But aside from smartphone-based apps such as Pokemon Go, and Google Translate, which can instantly translate street signs in foreign countries, adoption of the technology — which overlays virtual content on the real world — has been slow.

Google Glass has fizzled out, replaced by enterprise alternatives that mostly focus on niche problems such as warehouse logistics. Microsoft Hololens has had some high-profile uses, such as astronauts using it on the International Space Station. But it hasn’t yet made a big splash in the enterprise.

Read the full article here.

A customised app allowed the project team to then view and check a section of the project’s MEPH work.

The team used an image tracker to superimpose the holographic BIM model onto the soffit of the ceiling.

This allowed the project team to walk through the building wearing the Microsoft HoloLens headset, which acts as a self-contained holographic computer, to check and audit the actual built product against the original design.

The headset can record what the wearer is seeing and is fully interactive, enabling any changes to be communicated to the design team.

Trevor Strahan, head of BIM at BakerHicks said: “The success of this trial marks an exciting step in our journey in exploring the possibilities HoloLens technology could bring to our industry.

“We have been quick to recognise the benefits that ‘virtual world’ technology can deliver and apply it in a ‘real world’ environment.

“We’ve been working on developing Augmented Reality for a while now and it is really exciting to see all that come to fruition.”

Steffan Speer, Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure’s business improvement director said: “The benefits mixed reality could bring to our teams and customers are vast – including remote conferencing, construction design and installation reviews along with the presentation of construction models via holograms.

“I’m looking forward to our subsequent trials as we look to develop these exciting capabilities further.”

Lars Bergstrom, Mozilla research engineering manager for VR/AR, wrote:

“We’re entering a new phase of work on JavaScript APIs here at Mozilla, that will help everyone create and share virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) projects on the open web.

The new WebXR Device API will provide the foundations to build augmented reality experiences in the browser by enabling the integration of the real-world with contextual overlays. For example, users could replace a Web page background with a skybox, that is a live image representing anything that is beyond immediate reach, such as the sky, a mountain, distant buildings, etc. Additionally, to allow users to navigate virtual spaces more naturally, WebXR will support different kinds of user inputs, including voice and gestures.

The WebXR community is working on draft specifications that target some of the constraints of today’s wireless devices. For instance, creating a skybox setting you can use to can change the background image of a web page. We’re also working on a way to expose the world-sensing capabilities of early AR platforms to the web, so developers can determine where surfaces are without needing to run complex computer vision code on a battery-powered device.

The current draft for WebXR covers light estimation, eye tracking, skyboxes, static 3D favicons, controller support, computer vision, and more. Web pages will be able to detect and query VR/AR capabilities, poll device orientation and position, and produce graphical frames at the required frame rate during an immersive AR session. Although the specification is not yet stable, Mozilla is planning to move forward based on its current state and then make all required adjustments as they become necessary.

At the beginning, support for immersive experiences will come through a specific version of Firefox, dubbed Firefox Reality, but later on it will extend to every platform where Mozilla supports WebVR, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. For the iOS platform, Mozilla has already released an AR app, based on Apple’s ARKit, whose source code is available on GitHub. Mozilla iOS WebXR Viewer app is a sort of playground for Mozilla engineers to experiment with AR ideas for WebXR.

To dig deeper into WebXR, do not miss the current specification draft and the WebXR Device API Explainer, which also includes a wealth of code snippets to carry through basic tasks such as querying device capabilities, opening an XR session, outputting graphical content, etc.”

See Mozilla’s member profile: https://thearea.org/area-members/mozilla/

The system they’ve developed links an on-scene medical professional with the world’s leading experts through a headset worn by the physically present medic. In time, this method could replace the somewhat unwieldy telestrators that characterize real-time telemedicine today. In that sense, the project is a clear step toward world-class medical care distributed to those in high-stress situations everywhere, no matter how remote.

The Purdue system uses a transparent headset screen that gives the present medic the ability to see the patient in front of them overlaid with feedback from the off-site expert. The consulting expert, who might be anywhere in the world, uses an interactive video monitor that displays the patient and allows feedback to be given in real time. Even more impressive, the system uses vision algorithms to ensure that procedural notes are displayed in the relevant location in the operating doctor’s field of view. In other words, the headset helps organize the information from the mentor in a way that’s easy to understand for the mentee. This naturally increases effectiveness and reduces the likelihood of mistakes in a situation in which a patient’s life could hang in the balance.

Read more and watch videos on the full article on engineering.com

Apprentice.io shared with us their exciting news:

“We just closed an $8M Series A round for our platform built specifically for pharma, biotech and lab, line, suite environments.

We have raised over $10M in total capital to date now for our conversational AR and AI platform for enterprise industries.

We are the only all-day workflow solution for an entire organization — from the scientist in the lab discovering ground breaking drugs, to the operator in a manufacturing suite getting that drug to market for millions of patients around the world.

We’ve even leveraged the iPhone XS to support mobile solutions on ARKit 2 and ARCore for Android-enabled device in the lab and on the manufacturing floor. It’s an exciting time for AR!”

The Venture Reality Fund — leading early-stage investor focused on immersive and intelligent computing — and GFR Fund also joined as new investors.”

Please see the full press release and Apprentice’s member profile.

Key features and benefits of Apprentice include:

• Augmented batch records
• Tech transfer
• Seamless R&D workflows
• Instant troubleshooting and global support
• Hands are free to perform tasks guided by virtual data
• Stoppages for handwritten notations and data recordation are eliminated
• Time expenditures and financial losses caused by communication delays or remote site travel are greatly reduced
• Instant communication with remote vendors for machinery repair the moment immediate action is required
• Real-time global collaboration
• Efficient, cost-effective training
• Significant annual cost-cuts with direct SME support
• All data content is captured, recorded and exported for audit-readiness
• Avoid extensive down time from audit investigations and costly procedural deviations caused by human error

Semcon has experienced increased demand for digital content and live interaction from its customers and has invested heavily in AR/VR development to be able to visualize information. The partnership entitles Semcon to market and promote XMReality Remote Guidance and for XMReality to distribute and visualize content from Semcon in XMReality Remote Guidance. This way XMReality’s offering is broadened to encompass a solution where technical digital information and instructions, such as service instructions, can be visualized within the tool, thus empowering users to work smarter.

“We are very happy to start this collaboration with Semcon. Their capabilities to visualize information is a perfect match with our AR-enabled remote guidance tool. The agreement is therefore in line with our strategy to partner with companies that add value to our offering”, says Johan Castevall, CEO XMReality.

“Together with our expertise in product information, our collaboration creates new opportunities for our customers and their end users. AR makes it even easier to support for example service technicians by sharing and visualizing the right information at the right time”, says David Sondén, General Manager Product Information Sweden at Semcon.

“Our customers are in the forefront of digitalization. The joint offering together with Semcon enables improved digital service differentiation for our customers. Semcon are an important partner in our growing international eco system”, closes Johan Castevall.

The agreement does not imply any revenues or cost for the parties at the time of signing. Revenues will be generated from joint customer projects when new customers subscribe for the XMReality Remote Guidance software.

This will be the first year of single digit year-over-year growth for the wearables market, mostly due to continuing softness among basic wearables (devices that do not run third-party applications). However, double-digit growth will return in 2019 and through the rest of the forecast as smartwatches and new form factors gain acceptance. In 2022, IDC expects total shipment volumes will reach 190.4 million units, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6% over the five-year forecast.

“The slowdown in the worldwide wearables market is a sign that this is a market in transition instead of a market in slowdown,” said Ramon T Llamas, research director for IDC’s Wearables team. “Vendors are slowly moving beyond first-generation devices and experiences, bringing together an ecosystem of partners and applications for improved user experiences that reach beyond step counting. The wearables of tomorrow will play a more prominent role in communication, digital health care, home IoT, and enterprise productivity that will make last year’s wearables look quaint.”

The report includes forecast highlights for smart watches, wristbands and ear wear.

Virtual reality (VR) immerses you in a fictional, isolated universe. Augmented reality (AR), in contrast, overlays computer-generated information on the real world in real time. As you look at or wear a device equipped with AR software and a camera—be it a smartphone, a tablet, a headset or smart glasses—the program analyzes the incoming video stream, downloads extensive information about the scene and superposes on it relevant data, images or animations, often in 3-D.  Examples are given such as Pokémon GO and the software that helps you to park your car.

A multitude of consumer apps—including ones that translate street sign for foreign visitors, enable students to dissect virtual frogs and allow shoppers to see how a chair will look in their living room before they bring it home—also feature AR. In the future, the technology will enable museumgoers to conjure up guides resembling holograms; surgeons to visualize tissues underneath a patient’s skin in 3-D; architects and designers to collaborate on their creations in novel ways; drone operators to control their remote robots with enhanced imagery; and novices to speedily learn new tasks in areas ranging from medicine to factory maintenance.

Easy-to-use software for designing apps should expand consumer offerings in the coming years. At the moment, though, AR is having its greatest impact in industry, where it is an integral component of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” or “Industry 4.0”: the systemic transformation of manufacturing through the integration of physical and digital systems to improve quality, lower costs and increase efficiency. Many companies, for instance, are testing its use on assembly lines. AR can deliver just the right information at the very moment it is needed (such as when a worker has to select one part over another)—thereby reducing errors, enhancing efficiency and improving productivity. It can also visualize stresses in equipment and create real-time images of where problems lie.

Market analysts, such as ABI Research, IDC and Digi-Capital, believe that augmented reality is on the cusp of going mainstream. They expect the total market for AR, currently valued at about $1.5 billion, to grow to $100 billion by 2020. Major technology companies—including Apple, Google and Microsoft—are devoting large financial and human resources to both AR and VR products and applications. And venture capital is starting to roll in, with $3 billion invested in AR and VR in 2017—half of that amount in the fourth quarter alone. Harvard Business Review recently highlighted AR as a transformative technology that will affect all businesses.

Obstacles persist. At the moment, limitations of hardware and communication bandwidth pose barriers to scaling up for everyday use by consumers. For example, many existing museum and travel apps that use AR to enhance an experience have to be downloaded in advance. Even then, the quality of the graphics may not meet users’ expectations. But the field is set to grow dramatically as cheaper, faster AR-ready mobile chips become available, more versatile smart glasses come to market and bandwidth increases. Then augmented reality will join the Internet and real-time video as an unexceptional part of our everyday lives.

The announcement came in the same week as consultancy firm Capgemini released a report showing half of all large businesses not already using AR or VR expect it to be mainstream in their organisation within three years.

Capgemini Australia digital strategy and transformation director Peter Meliniotis said AR, where digital images are imposed over the real-life environment, as in Pokemon GO, had a lower barrier to entry than VR, which requires an immersive digital environment.

Mr Meliniotis said AR was being used in safety goggles in mining while those inspecting utility boxes on the street were turning to glasses that overlay instructions over the box, rather than workers picking up a paper manual.

He said VR so far was lending itself to training situations especially where workers face the threat of death or serious injury.

One such example is Australian-designed FLAIM Trainer that puts firefighters in virtual fires.

“It’s really interesting that enterprises are actually embracing AR and VR ahead of consumers,” Mr Meliniotis told AAP.

“Having augmented reality safety goggles is a really easy step for a miner to take whereas getting consumers to wear glasses every single day to provide them with an AR experience is a lot more onerous.”

Two big challenges remain.

Especially in mines in remote locations, a competent telecommunications network is a must, as is access to the people who can build such technology.

RMIT Online chief executive Helen Souness said students tackling the university’s new short course will be mentored by experts from Amazon, Versent and Eliiza.

“These courses are delivering a community-driven, industry mentored experience that not only teach up-to-the-minute skills but also connects students to future work opportunities in cutting-edge industries,” she told AAP in a statement.

Amazon Web Services’ Brad Coughlan said AR and VR represent some of the hottest areas in technology and the new courses would address the skill gap.

The consultancy thinks that half of all businesses not already using AR and VR tech will start using it as they accept that it can enhance productivity, efficiency and safety in the workplace.

The most popular uses of AR and VR in businesses will be to offer remote real-time support to customers and to train staff.

“Immersive technology has come a long way in a short time and will continue to evolve. Faced with stiff competition from aggressive investors in the US and China, businesses need to streamline investment to seize the long-term growth potential this technology offers,” Lanny Cohen, chief innovation officer at Capgemini said.

“To drive the highest business value from AR and VR, companies need a centralized governance structure, proofs of concept that are aligned with business strategy, and to be able to drive innovation and employee change management.”

Capgemini’s report looked into the attitudes towards AR and VR too and two-thirds suggested AR is more relevant to their business compared to VR, which correlates with current usage stats – 46% of businesses have employed AR, while only 38% are using VR.

The report noted that 82% of businesses already using AR and VR tech said it’s either exceeding or meeting their expectations, but are experiencing problems when it comes to developing their existing implementations because there’s a shortage of skilled people to help them grow.