display, has become an enterprise workhorse that has been successfully deployed within the enterprise to provide hands-free mobile computing. Vuzix helped support the Vuforia Engine implementation due to its popularity among half a million software developers and ease of integration with Vuzix’ built-in Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities of the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 platform and Android 8.1 OS.

Software developers can download the Unity 2019.X platform and install Vuforia Engine for the Vuzix M400 on the Vuforia Developer Portal.

“Hands-free devices are a key driver for continued AR adoption in the industrial enterprise,” said Michael Campbell, executive vice president and general manager of augmented reality, PTC. “PTC is proud to have the Vuzix M400 supported by our Vuforia software.” 

“We are excited for our M400 Smart Glasses to be fully supported by Vuforia Engine,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer. “Vuforia will enable us to expand our customer opportunities across various enterprise market verticals while also helping us to further differentiate the M400 versus the competition.”