By Industry
Top Use Cases of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Architecture, Engineering and Design
In our last post, we talked about some of the opportunities that new realities – Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and also Mixed Reality – present to the AEC Industry, specifically to the design side of the industry (as opposed to construction.) With these technologies, one can view and manipulate virtual elements in real space or immerse him/herself in a digital recreation of a real-world environment. This can help both in designing a building and in enabling others to understand the design. The user could be the architect in the initial design stage, or the owner/customer in the pitch or approval stage; a group of architects, engineers and designers working together on a single project, or the construction team responsible for turning a building plan into actual architecture—all putting on a headset or heads-up display to visualize and create. The three use cases that follow are prime examples of this, of AR, VR and MR being used to envision new buildings and streamline the design process. TreeHouse TreeHouse is a Texas-based home improvement startup offering eco-friendly, smart home solutions. For its second massive retail location in Dallas, TreeHouse CEO Jason Ballard wanted a store with zero annual energy costs—a completely sustainable […]
7 min read
Augmented and Virtual Reality for Architecture, Engineering and Design
What is the potential for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the AEC industry? How might viewing virtual objects integrated into one’s physical environment or immersing oneself into a virtual world benefit the AEC sector? In this article, we will focus specifically on the use of augmented and virtual reality technology on head-mounted displays by architects, engineers and designers in the building design process. There is potential for both AR and VR in all stages of bringing a construction or engineering project to life; pretty much every enterprise involved in a large project could utilize these technologies to improve their own working methods and also in communicating with one another. In the actual building phase, for example, AR could be used to help project managers view plans and schematics overlaid on top of real structures, to allow workers to view step-by-step instructions for how to install something, and even to train future operators of a building. But before construction even gets going – in the initial design process – AR and VR could change the way architects, engineers and designers conceive of, collaborate on, and revise designs. First thing, let’s talk about what goes into designing a building, including current […]
7 min read
Wearables in Manufacturing: Interview with AGCO’s Peggy Gulick
We recently sent over some questions to Peggy Gulick, Director of Business Process Improvement at AGCO. AGCO is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of agricultural equipment; the company’s use of smart glasses is one of the best – and most successful – use cases to date. Read Peggy’s thorough and enlightening responses below, and to hear more from this wearable tech pioneer, you can watch Peggy’s hit presentation from last month’s Enterprise Wearable Technology Summit. Enjoy! BrainXchange (Q): To begin, how about you provide us with a little background on yourself and your career? What does your job entail, and how/when did you first learn about wearable technology? Peggy Gulick (A): I am an English and Art major gone wrong Late in my educational endeavors, I realized that I thrive on, and am genetically disposed to, process and the pursuit of perfection. Once into the business world, I found myself marrying my BS in Computer Science with a thirst for more and more knowledge of the why’s and how’s of business processes, from the front office all the way to the manufacturing floor. My path from Arthur Anderson to IBM, Jarden Pure Fishing, and now AGCO […]
10 min read
Introducing Smart Glasses Technology in the Health Care Industry (CCR)
Commonwealth Care of Roanoke Smart Glass Demo
1 min read
The Fate of Wearables in Retail: A Waiting Game
Retail is an interesting industry in which to ponder the future of wearable technology, because it banks so much on consumers. Retail literally thrives on consumers–their likes and dislikes, shopping patterns, buying habits, technological means, etc. And since retailers must be so in tune with consumer trends and preferences, they must also wait upon consumers to determine the real or ultimate value of wearable technology to their brands. Retailers are not just evaluating wearables from an employee standpoint – deciding whether to arm workers with wearable devices like smart glasses and smartwatches to help them perform faster and better – but also from the customer POV. This is an industry where consumer-facing applications of wearables are not just a possibility but rather a must, and employee-facing ones are the option. As a retailer, you have to ask many questions: Are my customers buying wearable devices? Are they actually using them and deriving any value? How are they using wearables–to do what, which applications, what information do they want to access in this way (as opposed to via their smartphones), and what functions do they want wearables to perform? What kinds of data are wearable devices collecting on my customers and […]
4 min read
Beyond Shiny Objects in Retail Wearables
Written by Special Guest Blogger Michael Perman, former Dean of Innovation at Gap, Inc. Fashion wearables is an exciting market right now with a lot of shooting stars and shiny objects to admire upon the blue horizon. First, let’s bless the ingenuity of those who are elegantly merging form and function. At the same time, it’s good to pause for a moment and think about the future of fashion/function wearables and begin discerning what will become meaningful vs. what is just entertaining and stylish. And, in addition, consider the possible roles for wearables in a retail setting to augment the shopping experience. To be sure, this is a viable marketplace, with 21 million units of wearable technology shipped in 2015 and a projection of several times that for 2016 and beyond. Last year, more than 15% of American adults owned a wearable fitness tracker, and Gartner is predicting more than 20 million units of wearable apparel to ship in 2016. But, how many of these will actually be useful (and thus relevant to retailers)? In the health and fitness space, wearables that provide meaningful information and practical connectivity are going to win. Recording your steps is not enough and many […]
3 min read
Wearables in Emergency Medicine: Interview with Dr. Peter Chai
From world-class physicians to industrial leaders, we give you insight into the experiences of those pioneering the use of wearables in the workplace–in their own words. We recently sent over some questions to Dr. Peter R. Chai, an emergency medicine physician and toxicology fellow at UMass Medical School. Read his answers below, and catch him speaking at EWTS East in Atlanta this June. BrainXchange (Q): To begin, how about you provide us with a little background on yourself and your career. What do you do at UMass Medical, and how/when did you first learn about (or encounter) wearable technology? Dr. Peter Chai (A): I am an emergency medicine physician and fellow in medical toxicology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. I became interested in working on wearable technology during my residency training at Brown University, where I led one of the first emergency medicine teams deploying Google Glass in the emergency department. I found that we were using outdated technology in medicine (writing paper charts, using pagers) and we really could harness the revolution in wearable devices to improve the ways in which we deliver healthcare to our patients. Given the variety and large number of wearables available, we […]
8 min read
AREA Webinar: Augmented Reality in the Aerospace Industry
Many companies in the aerospace industry are studying how their counterparts in the military and automotive industries have used Augmented Reality. Some are leading with projects to deploy AR to improve their workplace performance and safety, as well as workforce productivity. In parallel, national and international agencies in aerospace, such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), are running their own pilots and studies to achieve their goals more safely and cost effectively.
1 min read
Wearable Tech in the Automotive Industry
While the field service, logistics, and healthcare industries receive a lot of the attention when it comes to wearable technology in the enterprise; the world’s major automotive companies are doing their part to show just how disruptive this new wave of hands-free mobile technology stands to be. One could even argue that the automotive industry is actually the one industry currently exemplifying the full transformative potential of wearables, as research projects and pilot programs by auto companies encompass nearly every aspect of the industry—from the design process to the manufacturing assembly line, car sales, and even the customer driving experience. In this post, we outline some current and proposed use cases of wearable tech in the automotive industry, a sector that has been exploring all three of the application areas of wearables in the workplace: behind-the-scenes, employee-facing, and consumer-facing. BEHIND-THE-SCENES / OPERATIONS: Vehicle Design, the Manufacturing Assembly Line, and Quality Assurance Volkswagen In November 2015, following a successful 3-month pilot project, VW began rolling out smart glasses as standard equipment in the order picking process at its Wolfsburg plant in Northern Germany. For now, around 30 employees belonging to various areas of the warehouse, including windshields and driveshafts, are utilizing […]
5 min read
Wearables in Big Ticket Retail
Industry: Retail Automotive plus High-end or “Big-ticket” Retail; Company: Amari Supercars; Device: Smart Glasses; Location: UK We’ve mentioned the use of wearable tech in the automotive industry on the back-end or operations side of things, but what about customer-facing applications of wearables in the auto industry? (And we’re not talking about an Apple Watch app to adjust the AC in your car.) You may recall that we previously profiled Dawsons Music on this blog—the British music retailer has been using an innovative wearable tech solution by UK startup GoInStore. Well, GoInStore is back at it, this time applying its solution to big-ticket retail scenarios in the auto industry. Thanks to GoInStore, buyers can now use wearable technology to check out AMARI’s selection of luxury cars online; and the bonus is that customers themselves don’t need to own a pair of smart glasses to do so. AMARI, a global supplier of prestige and high-performance supercars, is using GoInStore’s technology at its Preston showroom, where staff are wearing smart glasses to show off the features of various car models to potential online buyers from a first-person perspective. Thanks to a one-way live video stream and two-way audio, customers can live chat with […]
3 min read
Expected and Unexpected Benefits of Adopting Smart Glasses in Field Service
Case in point: Las Vegas Air Conditioning, a leading HVAC company in Las Vegas For the past few years, the guys over at Las Vegas Air Conditioning have been conducting field studies of wearable technology in the HVAC industry with their program AC Repair on Air. The program involves technicians sporting Google Glass and a few other wearable gadgets while out on calls, and gathering feedback from homeowners/clients as well as the technicians themselves. At the recent Enterprise Wearable Technology Summit in Houston, TX, Las Vegas AC owner Stephen Gamst shared some of the benefits of the AC Repair on Air program, including some clear and expected benefits along with some “very unexpected” ones. Las Vegas Air Conditioning has been servicing homeowners for all their air conditioning and heating repair needs since 1969. Despite having a near perfect record, including very few (if any) negative reviews in the recent years, LVAC is always seeking to better its service. To this end, the company began experimenting with wearable technology, aiming to improve its technicians’ lives while also easing the minds and earning the trust of its clients. Since implementing wearable tech – specifically smart glasses like Google Glass – Las Vegas […]
6 min read
Wearables in Logistics: Now or Later?
Written by Special Guest Blogger Gina Chung, Project Manager, DHL Trend Research, Deutsche Post DHL “Is now the right time?” is a question I often hear when talking with customers about the usage of smart glasses such as Google Glass in logistics. At the DHL Innovation Center in Germany where I’m based, we have a variety of different smart glasses on display for our customers to try on and experience “vision picking” first-hand. Most are usually impressed by what the glasses can already achieve today; but when it comes to going full-on productive with the devices at this point in time, there are concerns that it is too early, that the devices aren’t reliable enough, and that they’re too flimsy to last in a tough logistics environment. At DHL, we are certain that smart glasses will be adopted in some form or another in the logistics industry. The benefits that you can get from going hands-free are too great to ignore. That is what motivated us to go ahead at this early stage with our first productive pilot together with our customer Ricoh in December 2014. In the spirit of innovation, we openly shared the results with the rest of […]
2 min read
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