The world around us is gaining layer upon layer of digitized, virtually overlaid information — making it rich, meaningful, and interactive. As a result, our respective experiences of the same environment are becoming vastly different, personalized to our goals, dreams, and desires.

Welcome to Web 3.0, aka The Spatial Web. In version 1.0, static documents and read-only interactions limited the internet to one-way exchanges. Web 2.0 provided quite an upgrade, introducing multimedia content, interactive web pages, and participatory social media. Yet, all this was still mediated by 2D screens.

And today, we are witnessing the rise of Web 3.0, riding the convergence of high-bandwidth 5G connectivity, rapidly evolving AR eyewear, an emerging trillion-sensor economy, and ultra-powerful AIs.

As a result, we will soon be able to superimpose digital information atop any physical surrounding—freeing our eyes from the tyranny of the screen, immersing us in smart environments, and making our world endlessly dynamic.

In this third blog of our five-part series on augmented reality, we will explore the convergence between AR, AI, sensors, and blockchain, diving into the implications through a key use case in manufacturing.

Read more in the original article. 

With over 9,000 employees worldwide, they’re always striving to offer better, more efficient customer service through advanced technological solutions.

Watch the video to see how XMReality helps Coesia reduce downtime, waste, and costs while deploying industry-leading expertise where and when it’s needed most.

See original post from XMReality.

With so many possible AR use cases, enterprises can easily get stuck on “How do I get started?” and run the risk of falling behind on deploying this transformative technology.

Download this simple guide to Enterprise AR by AREA member Scope AR to help you identify the right AR solution that fits the needs and priorities of your organization.

You know that augmented reality (AR) can provide value your organization, but how do you prove it?  For some enterprises, clear metrics and ROI stats around key performance indicators such as reduced equipment downtime or improved employee productivity are available.

Regardless of which success indicators make the most sense for your business, it’s necessary to understand the reason behind your AR deployment and what you’re trying to improve upon in order to illustrate the true value of this transformative technology.  Download this quick guide to learn the essentials to help you prove the value of your next AR project and secure the investment needed for future AR deployments.

One example is the way troops train for high-end fights against advanced adversaries by providing digitally created enemy forces or other environmental factors that they might encounter in a real battle, officials have noted.

“The commercial sector is where all the gamers are going to be using that stuff too,” said Michael Blades, vice president of aerospace, defense and security at market analysis firm Frost & Sullivan. “They’re going to be changing and updating and upgrading to keep pace with their competitors in that market, and that’s going to increase the capability for the users on the defense end. So defense is going to end up winning from that commercial competition because they’re going to get better capabilities for training.”

The article references Air Force’s Pilot Training Next program, which aims to make aviator training more efficient and push undergraduates through the pipeline faster.

The article refers to a number of specific headsets and technological advances and drawbacks such as field of view, latency and headset weight.  Market analyses are drawn from various sources.

Original full article here.

The Liebherr AR Experience, which can be downloaded free of charge as an app on smartphones and tablets, projects digital 3D data onto your surroundings with the help of augmented reality. Three different virtual construction sites can be anchored on any horizontal surface in the room and viewed from all imaginable perspectives. Every desk, every windowsill, every bar counter or every floor can become the stage for the Liebherr AR Experience. Different scenes that run like a three-dimensional film can be played for each construction site. Here, the observers become the camera crew. Discovering the complete product range from Liebherr-Werk Nenzing that relates to material handling, lifting and deep foundation work becomes an experience, which can be repeated again and again from different perspectives.

Crawler crane, deep foundation machine and duty cycle crawler crane engineering and technologies can be experienced in a completely new way.

Not only machines are in focus but also various assistance systems and digital solutions from Liebherr. Difficult, complex tasks are presented and explained, simply and comprehensibly. The app contains scenes and content relating to heavy lifts, material handling and deep foundation work.

Heavy lifts – LR 1300.1 – Crane Planner

Heavy lifting is a discipline that requires extremely precise preparation. Planning is of central importance here, in order to ensure the correct configuration is chosen right from the start. The app shows what Liebherr’s LR 1300.1 crawler crane is able to achieve, as well as how safely even the heaviest loads can be moved.

Material handling – HS 8200 – LiSIM

Turnover, handling, winch capacity, setup times, transport – performance is measured in many ways when it comes to dragline operation.

Deep foundation work – LRB 16 – LIPOS

More can be seen using the Liebherr app than in reality. It reveals not only what is happening above, but also what is happening below the surface when a Liebherr piling and drilling rig is at work. It is a new opportunity to experience the kinds of strength and precision that are simultaneously at play here.

The only requirement is an AR-enabled device.

Immersive XR technology has huge potential to transform business by improving efficiency, boosting productivity and making employee’s lives easier.

However, persuading stakeholders of its true potential and getting it implemented can be challenging as we don’t always know how best to demonstrate the significant potential ROI and impact of XR tech.

Join the XR Intelligence webinar ‘Making the business case for XR and understanding its benefits’ with leading industry professionals to help you talk about XR in the right way and map out where and how it can be used.

Tune in at 13:30 GMT on Wednesday 11^th December to hear practical solutions and valuable insights from our carefully selected panel of experts:

• Mark Sage, Executive Director, AR for Enterprise Alliance
• Brian Waterfield, Digital Manufacturing Manager, Jaguar Land Rover
• Paras Shah, Head of Health & Safety & Sustainability Supply chain Management, Vodafone
• Joe Williams, Immersive Lead, LADbible Group

Learn how XR can benefit your business and how you can get it implemented!

If you can’t make it – sign up anyway and we will send you the recordings.

Manufacturers are looking to reverse this trend by investing in digital capabilities and capital equipment to add value to customers and increase business efficiencies.

Make UK will be hosting the Small Steps for Big Results workshop at the National Manufacturing Conference where you can hear from manufacturers disrupting the industries they operate in. Learn how small, medium and large firms across automotive, aerospace and other sectors are bucking the trend and have reduced costs, increased margins and improved lead-times.

This workshop will examine key issues and highlight what companies should be thinking about, doing to prepare themselves and how to look for efficiency improvements that may already be right in front of them.

Join the ‘small Steps for big results’ workshop and learn how to:

• Respond to customer sustainability demands and turn your waste into revenue streams.
• Apply augmented reality tools to strip out waste from your manufacturing business
• Use digital technology to drive productivity gains in manufacturing
• Invest in relevant technology to improve your business

Hear from our excellent panel speakers including:

• Erica Purvis, Founder of Technical Nature
• Mark Sage, Executive Director, The AREA
• Richard Allbert, former Head of Digital Innovation, Pirelli Deutschland

“Augmented Reality is helping leading manufacturers improve their operational performance.

AR enables companies to increase efficiency by reducing time, minimising errors and lowering costs by presenting timely contextual and relevant information. I’m looking forward explaining how AR is helping companies create significant bottom line changes”

• Workshop speaker Mark Sage, Executive Director, Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA)

The Small Steps for Big Results workshop at the Make UK National Manufacturing Conference on 25 February 2020, London.

Early bird tickets are available until 31 December 2019, to find out more and to book tickets visit www.manufacturingconference.co.uk

Remote AR

Augmented reality comes in many forms and one particularly exciting aspect that’s quickly gathering momentum is Remote AR.

While many of us are aware that augmented reality predominantly relies on superimposing digital layers onto a real-world backdrop, Remote AR takes matters further in enabling users to interact with each other through AR from anywhere in the world.

A strong early example of Remote AR can be found in Avatar Chat, by Magic Leap(https://www.magicleap.com/news/product-updates/connect-with-friends-with-avatar-chat). Here, users can create their own augmented reality avatars that interact with friends as if they were joining you at a dinner table. Each participant is projected into the room through the use of AR glasses in the form of their avatar – only they could actually be interacting with each other from across the world.

We live in a time of unprecedented levels of interconnectivity. So much so that we regularly look to share our experiences through technology. With this in mind, it’s reasonable to expect Remote AR to continue to emerge as the software that supports it becomes more powerful.

Remote collaboration through AR could ultimately enhance the way students and pupils interact with tutors and could provide an excellent platform for training staff without the need for them to be in the same room as their trainers.

Remote AR could also be a great tool for mitigating loneliness among individuals who are living away from family and friends for education or work reasons.

Apple enters the fray

One of the largest driving forces behind AR’s ascent in 2020 will come from the investments made by Apple.

The computing giants are set to release an AR headset in the middle of next year which encourages ‘third-party brand collaboration’.

The release of an Apple AR headset will be welcome news for developers. Apple’s earlier release of ARKit has paved the way for plenty of augmented applications in recent years and has led the company to become recognised as one of the more trustworthy AR practitioners of today.

The Apple AR headset will provide a brand new platform for developers to cater to – thus inviting more innovation and more custom. While the hardware itself is the subject of much mystery and debate, Bloomberg understands that the new glasses will have the power to “to display things such as texts, emails, maps, and games over the user’s field of vision.”

Just as they did with modern smartphones, it’s hoped that Apple’s new AR glasses will represent a massive step for the industry of augmented reality and more adopters will be drawn in by its 2020 release.

Practical applications

Augmented reality will continue its march into hands-on industries like engineering, education, and healthcare in 2020. The practical applications of AR technology are far-reaching and extend way beyond the realms of gaming and communications.

Scope AR is an excellent example of the innovations that we’ll see throughout 2020. This kit enables engineers to provide a live view of their line-of-sight and invites senior staff to provide visual instructions on how to operate complex machinery, for instance.

AccuVein is also making waves in the industry of healthcare, with AR technology capable of mapping out a subject’s network of veins and arteries to help improve the accuracy of doctors finding a vein in their patients.

On the other hand, companies like Mesmerise(https://www.mesmeriseglobal.com/), provide full-service studio crafting AR, VR & MR experiences for businesses in various industries. For example, publishers are now able to create interactive, immersive editorial pieces instead of plain text articles.

The great thing about augmented reality is certainly the practicality of the actions it enables. Given the level of consumerism that modern technology often finds itself pandering to, it’s refreshing to gain a glimpse into a world where an emerging piece of tech can be found to have applications outside of entertainment.

Keep on the lookout for more augmented reality solutions that are designed to aid everyday life throughout 2020, as developers look to new areas of the market to cater to.

Collaboration

Collaborative practices like conference calls run the risk of losing their impact due to there being no face-to-face interaction between members. However, 2020 may see some significant changes as businesses begin to adopt AR solutions in order to improve the learning experience of staff and clients alike.

Companies like Microsoft are already investing money into providing a video-calling system that offers users the option of displaying digital renderings of participants – enabling points to be made more effectively, as well as diagrams and charts to be presented more effectively.

5G will supercharge AR’s development

Last but certainly not least comes the looming spectre of 5G. Or, at least it should be. The super-fast fresh generation of mobile data connectivity has been a tad delayed but is forecast to arrive in 2020 in some form.

5G promises exponentially quicker loading times, browsing and app speeds for users, but it’s also set to make a massive impact in enabling the growth of emerging technologies like augmented reality.

Naturally, to create an accurate augmented rendering, it requires plenty of processing power and data. 5G will help developers to think big and become more ambitious with their applications for AR. Essentially, the developments that we’ve already looked at within this article have the potential to be supercharged by the high speeds offered up by 5G.

2020 will undoubtedly be a watershed year for augmented reality, and if developers can get to grips with 5G solutions early in the year, we could be treated to some spectacular arrivals on the app stores before 2021 arrives. There are plenty of reasons to be excited.

Article originally appeared ITProPortal. 

At the company’s Belfast facilities, that innovation has been very much in evidence over the last several years as Thales has built on the strong foundation of its experience in advanced weapons systems (including lightweight, precision strike multirole missiles)

Thales’s UK Land & Air Systems Country Business Unit (CBU) addresses the needs of land, naval and air forces involved in conventional and asymmetric operations, including mounted and dismounted close combat, patrols, reconnaissance and counter-IED – to be their customers’ choice for mission critical information, services and products that protect, defend & save lives.

Thales Moves into Services

It is against the background of this kind of innovation that Belfast-based Thales Service Innovation Lead David Oliveira approached a new opportunity for his team. He said that although the company is well-known for the precision equipment it produces, Thales is also seeing rising revenues from its services business, and that’s where he saw an opening for further innovation.

“Our ambition to increase our services business revenue, partly relies on a digital transformation.” he explained. “Using Digital technologies to break down barriers between Industry – Customer – User whilst delivering our services at the heart of our customer’s operation, providing great user experience is key to success.”

One of the innovations that David’s team decided to focus on was remote assistance, resulting in Thales deciding to explore Augmented Reality (AR) to better support customers and Thales employees in the field. One of the first use case that arose in this exploration was finding better ways to support remote customers in South East Asia, being able to be reactive and avoid incurring the time and expense of flying a Field Service Engineer in from Belfast.

“We wanted to understand how we could deliver the expertise our customers require in an efficient way,” said David Oliveira. “We knew we wanted to look at remote assistance tools – so we started on the business case selecting a test use case, mapping our customer’s journey for technical support. This confirmed the validity of the use case and started a pilot phase.”

To explore AR, Thales selected the Atheer AR Management Platform and the RealWear HMT-1 to provide “see what I see” video calling, hands-free work and the capability to offer digital delivery of work instructions in a user’s field of vision.

He said the investment has already paid for itself in the travel costs saved. He gave as an example a case where Thales had some equipment requiring technical support in a remote location – and the work was complex enough that Thales would typically have had to fly someone out to understand and fix the issue.

Instead, using the Atheer platform, a member of the Thales team onsite was able to make a video call from their RealWear HMT-1 to a Thales expert in Belfast, who was able to provide the necessary support within 45 minutes. “Straight away, we had return on investment,” said David Oliveira.

Thales is now working to expand the way in which it uses the Atheer platform by creating work instructions to cover a number of the most common service issues team members face in the field as well as moving the remote assistance from pilot phase to production.

Read Atheer’s member profile