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8 Insightful XR in Manufacturing Case Studies to Read in 2022

The XR case studies to check out in 2022

As manufacturing and industrial companies continue to deal with ever-growing demands from their customers, the need for innovative technology in the industry is greater than ever. Capable of assisting with everything with crucial training initiatives to faster prototyping, extended reality represents a phenomenal opportunity for brands in the industrial sector.

Already, we’ve begun to see a number of leading companies experimenting with new opportunities in the XR space. Whether it’s bringing teams together in virtual reality to create and interact with digital twins or products, or supporting collaboration through augmented reality, there are no shortage of options out there.

Today, we’re going to be sharing just a few insightful stories from innovators in the XR landscape working with manufacturing and industrial brands.

Microsoft and Airbus

Innovator in the aerospace technology and manufacturing landscape, partnered with Microsoft on their journey into the extended reality landscape. The pioneering company wanted to transform traditional industrial processes involved with the creation of commercial and military aircraft, launch and satellite vehicles through mixed reality.

Using Microsoft’s Azure MR environment and HoloLens 2, Airbus has been able to successfully accelerate and enhance the design of aircrafts, while improving the functionality and safety of the team. Intelligent solutions like Azure Remote Rendering even allows the company to bring team members together for a higher level of collaboration in a mixed reality environment, without compromising on safety and security.

Holo-Light and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems

In the manufacturing and industrial landscape, the measurement and quality control aspects of dealing with various components can often be a time-consuming process, particularly for companies building submarines. Fortunately, the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems company discovered a new way to enhance the performance of their teams through augmented reality, with Holo-Light.

The solution from Holo-light gives the Marine manufacturing brand the opportunity to tap into a comprehensive AR package consisting of all the software and hardware required to perform ultra-precise work in an AR environment. According to the case study produced by Holo-Light the new work process is now significantly more streamlined and convenient for the engineers.

Kognitiv Spark and Surepoint

The Surepoint Group, an industrial contractor specializing in construction, manufacturing electrical and instrumentation services, operates in various sectors across the globe. Surepoint has field locations throughout the US and Canada, as well as offering services to client sites on a broader scale. To deliver consistently exceptional support and speed in this space, the Surepoint team decided it was time to upgrade its solution with RemoteSpark.

The RemoteSpark mixed reality remote worker support tool allows subject matter experts and field workers to collaborate and connect securely through an AV connection. Experts can make annotations in the field of view of engineers, share files, and even create animated 3D holograms. All of these tools allow workers to resolve issues faster, while keeping technology hands-free.

RealWear and Total

Total, a leading energy company producing and marketing all manner of fuels, natural gas and low-carbon electricity services across more than 130 countries, engaged with the RealWear team on their strategy for industrial digital transformation. In the past, when complex equipment required repairs or maintenance, Total had to slow its operations to a halt to bring in specialist experts.

Now, RealWear headsets with Microsoft Teams access allow Total to connect their onsite workers to subject matter experts wherever they are, for faster equipment diagnostics and repairs. The result is eliminated travel costs for visiting experts, improved collaboration for multiple teams, and better equipment maintenance and repair times.

Taqtile and PBC Linear

PBC Linear, a company committed to making linear motion products, decided to work with Taqtile when they discovered new opportunities for digital transformation in their business. For PBC Linear, Taqtile presented an opportunity to create comprehensive training and instruction experiences for manufacturing staff who needed help getting to know difficult pieces of machinery.

The Manifest AR technology from Taqtile allows the company to capture the specific knowledge and machine instructions from seasoned employees to guide newer members of staff in the industry. The result is an 80% reduction int raining time and a significant reduction in the number of errors made within the manufacturing space.

Varjo and Tenstar

Varjo, a market leader in extended reality solutions for the modern landscape, recently partnered with Tenstar to help teach manufacturing and industrial professionals how to use various pieces of heavy machinery in real-life situations. The immersive virtual reality training experience helps professionals to gain new skills at a rapid pace, without putting them at risk.

According to Varjo’s case study, the solution means that customers can now spend up to 90% less compared to real-machine training, and trainees can repeat tasks more often, leading to fewer accidents and more experiences. Trainees also get to practice in real-life scenarios that would be dangerous to access in the real world.

Unity and the Manufacturing Technology Center

The Manufacturing Technology Center, or MTC is a research and technology organisation belonging to the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. The company has an impact on a number of industrial sectors worldwide, and like many manufacturing groups, is reliant on rapid transformation to stay ahead of the competition.

With Unity’s help, the MTC was able to find cutting-edge solutions for creating high-value manufacturing firm blueprints using innovative real-time 3D projects. The Unity landscape meant MTC could eliminate a host of common project roadblocks, with issue resolution of 24 hours or less.

At the same time, the company also enhanced the product design and development process for clients and opened doors for better collaboration among internal teams.

Matterport and SEACOMP

A company committed to supplying manufacturing solutions for customers across the industrial, consumer goods, and medicals industry, SEACOMP has a huge presence worldwide. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the company’s employees were no longer able to visit customers and show clients or prospects product demos.

With Matterport, the company was able to create new digital twins of their offices and manufacturing equipment into a digital world. This means SEACOMP can now give prospects and clients a full 3D walkthrough of the factor’s equipment without the time, costs, and risks of travel.

Quelle:

8 Insightful XR in Manufacturing Case Studies to Read in 2022

29. April 2022 0 comment

Examples

Building A Business Case For XR In the Manufacturing and Industrial World

The Potential for XR in the Industrial Landscape

The industrial landscape and XR technology could make for perfect partners. Manufacturing companies are constantly facing increasing pressure to deliver innovative new products and solutions at a rapid pace. Responding to rising demand forces these companies to constantly invest in better teams, processes, and technology.

Extended Reality has the capacity to transform virtually every part of the go-to-market strategy for the industrial space. From creating and exploring new product opportunities in virtual reality, to support teams via augmented and mixed reality, the opportunities are endless.

As the market for XR accelerates, growing at a rate of around 57.91% CAGR, industrial teams are on the precipice of a revolution.

The biggest challenge for many innovators ready to embrace the extended reality world, is building a business case capable of converting all company shareholders.

Here’s how you can get started with your business case.

Step 1: Find the Biggest Roadblocks for Your Company

For most manufacturing and industrial companies, XR represents an incredible opportunity to fix some existing problems with development, collaboration, and innovation. One of the easiest ways to get buy-in for a business case, is to find existing issues different forms of extended reality can solve.

For instance, if the pandemic made it increasingly difficult for your manufacturing company to bring team members together for ideation and product development, you can look into the benefits of virtual reality and digital twins. These tools allow more team members to work together in a shared “virtual” space when real-world interactions aren’t possible.

Alternatively, if you’re concerned about the costs of sending subject-matter experts to field locations, you can consider using augmented and mixed reality tools to connect people in the field with team members wherever they are. A pair of smart glasses could allow a subject matter expert to annotate a piece of machinery and deliver advice in real-time.

Step 2: Highlight Faster Innovation

Aside from fixing existing problems, XR also has the potential to significantly improve the speed with which manufacturing and industrial companies can innovate and create. As digital transformation in the modern world continues to accelerate, and consumers search for new solutions, manufacturers are under serious pressure to deliver solutions fast.

According to reports by PWC, bringing AR and VR into product development could generate a massive GDP boost of $360 billion by 2030, simply by accelerating go-to-market opportunities. Through innovative XR solutions, employees in the industrial landscape access a wider variety of tools to help them build the perfect products faster.

It’s even possible to experiment with materials and ideas which may not have been an option for companies in the past, due to high prototyping costs. At the same time, once a digital twin of a product or prototype is created, it’s easy enough to provide shareholders and stakeholders with a comprehensive tour of the solution from a distance.

Step 3: Consider Safety and Compliance

XR in the manufacturing and industrial sectors isn’t just an excellent tool for innovation and rapid growth. These tools could also be critical to keeping professionals safe in a somewhat unpredictable landscape. Leaders in the industrial space are required to provide their team members with a certain level of care, as well as the right tools to ensure their safety.

Extended Reality solutions can help to keep team members secure in a range of ways. The right innovative VR and MR solutions can train staff on how to use complicated and sometimes dangerous pieces of machinery, without the need for business downtime. The same tools can also provide users with real-time access to information and guidance when on the job.

In the post-pandemic era, the use of extended reality tools also allows manufacturing companies to provide partners and shareholders with tours of manufacturing equipment without exposing them to potentially dangerous scenarios. All the while, these solutions enhance the opportunity for collaboration at a distance, with minimal risk for contamination.

Step 4: Highlight Potential Process Improvements

Running a successful business in the industrial landscape means constantly searching for ways to manage a more efficient and productive team. XR can give employees access to more of the guidance, support, and information they need in any given moment, to boost business results.

Companies are already using AR headsets in the manufacturing space to provide team members with guidance when they’re on the construction floor. This ensures team members can reach out to specialists in the moment, and get all the guidance they need to stay productive. At the same time, XR tools can bring staff members together for better collaborative experiences when dealing with maintenance issues or repairs.

An MR or AR solution allows engineers to see both the tool they’re working on and the guidance of their subject matter experts in real time, through a set of smart glasses. This improves the chances of an issue being fixed at speed, with minimal requirements for any additional downtime.

The opportunities available for process enhancement through XR will only continue to evolve as new innovations appear in the landscape. For instance, 5G and IoT applications could one day allow professionals to solve issues from a distance.

Step 5: Look at Potential Cost Savings

Although embracing a new technology innovation like XR can seem like an expensive endeavour initially, it could be an opportunity to save money long-term. Using virtual laboratories and digital twins to experiment with designs can be much more affordable (and sustainable) than building prototypes with physical materials.

Extended reality solutions ensure team members don’t have to pay for professionals to fly in from overseas to evaluate a project and do quality assessments. You can even save money on the way you deliver customer service, by connecting with your customers and giving them step-by-step guidance from a distance, without the need for travel.

An XR environment could be the perfect way to create an affordable and eco-friendly environment for better innovation, customer service, and collaboration. As tools become increasingly affordable, there’s a good chance more companies will continue to invest in this ecosystem.

Quelle:

Building A Business Case For XR In the Manufacturing and Industrial World

19. April 2022 0 comment

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The State of XR in Manufacturing and Industrial 2022

Extended Reality in the Manufacturing and Industrial World

Promising endless new opportunities for rapid product creation, prototyping, and training, extended reality has infinite potential in the industrial and manufacturing space. Although it’s safe to say XR has a lot to offer virtually every industry, the manufacturing and industrial sectors have been some of the first to explore the potential of this new landscape.

For years, manufacturing and industrial brands have been searching for technology solutions to a range of problems, like slow and expensive product development, and complex training requirements. XR has the potential to unlock the true potential of the manufacturing industry, enhancing everything from design to the testing and approval of products.

In fact, PwC research already suggests the use of VR and AR in product and service development could be the key to driving a $360 billion GDP boost by 2030.

Here’s what you need to know about the state of XR in manufacturing.

The Potential of XR in the Manufacturing Space

Manufacturing and industrial companies are often keen to embrace the latest technologies and innovations in the digital space. After all, competition in the manufacturing space means most companies are under excessive pressure to deliver innovations quickly, in safer, and more affordable ways, with minimal resource waste.

Companies and consumers alike are constantly demanding more from the manufacturing innovators they work with, whether these companies are building energy production machines, or tools for the automotive landscape. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality tools can support companies in various ways, such as:

Improved training: Bringing new team members into the manufacturing and industrial space means teaching them how to use a multitude of complex tools. Often, working with these tools in-person can be time-consuming and expensive, as it requires downtime in a facility. However, with extended reality, professionals can learn how to use and master various pieces of machinery with minimal strain for the larger company.
Rapid product designing: Many manufacturing brands are already using VR to reduce the time between the initial design and modelling segments in product development. The time-consuming need to create physical prototypes is minimized by the ability to create and experiment with digital twins of products in the virtual world. This can make the time-to-market in a manufacturing and industrial space faster too.
Process improvements: Using AR and mixed reality, engineers and technicians in the field can access collaborative support from other professionals, and even access instruction manuals in real-time. This means experts in the industrial and manufacturing landscape can spend less time browsing through hefty manuals, and more time getting work done.

Trends Driving XR in Manufacturing

In 2020, the XR market reached a value of $25.84 billion. Now, it’s reaching a value of $397.81 billion by 2026, with a phenomenal CAGR of 57.91% during the forecast period. Part of the reason for this rapid growth is the increasing demand for new innovative and immersive experiences in the manufacturing and industrial landscape.

While many companies in this particular sector have been embracing the possibilities of XR for some time, we’re starting to see an increased demand for innovative solutions, particularly in a post-pandemic landscape. Now more than ever, companies need to ensure they’re using the right technologies to make their processes as efficient, safe, and collaborative as possible.

Some of the major trends driving the demand for XR in manufacturing and industrial landscapes include:

Digital twins in product development: The use of intelligent digital twins in product development represents a great opportunity for manufacturing companies to experiment with new ideas and design products at a much faster pace. With digital twins in a virtual reality landscape, it’s possible to experiment with a wide range of different materials, and even collaborate with colleagues on projects from a distance, all without wasting money on travel and resources. These digital twins will become increasingly common in the metaverse age, as the way we work and communicate becomes more “virtual”.
Remote maintenance and assessment: In manufacturing and the industrial landscape, a lot of time is often wasted, waiting for engineers and experts to arrive on-site and assess a problem, or confirm a product is ready for shipment. With extended reality, we can reduce the need for travel between industry experts, while still allowing them to access an in-depth view of various products and tools. With the rising evolution of 5G and IoT, it could even be possible for people to test various functions of a machine or device from a distance, using a mobile connection and an application.
Smart glasses: Smart glasses are becoming a far more realistic potential solution for many aspects of the modern workplace, particularly in the manufacturing and industrial environment. With access to smart glasses, companies can easily access valuable information about a product or machine without having to carry around hefty manuals or books. The same glasses can make it easy to stream video information directly to other members of staff when collaborative insights and guidance are necessary. Improvements in headset design are even leading to AR glasses designed specifically for the industrial world.

With the arrival of the metaverse, the XR landscape could even lead to the development of brand-new products and solutions in the manufacturing space, built just for a virtual world.

Exploring the Future of XR in Manufacturing

With the potential to accelerate product development, improve collaboration, and change the way teams interact on a global scale, XR can make a significant difference to the manufacturing and industrial space. As technology in the XR space continues to grow more advanced, with the arrival of 4K streaming through 5G and haptic feedback, we can even imagine a future where professionals may be able to work with and on complex equipment from a distance.

XR can improve everything from logistics management to productivity in the manufacturing space, while still ensuring teams can work together on creative new ideas for a variety of use cases. We can’t wait to see what the environment delivers next.

Quelle:

The State of XR in Manufacturing and Industrial 2022

8. April 2022 0 comment

Examples

Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv in Turkey deploys RealWear’s HMT-1 wearable devices across all 56 of its service centers

RealWear, a provider of assisted reality solutions for frontline industrial workers, has recently announced that Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv, based in Turkey, has selected and deployed RealWear’s rugged HMT-1 wearable devices across all of its 56 authorized service centers.

For Mercedes-Benz, prior to the countrywide deployment of the devices, any issues that could not be resolved required technical support staff to schedule and physically visit dealerships. The process included hundreds of in-person trips, emails, shared photos and videos and over-the-phone collaboration with subject matter experts, costing the firm around USD $100,000 and creating 500 tons of carbon emissions per year.

With more than 240,000 customer vehicles on the road and Mercedes-Benz’ commitment to high levels of service, RealWear stated that the deployment of its technology resulted in positive impacts including cost savings, carbon footprint reduction, improvements in efficiency and worker empowerment.

Prior to countrywide deployment, Mercedes Benz conducted a four-month pilot project in several of its customer service locations. After seeing initial success, Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv quickly scaled the RealWear devices throughout Turkey. The company also developed a remote training program in partnership with Tofnatech, a gold partner and authorized RealWear reseller, and all service center staff were trained on the new processes.

According to RealWear, since initially deploying the technology, Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv anticipates a 25% jump in ROI for on-part training scenarios and up to an expected 80% performance increase in customer service center technical problem resolution where expertise from HQ is required. The company also noted that certain other processes, such as problematic warranty cases and insurance claims have also become more efficient using RealWear’s devices.

“Technologies such as RealWear and Microsoft Teams further increase the service quality and speed of Mercedes-Benz, thus positively affecting our customer satisfaction,” said Celal Tuna, Technical Support Supervisor at Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv.

The RealWear HMT-1 is a ruggedized, voice-enabled heads-up display with noise cancellation – features that are important for when automotive staff are near a busy motorway or construction site. The RealWear HMT-1 also provides the ability for videos and pictures to be taken by the wearer and shared with an expert in real-time for remote assistance functionality. Finally, the form factor of the device and the software that comes with it frees the wearer’s hands for conducting tasks.

The rollout of HMT-1s has enabled Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv to connect experts to staff out in the field via live video calls using Microsoft Teams to settle any issues that dealers are not able to resolve. Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv’s after-sales engineering/support teams can communicate with technicians with ease and can monitor the environment through the technician’s field-of-view and convey real-time instructions.

“We’re delighted to continue to support the automotive industry as they pivot to electric, leveraging our assisted reality technology,” said John Arnold, Vice President of EMEA at RealWear. “Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv has reinvented the way in which it conducts vehicle repair and training in a move that highlights the digital transformation taking place in this industry.”

The introduction of assisted and augmented reality technologies into the automotive space is part of a wider digital transformation that is taking place across the industry, and with the automotive sector shifting toward electric and semi-autonomous vehicles, RealWear stated that it is helping companies like Mercedes-Benz Otomotiv stay ahead of the curve with its deployment of assisted reality wearables.

For more information on RealWear and its assisted reality solutions, click here.

Quelle:

https://www.auganix.org/mercedes-benz-otomotiv-in-turkey-deploys-realwears-hmt-1-wearable-devices-across-all-56-of-its-service-centers/

Image credit: RealWear

4. März 2022 0 comment

Examples

Taqtile Manifest to Digitise Inspections, Compliance

Taqtile’s innovative AR platform now allows compliance workers to conduct fast and efficient remote inspections

Taqtile, a US firm specialising in augmented reality (AR) enterprise workflow solutions, announced on Thursday it had added features to its Manifest platform, allowing remote and deskless workers to perform inspections and eliminating the need for paper-based processes.

Workers can now conduct inspections, quality control checks, and audits remotely via the innovative software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, digitally transforming a formerly complex process into a streamlined, highly efficient and integrated process with AR.

Upgrades to Manifest Platform

The Seattle, Washington-based firm’s innovative platform untethers organisations from the ‘paper chase’ by incorporating compliance, maintenance, and other regulatory processes on head-mounted displays, complete with all the tools needed to inspect company equipment, workspaces, and facilities.

Deskless workers can also trace the entire process via their iPads or headset devices across procedures, from start to finish, to record data for reports, compliance tasks, and future reviews.

The firm explained its platform can also record completion evidence, fault reporting, and highly-detailed work logs for company records, as well as provide added interoperability with other enterprise apps.

The platform also provides real-time guidance from remote experts to check collected data, and the solution can also employ spatial mapping to overlay, locate, and note specific concerns in a facility.

Manifest can also share files such as video and pictures for remote viewing from experts, and devices can stream real-time video to collaborate with others.

Kelly Malone, Chief Customer Officer for Taqtile, said,

“Manifest enables organizations to institute new levels of accountability for critical inspections. Antiquated paper-based processes for conducting inspections are full of holes, prone to mistakes, and lack the ability to be reliably tracked, making inspection digitization a strategic priority for many of our customers”

One possible use case mentioned by Taqtile was the inspection of sanitary conditions in lobbies, meeting rooms, dining halls, and others, where the solution could potentially provide reliable findings.

Teams could also perform such tasks for other facilities, regardless of geography, to conduct inspections and compliance while minimising risk and keeping critical records of all procedural steps.

Taqtile Manifest Milestones

The news comes as Taqtile reached several key milestones in recent months, namely amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the need to innovate remote enterprise solutions.

Taqtile reached several key milestones after it integrated its platform on numerous devices such as the iPad as well as Magic Leap, RealWear, and Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed reality (MR) headsets.

The firm also joined Nokia to integrate its solution on the latter’s MX Industrial Edge ecosystem to access its huge and expansive customer base, applications, and company assets.

Earlier this year, the firm was also awarded a massive deal with the US Army to integrate their solution into the Augmented Reality Maintainer-Operations Relay System (ARMORS), allowing military staff to conduct preventative maintenance remotely and securely.

The AR firm also published a case study involving PBC Linear and Magic Leap headsets to instruct young learners in manufacturing, allowing students to upskill while performing complex tasks using the platform with photos, 3D visuals, and streamed video.

Quelle:

Taqtile Manifest to Digitise Inspections, Compliance

3. März 2022 0 comment

Examples

Do More With Less: Boosting Workplace Productivity Through Augmented Reality

Using AR in the workplace can optimize your productivity and increase efficiency.

People often misunderstand augmented reality as just a cool feature for games. However, studies have shown that AR is useful in a lot of other areas, including work and productivity. After all, augmented reality — and its siblings, virtual reality and mixed reality — is all about simulations. Simulating things and situations have important applications when it comes to workplace productivity, such as training, operations, safety, and R&D.

The benefits of using AR to optimize workplace productivity have been studied in many industries. In medicine, doctors are able to train without using real patients. One company, AccuVein, has even developed an app to help health professionals locate veins for IV injections using AR.

Here are some other ways that AR can boost workplace productivity.

Training

Doctors are not the only ones who benefit from AR-enhanced training. The manufacturing industry can shorten training times by using AR. AR helps trainees go from knowledge to practice quickly. It can provide experiential, hands-on learning, which is better for comprehension. Practical training is also simpler using AR tools.

Finally, with AR-enhanced training, trainees can make all the mistakes they need without real-world repercussions or threat of injury, so they can perfect their skills before being deployed.

Remote Technical Support

Technical support is often complicated. One needs to have a certain level of expertise in order to install or troubleshoot something. It can be quite difficult to perform technical support services over the phone, email, and even video call. As a result, technical support staff need to go on the field if they’re working in companies that have multiple locations.

In this regard, AR can be used as a form of remote technical support. By using AR devices such as headsets, smart glasses, or tablets, technical experts can easily assist local employees remotely. An example of using AR for remote technical support would be through digital annotations. A person can simply superimpose drawings for instructions instead of giving clumsy and awkward verbal directions. AR can boost a technical team’s productivity by enabling them to do their job remotely, eliminating travel costs.

Manufacturing and Operations

Efficiency is the name of the game in operations. An inefficient operations team can cost a company a lot of money. Because of this, companies always strive to improve productivity in manufacturing and operations.

That being said, employees can use AR to enhance many of their functions. AR-based visual aids can help workers find products or tools faster. Moreover, it can help them redesign the whole factory layout for a streamlined work process.

Workers who do assembly can also use AR devices to visualize components when building products and pull up instructions as needed. If you’ve ever built a piece of IKEA furniture, you might be able to appreciate an AR device that lets you see assembly instructions as you’re building it, instead of stopping every five seconds to check the instructions sheet.

Research & Development

Prototyping will be easier with augmented reality. R&D teams can utilize AR tools to visualize information and ideas, leading to fewer errors and miscalculations. Where once you might need a stack of documents, with AR, you might only need a headset and a pair of smart glasses.

Augmented Reality for Boosting Workplace Productivity

Clearly, augmented reality has many beneficial uses in the workplace to optimize efficiency. This increased productivity is not a hypothetical situation; companies that have used AR reported an average 32% increase in workplace productivity.

And with technology improving every year, it’s highly likely that this number will only increase as more companies adopt augmented reality. It’s a win-win scenario for all. Employees can do more work with less effort, and the company can enjoy the benefits of high workplace productivity.

Quelle:

Do More With Less: Boosting Workplace Productivity Through Augmented Reality

18. Februar 2022 0 comment

Examples

Arvizio releases its AR Instructor work instruction and remote collaboration platform for HoloLens 2

Arvizio, a provider of augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) solutions for the enterprise, has today announced the release and availability of AR Instructor, a scalable SaaS solution powered by Microsoft Azure that leverages AR to guide workers through complex operational, maintenance, repair and training activities using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 HMD.

According to Arvizio, AR Instructor provides interactive step-by-step work instruction incorporating AR content that includes pictures, videos, documentation, and 3D models. The software solution is comprised of the following key elements:

AR Instructor Authoring App: a Windows-based application used to create guided work instructions. The Authoring application offers users tools to create a set of step-by-step digital procedures and insert associated documentation, videos, images, annotations, and 3D models;.
AR Instructor App: an application for HoloLens 2 that allows on site technicians to view AR content and overlay instructions created using the authoring app, in order to perform repair, maintenance, installation, and other operational activities. AR users can also conduct live video calls with a remote expert for additional guidance or performance audit;
Arvizio Remote Expert: Web-based tools used by remote experts to assist field workers. The Remote Expert capability enables live see-what-I-see video calls that include AR annotations, shared images and screenshots for visual interaction with on-site workers to offer additional guidance and/or audit the performance of operational tasks.

“AR Instructor is an efficient solution for organizations to utilize augmented reality in their operational and field maintenance activities. Using HoloLens 2, clear instructions, 3D content, media and remote expert support are in the worker’s field of view, enabling hands-free operation and significantly increased productivity”, said Jonathan Reeves, CEO of Arvizio. “In addition, senior employees are often not located where operations are performed. With AR Instructor’s remote expert capabilities, these experts can see exactly what engineers and field technicians see and can collaborate with them, reducing the time to resolution without costly travel.”

Integrated AR content solutions such as Arvizio’s AR Instructor platform have shown to help increase productivity, reduce operational costs, optimize company resources, improve competency and safety, and reduce training costs across a variety of industries including manufacturing, data centers, telecoms, aerospace, and energy.

The AR Instructor app for HoloLens 2 is available in the Microsoft Store as part of the company’s AR Instructor solution. Arvizio also stated that support for its AR Instructor App on other AR devices (mobile, lightweight glasses) is planned for Q2 this year.

Arvizio’s other solutions include its Immerse 3D solution, which provides a platform for 3D model visualization, multi-user meetings and reviews with 3D BIM/CAD models, photogrammetry models and LiDAR point clouds across locations. For additional information about AR Instructor and Immerse 3D, please visit the company’s website.

Quelle:

https://www.auganix.org/arvizio-releases-its-ar-instructor-work-instruction-and-remote-collaboration-platform-for-hololens-2/

Image credit: Arvizio

11. Februar 2022 0 comment

Examples

The transformative power of mixed reality in the manufacturing industry

Companies are using tech solutions such as Microsoft HoloLens 2 to revolutionise the way they work

The manufacturing industry is ripe for digital transformation, and mixed reality — a technology that blends the physical and virtual worlds — has the potential to be a real game-changer in this regard.

Manufacturers can use mixed reality to build more agile factories, reinvent and standardise processes, and reduce downtime and errors to improve productivity and yields.

This technology also has the power to help companies transform their workforces. Mixed reality allows employees to collaborate regardless of their geographic location and enables them to learn to complete tasks quickly.

Consider, for instance, how solutions such as Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 — a pair of mixed reality smartglasses that can be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 business apps — can empower workers to become more efficient by allowing them to visualise data, such as step-by-step holographic instructions or work checklists, on the factory floor.Workers can use Microsoft HoloLens 2 to access step-by-step holographic instructions on the factory floor. Picture: SUPPLIED/MICROSOFT SA

It’s hardly surprising, then, that the global mixed reality market is on the rise and is expected to hit the $3.6bn mark by 2025. Especially when you consider that the industrial uses for this technology have grown in sophistication following the onset of the pandemic.

Here are some examples of how large manufacturing companies have adopted HoloLens 2 to support mixed reality and, in doing so, revolutionised they way they work:

Visual learning

Mitsubishi Electric has been promoting changes in the way people work by handing out tablets to all employees since 2018.

This accelerated since the start of the pandemic with the goal of creating a new business style tailored to the „new normal“ and not to geographical places. This eliminated the need for paper, name stamps and signatures.

From a manufacturing perspective, workers can use HoloLens 2 to collaborate from remote locations, enabling the organisation to deploy development and design expertise on the front lines.

Taking care of business continuity

When a large proportion of its skilled machine operators were in lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions last year, Arla, one of the world’s largest dairy companies, enabled employees in some factories to go hands-free by using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens 2.

Within two weeks, Arla kept its employees safe by adhering to social distancing measures, preserved essential food supply and created a blueprint for remote assistance that supported its high-priority sustainability goals.

The mixed reality environment helped the company respond to breakdowns of critical equipment as experts were virtually on hand to lend assistance right away with no travel time necessary.

The collaboration assisted Eaton to avoid equipment downtime and travel costs. It also prevented any possible communication issues that could arise because of language barriers when liaising over email or on a call.

And at Eaton’s plant in Mexico, where employees manufacture heavy- and medium-duty transmissions and heavy-duty clutches, virtual guides are used to train employees to conduct preventive maintenance on 1,500 pieces of equipment. A hologram appears in front of a user who visually gets access to a checklist that can be implemented more efficiently than using traditional methods.

Remote support

When Burckhardt Compression, a global market leader in manufacturing and servicing reciprocating compressors, had to find a more efficient way of servicing the massive gas compressors on ships in remote locations, it turned to mixed reality solutions.

The time and resources to dispatch a service engineer to fix an issue on a ship were significant. Using HoloLens 2 and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Burckhardt’s engineers can now quickly collaborate with ship technicians in remote locations and provide specialised mechanical expertise.

These remote service engineers support a ship’s technicians by engaging in real-time video chat, providing instructions augmented with a schematic overlay, and creating markups onscreen over the actual compressor. The visual cues are especially helpful when the engineers and technicians are not native speakers of the same language.

The company also manages these service requests using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service.

Adopting these mixed reality solutions has resulted in Burckhardt reducing costs and decreasing its carbon footprint, as well as enabled it to provide a quicker turnaround time to customers.

Maintaining operations

The Schaeffler Group, a global automotive and industrial supplier, relies on a team of highly trained maintenance technicians to keep its advanced machines running smoothly across 75 plants worldwide.

The company wanted to improve its operational effectiveness, strengthen efficiency in global co-operation, and reduce its carbon footprint by exploring ways for its experts to facilitate remote support and collaboration at each plant.

As such, it adopted HoloLens 2 to support mixed reality and remote collaboration environments at almost all of its plants. Now, an onsite Schaeffler technician can easily use Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens 2 to get remote expert support in real time from a colleague using a PC or tablet, all while keeping their hands free to do their job.

From around the world, technicians can also use gestures through video streaming and mixed-reality 3D annotations to clearly guide local teams as they optimise machines and conduct maintenance.

Quelle:

Foto: The Microsoft HoloLens 2, a pair of mixed reality smartglasses. Picture: SUPPLIED/MICROSOFT SA

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/innovation/2022-01-25-native-the-transformative-power-of-mixed-reality-in-the-manufacturing-industry/

4. Februar 2022 0 comment

Examples

CareAR announces launch of CareAR Instruct, Drone Support, and its acquisition of CraftAR

CareAR, an augmented reality (AR) and AI visual support platform company that provides real-time access to expertise for customers, employees and field technicians, has this week announced the launch of CareAR Instruct, Drone support, as well as the acquisition of CraftAR.

According to the company, CareAR Instruct creates and consolidates all types of instructional content delivered with context, enabling self-solve and self-service experiences. New and existing 2D and 3D content, including PDF’s, knowledge base articles, and videos are visually served up into a personalized AR-based self-guided instructional session. As part of Instruct, paper manuals or documents can be converted from physical to digital or visual formats. Users have the ability to easily scan, detect and author labels and process flows of step-by-step AR instructions with visual overlays on physical or digital assets.

CareAR Instruct uses Computer Vision, AI/Machine Learning for 3D object and part detection, object and part tracking, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) for intelligent search and content discovery. As a result, visual state detection powered by AI is also part of the Instruct offering, ensuring each step is performed properly and consistently allowing for highly accurate outcomes.

“The market potential is massive and the feedback has been amazing. Whether used for unboxing, replacing a part, or following a series of required steps during an installation procedure or maintenance activity, CareAR Instruct empowers both customers and skilled field techs with greater abilities to perform and complete those tasks,” said Chetan Gandhi, CareAR’s Chief Product Officer. “CareAR Instruct provides an intuitive and powerful tool that augments the intelligence of those users by making knowledge accessible instantly at the time of need.”

In addition to CareAR Instruct, CareAR is now supporting visual AR for drones, further enhancing the range of supported devices from desktop to drones, including mobile phones, tablets, and smart glasses. Multi-party visual AR collaboration sessions allow participants to see in real-time what a drone sees. Drone support delivers visual access to hard-to-reach locations such as bridges, towers, and rooftops. Use case examples include for first responders, who can benefit from drone support in safety related situations. The ability to visually collaborate with AR and process geo-location data delivers new levels of service and supportability. Additionally, CareAR drone support provides live HD video, content capture of images and recordings as an extended service or support workflow.

Finally, there is CareAR’s acquisition of CraftAR, an image recognition platform designed to create, manage and deliver AR enriched experiences. CraftAR’s SDK, API’s and content creator allows for an easy approach to embed image recognition and AR experiences into applications triggering an immersive AR experience overlaid on top of an image or physical objects. The company stated that the acquisition of CraftAR will help to further bolster CareAR’s capabilities in providing rich visualization of service, support and marketing experiences.

“CareAR is committed to help reinvent the service experience. The recent announcement of our innovations and acquisitions reinforce that commitment as a market leader,” said CareAR’s President, Sam Waicberg. “Customer satisfaction is becoming more crucial than ever as organizations strive to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. CareAR’s continued effort to deliver game changing remote and self-solve capabilities, through our visual AR and AI powered platform, uniquely positions us to drive exceptional customer experiences and outcomes which is at the heart of what we do.”

The company made these announcements as part of its presence at Augmented World Expo (AWE), taking place Nov. 9-11 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. CareAR is exhibiting in booth 413, where it is featuring a live demonstration of its product portfolio, including the newly announced offerings, demo of CareAR Instruct and newly acquired CraftAR platform. For more information on CareAR, please visit the company’s website.

Quelle:

https://www.auganix.org/carear-announces-launch-of-carear-instruct-drone-support-and-its-acquisition-of-craftar/

Image / video credit: CareAR / YouTube

19. November 2021 0 comment

Knowledge Metaverse Research

Meta AI’s ReSkin Sensor to Boost Metaverse Plans

The new Metaverse firm has developed a haptic solution capable of industry-wide change

Meta AI, formerly Facebook AI, announced in a blog post on Monday it had created a new material and touch sensor capable of boosting the development of the Metaverse.

Researchers of artificial intelligence (AI) at the newly-branded Metaverse firm have worked jointly with researchers and scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to build ReSkin: a plastic, 3-millimetre-thick membrane with magnetic particles capable of measuring touch and sensation.

According to the post from Roberto Calandra, Meta AI Research Scientist and Mike Lambeta, Research Engineer for Meta AI, the new material would allow sensors to monitor changes in the magnetic field to communicate with AI-powered software to enable tactile-sensing robots.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s Chief Executive and Co-Founder, wrote the team had “designed a high-res touch sensor and worked with Carnegie Mellon to create a thin robot skin,” bringing the company “one step closer to realistic virtual objects and physical interactions in the metaverse.”

Robots handling soft fruits trialled the new skin, and further testing found the AI programme required training on 100 human touches to understand the link between magnetic field changes and touch.

The news comes after Meta said it had released the full open-source design of its DIGIT sensor last year, which was “significantly cheaper to manufacture and provides hundreds of thousands more contact points” compared to current commercial tactile sensors, offering greater access to global research teams.

Abhinav Gupta, Research Scientist for Meta, said in a phone conversation that tactile sensing had previously been too expensive or fragile to collect substantial data, adding,

“If you think of how humans or babies learn, rich multimodal data is quite critical for developing an understanding of the world. We are learning from pixels, sound, touch, taste, smell, and so on. But if you look at how AI has advanced in this last decade, we have made huge advances in pixels and we have made advances in sound: audio, speech and so on. But touch has been missing from this advancement even though it is very critical”

He concluded Meta’s ReSkin could allow robots to measure pressure forces to roughly 0.1 Newtons on objects less than 1-millimetre wide, adding researchers could finally “have better understanding of the physics behind object” as they worked to build the Metaverse.

Meta AI’s blog posts echoed Gupta’s comments, stating the sensors should replicate the functions of the human finger, be compact and miniturised, “withstand wear and tear” caused by repeated contact with surfaces, and measure key information about objects such as surface features and contact forces.

The announcements come after numerous firms, including SenseGlove and HaptX, boosted efforts to develop XR technologies for robotic teleoperations, with both enterprises launching haptics-based solutions capable of detecting and simulating a spectrum of haptic feedback levels.

A key representative of HaptX spoke to XR Today in an industry-wide round table on key emerging technologies such as 5G, who said it was vital to allowing haptic solutions to detect, transmit, and function with low-latency, high-speed connections for greater accuracy and responsiveness.

Quelle:

Meta AI’s ReSkin Sensor to Boost Metaverse Plans

12. November 2021 0 comment