A recent article on PCQuest addresses how Augmented and Virtual Reality are becoming more mainstream, and that application of the technologies is looking promising for businesses rather than just consumers. A report by Juniper Research suggesting that Augmented Reality revenues from the enterprise will overtake consumer AR revenues until 2021 is mentioned.

Significant points in the article include:

• The biggest adoption of ARVR in the enterprise is expected to come from collaboration.
• The retail industry has been one of the first adopters of ARVR technology
• Marketing will also benefit from AR, as adverts can be interacted with by pointing a smartphone camera at them
• ARVR can be used in design departments of larger organisations to reduce costs of production and make changes more quickly
• Industries such as health and fitness, entertainment, and real estate will also be improved due to ARVR technology; a recent International Dementia Conference in Australia demonstrated how 3D VR goggles had improved the quality of life of dementia patients
• Higher levels of connectivity, data storage, and computing power are required for ARVR to be properly integrated in the enterprise
• IDC reports that 1/6 IT hardware sales will be connected to an AR use case by 2020
• Having the appropriate storage infrastructure and being able to humanize the data will be vital as increasing amounts of data is produced

A post on tech.firstpost.com has listed reasons why IT leaders should pay attention to Augmented Reality.

• Although Pokemon Go is a game and the Augmented Reality feature isn’t sophisticated, the success of the app has accelerated attention on AR, giving CIOs and business leaders reason to look into Augmented Reality’s potential within business.
• Certain Augmented Reality apps let technicians receive equipment maintenance instructions through their HMDs while remaining focused on their current task, and also allow for automatic sign translation.
• Gartner analysts named device mesh as a Top 10 Trend for 2016. Businesses will see an evolution of immersive content and applications and VR and AR capabilities will merge with this digital mesh to make the flow of information more seamless.
• CIOs and IT leaders can track wearables, AR and VR to determine broader business value and continued consumer uptake, while working with business users and EA leaders to hone in on key target personas.

An article written by AREA Member APX Labs’ Brian Ballard for the WardsAuto.com website, tells how the automotive industry needs to quickly upskill its workforce.

US manufacturing jobs might be plentiful, skills are lacking. The ‘jobs crisis’ comes from a shortage of skills.

US automakers have added 300,000 new jobs in the past six years. It is suggested that the biggest challenge facing employers is filling the skills shortage to keep factories operating at capacity. Technology: automation, robotics, etc improves process productivity. Specifically smart glasses, are improving productivity by brining critical information to the front line of manufacturing, empowering workers.

Deploying wearables is one solution to filling the skills gap. The article details how the following can help:

• Digital inspections and reference
• Knowledge capture
• Real time video collaboration

An announcement was made today by EON Reality who have announced 3 milestones:

1. Opening a state of the art R&D facility in Singapore
2. The first regional call for proposal targeted at VR/AR start-ups
3. Asia release of EON Experience AVR – a gamified augmented reality and VR learning library 

The focus is on improving R&D capabilities, finding new creative uses of VR and AR. The boom of the Augmented Reality and VR market has meant that the Asian market is a key part of growth due to its large population including the need to education millions of students.

A central location in Singapore has been chosen to enable collaboration with key partners and vendors and to deliver high quality solutions to an increasing number of clients. Additionally to empower interaction with VR and AR entrepreneurs and to build an ecosystem to support start ups.

Full details of the article can be read here.

While attending the VRAR World event in London recently, AREA Executive Director Mark Sage was interviewed by Aditya Kishore of Telco Transformation. Telco Transformation is an online community for communications executives to track the transformation in the global communications networking and services sector. The interview, which covers the status of AR in the enterprise today, the goals of the AREA, and examples of how AR can help enterprises, can be found here.

Business Insider recently posted an article foreseeing AR’s transition away from apps such as Pokémon Go to the factory floor of the manufacturing sector, beginning with tasks in maintenance and support.

IoT is moving factories and industrial machines to become more automated, and Mike Campbell, Executive VP of industrial software firm PTC’s Vuforia AR segment, says that “the contextualization of IoT data is a big deal”; where Augmented Reality can work in the industrialization of the IoT.

The article refers to sticker labels placed on machines, and gives workers the ability to scan these stickers with their phone or AR headset and obtain all currently available information from that machine part, resulting in factories running with little-to-no downtime. Overlaying graphics showing how pieces fit together and how to disassemble them along with presenting which other pieces of the machine that part might connect.

Microsoft is working on this kind of application too, with its HoloLens goggles. ThyssenKrupp, a multi-billionaire elevator manufacturer, uses HoloLens to allow their field service technicians to look at a piece of IoT-connected elevator equipment and instantly see what went wrong and how they can fix it. ThyssenKrupp employees can use IoT sensors to know when something is going to break even before it does.

In both examples of AR in the workplace, everything becomes quicker, machines are working for longer and there is less downtime, “a business revolution,” says Sam George, Microsoft’s Azure IoT Director.

An article in the Guardian sets out how Augmented Reality is building a better future in construction and reinventing the industry. Construction projects can come along with a variety of problems. Research by McKinsey & Company found that construction was one of the least digitized industries, until now.

AREA Member DAQRI is mentioned in the article for their smart helmet which is designed for industrial settings.

Digitization allows information to be shared in real-time and leads to better outcomes such as those summarised below:

• By overlaying virtual data and images on to a physical space, potential flaws that may arise in complicated processes can be spotted early.
• Workers can see how a construction schedule might be affected by potential problems and take measures to avoid them.
• The construction industry is being reinvented, since clients want to speed up their time to market
• Designs and systems are growing in complexity e.g. buildings are being assembled in new ways.
• Quotes in praise of Augmented Reality come from Gilbane Building Company who tested Microsoft’s HoloLens.

AR is also making it easier for planners and architects to collaborate with contractors and to reassure clients and address their concerns. AR is attractive due to its ability to deliver cost savings and reduce the chances of a build falling behind schedule. This in turn may lead to increased investment in the construction industry.

Using AR may be used to showcase a building or piece of infrastructure to potential investors in its proposed real-world location. This makes it more understandable (for example how the asset connects with its surroundings) and thus more attractive to potential investors.

Going further still, software is being developed that will enable companies to deliver an end-to-end service, showing clients what the inside of a build will look like when furnished a certain way.

ABI research has released a summary article on their research into Medical Augmented Reality, which is predicted to accelerate in growth after 2019. The source post on abiresearch.com says that current medical AR activity comes mainly from first responder trials and initial forays into training and education applications, and that the market will grow through widened telemedicine and surgery use cases. Enhancing the operating room experience and remote surgery viewings and preparations are expected to benefit from expanding AR in the medical sector.

Michael Inouye, Principal Analyst at ABI Research, says that “several key milestones need to be met” before this time. He says that medical education applications expansion is vital, and that significant investment and safety trials will be required in order to use AR in a surgery setting, this could start taking shape as early as 2017.

Pristine, Ubimax and Vuzix are some of the companies that are beginning to work towards the anticipated medical AR demand.

An article by Martin Rushmore on the Port Strategy website, discusses potential uses of Augmented Reality in the Port Industry and obstacles that may have caused slow acceptance and adoption.

The high degree of risk, safety, the environment and complexity seems to be the main reasons for the slow acceptance among ports. Other factors mentioned in the detailed article, with comments from industry experts, are summarised below:

• Military experimentation and testing, such as the NAVD diving helmet. (See a previous AREA article here for more information). This is currently in the second phase of testing. Once perfected, the system will be used for commercial salvage and repair, providing benefits for ports.
• Cost is still an uncertain factor and companies must still look at the cost vs. revenue balance.
• Cargo movements at ports requires maintaining reliable real-time information, where a glitch in the system can lead to costly and dangerous consequences.
• The industry needs reliable partners who understand both the industry and the technology to provide a useful solution.
• The potential for AR in ports is great and that there is ROI could be within 12 months in some cases, especially when it comes to its use in training applications.
• A combination of technologies might be used to improve performance in the environment for example by bringing together real-time operating data and make it a key stroke or finger swipe away from the user, so the relevant data is where it needs to be when it needs to be there. This improves productivity and safety for the operations.
• Improved visualization is possible e.g. the uses are product visualisation, project and process alignment, and training/education of employees and stakeholders.
• Ports have adopted VR technology for more than a decade in training;, this can be advanced and improved with AR.
• Lack of understanding may impede growth. It is said that Augmented reality technology may not be well understood in the port industry. There is no one application provider focused specifically on applications for ports.
• The article mentions how AR could be used in security, for example emergency personnel could have their vision blocked during a fire; AR overlay will allow the emergency services to get to assets to shut down the equipment.

A recent article on Worldcrunch discusses how Augmented Reality is going to be applied in industry in the near future as well as in smartphone games such as Pokemon Go. Patrick Sayd, head of the vision and engineering laboratory at technology research institute CEA List, is quoted to have said that improved smartphone technology has aided the success of AR applications due to AR overlay having to adapt to movements of the camera.

Other key points in the article include:

• Testia has developed Mira, an AR application for aircraft manufacturers that finds the appropriate place for “brackets” (which secure the interior walls of an aircraft) to go. This app has reduced time taken to do such a job from three weeks down to just three hours.
• Boston Consulting Group is working on a projector that will enable hands-free use by displaying virtual images onto the workplace.
• Moundir Rachidi from the company is quoted to have said that AR will increase quality and productivity as well as decrease training time.
• Safran, an aerospace organisation, has been investigating the many possibilities for AR over the past year. Nicolas Lepape, head of this ARVR project, is quoted to have said that the position of pipes needed in the engine can be visually projected onto it.
• Many other companies are currently using, or planning on using AR, such as Airbus and Sunna Design.
• It is predicted by some that wireless lenses will replace headsets and smart glasses in the future.