vitalenterprises

[vitalenterprises]

Announcing Vital 6.1

Over the past months, we've witnessed an unprecedented need to enable remote collaboration and field workers in essential roles. In response, we are thrilled to announce new capabilities to enable your teams to collaborate more efficiently even while being distributed. Vital version 6.1 will be released on Friday, September 25th 2020 at 4pm Pacific Time. Updating will be simple and seamless, and 6.1 is fully backward-compatible with the current version 6.0.7, so you can choose to update whenever it suits your team.

How to update: 

The web app will automatically update; no action required!

The Android app for glasses, phones and tablets will download the update in the background (while connected to the internet) then prompt the user to update with a simple dialog box. If they choose to accept, the app will take about 30 seconds to install the update. If this is your first time updating, you will be prompted to allow installs from Vital. Choose “Settings” then “Allow from this source”. We have a video showing this process below. Should the user choose not to update, they will be prompted again the next time they open the app.

For our on-premise customers, it's exactly the same process, except that users will only need to be connected to the local network where your servers are hosted.

For our white label customers, the update process is exactly the same, retaining your branding. Please get in touch if we can support you in creating collateral to announce this release to your customers.

Here's a video showing the update process on a RealWear HMT-1:

6.1 Virtual Presence Highlights:

On-device call recording: Smart glasses can initiate a local recording of a call, enabling you to maintain recording quality even with poor or intermittent internet connectivity.

Smarter call routing across regions: Global virtual presence calls now pick the optimal server to increase connection success.

Camera switching: Web app allows switching camera on multi-camera devices.

Video quality: Video calls now prefer H264 codec over V8 when device support it, for improved video quality.

Automatic recording: New setting to enable auto-starting recording when a call starts.

Recording to Asset Library: Upload call recordings made on all devices to the asset library.

Portrait mode: Android app now enables portrait mode when you rotate your device to that orientation.

Screen sharing: Non-Chrome browsers can now screen share, and no browser plugin is required.

Save shared files: New setting allowing saving all files received during a call to the local file list.

Other updates in 6.1:

Location Dashboard: A major new feature is our map-based dashboard utilizing GPS, for rapid overview and job management of distributed teams. This is an opt-in feature, so let us know if you would like this enabled for your organization. See the screenshot below.

Modern server infrastructure: We have fully migrated our server infrastructure to Kubernetes cluster technology, enabling high availability and scalability for everyone, and rapid deployment for our on-premise and private-cloud customers.

Enhanced video controls on smart glasses: Voice and touch control for pause/resume, step back, step forward, and replay of shared and captured videos.

Automatic synchronizing to the Asset Library: Call recordings and shared files are are automatically synchronized to the Asset Library, enabling you to organically build a knowledge repository. Videos and images captured while offline will synchronize once you are connected.

Contact list refresh: On tablet/phone contact list, drag down from top of screen to refresh contacts.

Smoother head panning in image viewer when zoomed.

File sharing: Enhanced sharing of videos and PDFs to other contacts, both during and outside calls.

Many UI and UX enhancements.

Various bug fixes and security enhancements.

The new Location Dashboard:

New Flexible Pricing:

We recently introduced a pay-as-you-go option for teams who need more flexibility. Prices start from as little as 35 cents per minute. Read More

As always, we’re here to help. If we can support you in any way, please contact us.

[vitalenterprises]

Vital Enterprises CEO Ash Eldritch is cited by X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis in this excellent summary of how four emerging technologies are converging to blur the boundaries between our digital and physical worlds, and deliver radically more powerful digital tools.

[vitalenterprises]

An Interview with Vital Enterprises CEO, Ash Eldritch

Note: this has been republished from the Runway.is blog article titled “Vital Enterprises: Providing Augmented Reality Superpowers to Industrial Manufacturing” by Sandra Miller

Vital Enterprises is a company based at the Runway Innovation Hub in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2013 with the original goal to pursue healthcare applications of the newly emerging Augmented Reality smart glasses technology. Upon digging deep into the many possible applications of smart glasses, Vital Enterprises shifted its focus to industrial sectors such as manufacturing. We recently spoke with Ash Eldritch, Vital Enterprises’ CEO and co-founder to learn more about how Vital Enterprises enables modernization for its enterprise customers.

RUNWAY: Ash, please share a high-level overview of Vital Enterprises.

VITAL ENTERPRISES: We build a software assistant that sits on a smart glasses platform. The smart glasses are worn by a technician who is performing some manual task. Our software brings in all of the information, team support and digital tools that they need. We provide heads-up work instructions, and instant access to expert support via Virtual Presence, enabling technicians to get their jobs done more accurately, to complete that task at a higher level of quality and to complete tasks that require high levels of skill. So our goal is to bridge the skill gap where there is a lack of expertise. We like to say we're giving technicians superpowers.

RUNWAY: Please describe use cases for Vital Enterprise software.

VITAL ENTERPRISES: Manufacturing is a good example where we help our clients address some pretty critical issues, including the huge cost of human error and the lack of efficiency in many areas where you are relying on some pretty archaic tools, such as old databases and paper work instructions. Use cases range from a trainee who is receiving instructions on their glasses whilst working on a manufacturing line, to a field technician who is performing some repair or maintenance tasks in the field. Our software can guide repairing equipment, safety procedures, training, and instructions. We help anywhere technicians working with their hands or doing something complex where they need to be operating at a high level of quality, effectiveness and efficiency. Other examples include aircraft inspections, wind turbine repair, safety checklists for mining equipment, and construction site surveys. There are hundreds of other use cases and we’re discovering new ones every time we meet a new customer.

RUNWAY: Help us understand the evolution of smart glasses technology.

VITAL ENTERPRISES: What we realized early on (2013-2014) was that the market readiness for this technology, as well as the state of the art of the technology itself, just wasn’t there yet. The hardware needed to catch up with both the vision that we all have of where this could go, but also with the needs of somebody who is going to be wearing this in an industrial setting for an entire shift. The level of comfort was limited because of the sheer weight of earlier versions. The glasses themselves would cut off your periphery, so your vision was fairly limited both by the field of view of the screens, and by the fact that you had all of this computing blocking parts of your peripheral vision. Things like the economics of the glasses, battery life, network connectivity also needed to be improved. With smart glasses, you’re trying to put the future onto someone's nose. Over the last few years and several generations of iteration, smart glasses manufacturers have been able to make them smaller and lighter, extending the battery life, expanding the field of view; all of these improvements have been great. Smart glasses have come a long, very long way.

RUNWAY: What is the state of smart glasses today?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: It’s really been just in the past year or so that smart glasses are truly robust enough for industrial manufacturing applications. Today, smart glasses provide the ability to be truly hands free while you're working, the ability to have your instruction always in view when you're working and the ability for us to leverage the point of view camera to enable a remote colleague to see what you're doing. Those are all massive advantages over something like a desktop or even a tablet - any kind of handheld device. We’re also now seeing a nice alignment with better market readiness and awareness by industrial sectors of what this technology is and how it can be beneficial.

RUNWAY: Is Vital Enterprises also in the hardware business? Do you make your own smart glasses?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: The glasses are a critical component of what we do, but we honestly wouldn't dream of building our own hardware. I know a handful of companies that have done that. It is an enormous investment cost and you would be competing against companies that are literally pulling a million dollars a month into R & D. I think Microsoft spent two billion dollars in 2017 on the HoloLens, for example, just in terms of R & D. There are about 30 companies building hardware right now.

RUNWAY: From where do your customers obtain their smart glasses?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: In almost all cases we basically offer the hardware and the software as a bundle. We mostly do that as a convenience business model. But we want to be a complete solution for all customers. Some customers come to us and say, well, we already have the glasses.  

RUNWAY: And if customers are already using smart glasses, is that compatible with your software?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: Yes. And quite frankly, it's better for us if they are already using smart glasses. Some of the smart glasses brands we work with include Epson, ODG, which is a San Francisco based manufacturer, Vuzix, and RealWear as well. RealWear has a fantastic device that's built specifically for industrial applications. It has no buttons, which makes it 100 percent voice controlled and it does a fantastic job of that. We aim to be a complete solution partner because the customers that we go into tend not to have worked with this technology before given that it's so new.

RUNWAY: Please share an example of a problem presented to you by an industrial manufacturing enterprise customer.

VITAL ENTERPRISES: We have a multinational customer that is an Italian-based company that manufactures CNC machines, which are room-sized wood cutting machines. These are multimillion dollar machines which go onto their customers’ plant floors to manufacture furniture, for example. Every time one of those massive machines breaks down, you have two problems. One - you are immediately halting production, which costs the company money for every minute when they're down and not producing. Two - then you've got to send someone onsite. Expert support is provided by a technician traveling down to the site to diagnose the problem. If that technician doesn't have the expertise for that particular problem, then they send in another expert. However, for every industry that we've gotten into so far, the experts are getting aged out of the workforce and they're not being replaced. The nature of the work is getting more complex, as everything gets more complex in general. And so we're in a situation where the customer sometimes has to wait days to get that machinery back online. Our Italian client started rolling out our tech to their field service teams. That means that when a technician goes on site, they can instantly get access to several experts, and the experts can stay where they are. The experts are typically folks who have been around for a lot longer. They have families, they're more likely to want to stay put and not have to get on a plane every time a problem occurs. Our work with this client resulted in a significant reduction of expert technician travel costs and increased satisfaction for our client’s manufacturer customers.

Our work with Coca Cola provides another use case example. Their bottling lines run something like $24,000 a minute. And so when one of those lines goes down, obviously each minute means $24,000 dollars of lost revenue potential. They were able to use our software to get experts at the manufacturer of these bottling lines looking through the eyes of one of the line operators, and get repairs done rapidly without ever sending someone to the bottling site.  By their estimates, Coca Cola saved hundreds of thousands of dollars with their first usage of the technology. As we spent time with them, we found that they have things like bottle change over procedures, which are frequently problematic and costly. You've got to change from a two liter bottle to a one liter bottle, for example. That is typically done by a junior technician - and they frequently screw up. We anticipate that providing step-by-step checklists to the operator, plus oversight from a remote senior technician, will dramatically reduce the frequency of these technician errors.

RUNWAY: As your experience working with enterprise customers deepens, what are some of the new capabilities your team is excited about.

VITAL ENTERPRISES: Being able to capture tacit knowledge from an expert performing a task, is something that we've just introduced. We can record structured work instructions including videos, photos and transcribed speech from someone actually carrying out the task while wearing the glasses. We turn those into step-by-step checklists that then anyone else can start to use. This is tacit knowledge capture, which I think is a huge, huge thing that we're going to start pushing more and more. When we start working with our customers on one of their problems, often, we then start to identify dozens more use cases with them.

RUNWAY: What trends in this field are exciting you the most?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: We believe that there are strong synergies that can be had with industrial IoT (Internet of Things) where this can be used to visualize in-place the data that is being generated from the machines and equipment that you’re working with. With the glasses, we can overlay all of this live data on your environment, to make you much more aware of what's going on. We're also starting to focus more and more on how AI (artificial intelligence) can start to take this technology to the next level. Rather than being a passive assistant tool, where you're basically pulling specific information and instructions you need, we'll actually be able to use AI to get a sense of your context, learn to understand the tasks you’re performing, to proactively deliver real-time data, guidance and support to you. That's really exciting. I think you are going to see a lot more of that increasingly human-like and human-centric task support, especially from us at Vital Enterprises.

RUNWAY: What should an enterprise customer expect when working with Vital Enterprises?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: We are a total solution company. We partner very closely with every company we work with. We will take the time to understand their business and their challenges. We help them to identify areas where we can have a real impact and then we'll also design studies to actually demonstrate the business benefit. We will identify real metrics that generally tie to bottom line cost savings or other ways they can generate benefits.

RUNWAY: What is the degree of scale you can address for your enterprise customers?

VITAL ENTERPRISES: Over the past five years, we've designed our solutions from the ground up for scalability. So we can gracefully scale to hundreds or even thousands of devices. That said, we advise our customers to roll out this novel technology in phases. We start with a pilot phase with somewhere from five to 10 users, tightly focused on a specific single use case. That typically takes two to three months. Then we go to a limited rollout, which can be anywhere from 20 devices to 50 devices - and that could be another six months. We're learning lessons at each of these stages and we're embedding the technology into day-to-day operations, getting people comfortable with it. A significant rollout is anything more than 50 glasses. This is where you start to realize very significant benefits at scale. Many of the companies we've worked with see an opportunity for this to ultimately scale out to thousands, and that's going to happen over the next several years.

RUNWAY: Thanks very much for your time Ash.

For more information about Vital Enterprises, please contact Ash Eldritch at ash@vital.enterprises

To learn more about Runway’s Corporate Innovation Services, please contact Tyler Steinke at tyler@runway.is

[vitalenterprises]

Vital's AR software now available on RealWear headsets

Powerful software meets cutting-edge hardware to deliver Augmented Reality to industrial workforces.

Vital’s EnVision Augmented Reality software now supports industry-leading RealWear headsets. Designed specifically for industrial front-line workers, RealWear’s robust headset features precise voice control even in the noisiest environments.

Paired with EnVision software, workers can access heads-up instructions and realtime remote video collaboration while keeping hands on the task, to get the job done right the first time.

Launch Offer

To celebrate the launch, we're offering great discounts on our new bundles containing software, headsets and accessories: everything you need to deploy AR tech into your plant and field operations today!

Scout Bundle $5,945 $3,935 1 HMT-1 headset pack and 2 annual software licenses for the price of 1

Crew Bundle $22,685 $17,085 5 HMT-1 headset packs and 6 annual software licenses for the price of 4

Team Bundle $45,370 $34,170 10 HMT-1 headset packs and 12 annual software licenses for the price of 8

Offer valid until 31st December 2018. Contact us today to discuss which bundle is right for you. Call +1 (650) 394 6486 or email sales@vital.enterprises

[vitalenterprises]

Where is Augmented Reality Being Used Today?

Get a brief overview of what’s driving adoption of Augmented Reality by the manufacturing industry and watch a live demo by Vital CEO Ash Eldritch in this article from Western Digital.

https://datamakespossible.westerndigital.com/augmented-reality-used-today/

[vitalenterprises]

Bloomberg Live: Augmented Reality in Industry

Speaking at Bloomberg Live's The Value of Data event on September 13th in New York, Bloomberg Businessweek's Features Editor, Max Chafkin, discusses how industries are putting Augmented Reality to work with Vital Enterprises CEO, Ash Eldritch.

https://youtu.be/KTv8KBnUbao

[vitalenterprises]

Vital Releases EnVision 5.0

Vital has announced the release of version 5.0 of its flagship Augmented Reality software platform for industrial workforces, and a new name - EnVision.

Vital EnVision 5.0 is the biggest update we’ve ever released. We’ve improved the features you already love and we’re bringing you powerful new tools to help your team get the job done right:

Workflows - for knowledge capture and fast, accurate task execution Create workflows for any procedure at the job site with Smart Glasses and handhelds; edit them using the drag-and-drop web app; share them for execution by your team.

Virtual Presence - video calls for instant expert support, anywhere With screen sharing, a remote expert can share any document or application on their desktop. With advanced drawing tools, the expert can annotate the operator's view to quickly and clearly provide visual guidance.

Multi-Language Support - for international teams Use Vital EnVision in English, Spanish or Italian. Communicate across language barriers with real-time, voice-to-voice and text-to-voice translation between a dozen language pairs.

And More New in 5.0 + Web App support for iOS Safari + Share PDFs during virtual presence calls + Text chat + Barcode reading + User groups + Enhanced image viewer with voice control + Beautiful new menus

If you’re already using EnVision, you should receive the update automatically. Don’t have it yet? Sign up for a 14-day Free Trial to get instant access and optimize your work operations today: https://www.vital.enterprises/trial

[vitalenterprises]

Comcast Business: “The Next Industrial Revolution, Powered by AR”

“Across the U.S., where blue collar work is more prominent, the state of AR isn’t a pipe dream—it’s already fully functional. Manual laborers, especially those who work in manufacturing and out in the field, are utilizing the technology and improving their company’s bottom line.“

Read the full article article by WIRED Brand Lab on Comcast Business

https://cbcommunity.comcast.com/browse-all/details//the-next-industrial-revolution-powered-by-ar

[vitalenterprises]

Vital - Finalists at Mercedes Innovation Challenge 2018

Last week, we had the honor to participate in one of the nation’s most exciting competitions for innovation and automotive manufacturing - The MBUSI Innovation Challenge - run by Mercedes-Benz U.S. 

The challenge encourages startups and college students across the United States to revolutionize the way that Mercedes-Benz produces automobiles from inception to the streets. Vital was selected as a finalist to pitch to a live audience that included the lead innovators at Mercedes-Benz.

This competition invites startups to select and address one of several critical challenges that automotive manufacturers face at any stage of the production processes. This year, there were eight challenges that participants could focus on that included production flow management, big data efficiencies, and digital communications using creative business strategy, software development, and technology solutions. And the challenge we participated in: Implementing augmented reality solutions in key processes.

Our CEO, Ash Eldritch and Head of Operations, Kristen Frick were our representatives in Birmingham Alabama for the event. Watch Ash’s interview with AL.com.

We’re excited to continue working with Mercedes to bring AR to automotive manufacturing!

[vitalenterprises]

Augmented Reality in Enterprise Manufacturing

There are 150 million people in the American workforce. By 2025 it is predicted that 14.4 million of these people will be wearing smart glasses in the workplace (Forrester.com). Despite the marginal success of Google Glass, that means that we’ll be seeing more smart devices in the hands and on the heads of employees around the world.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

QA cannot be neglected. Manufacturers maintain a whole department for quality assurance whose sole purpose is to check and evaluate each and every step of the process and maintain a cohesive standard for quality. If products do not meet this standard, the QA department determines the source of the problem and works to solve it. Quality control is a costly affair that eats up precious time and budget. Maintaining the quality of the product is always a priority for any manufacturer but it is equally as challenging and costly to implement and maintain systems that will do a good job.  

Augmented Reality can play a very valuable role in the QA process as it allows visual monitoring of products as they make their way through the production line. AR makes telepresence a possibility allowing engineers and experts to collaborate on tasks before, during, and after assembly. 

Software with hands-free features, as well as image capturing capabilities, give technicians a look at how to assemble a product properly as well as magnify images to get a better look at small parts. These capabilities open new horizons for quality control.

AR used to Facilitate Quality Assurance

Since AR brings images to life, it can be used to see the product before, during and after production. AR enhanced software for smart glasses, phones, tablets, and computers is used to explain the step-by-step assembling instructions for the product.

Wearing a hands-free gadget has its own advantages that enable the user to work through tasks with the freedom of using both the hands while instructions are superimposed on what they are seeing. Smart glasses have audio which can allow for remote collaboration or pre-recorded instructions that walk the user through the entire process of assembly - just like a tour guide. Audio and visual are combined to help the user compare the end product with the actual product in front of them. If any defect is found, then a picture is taken and sent to the central unit or control panel.

Depending on how complex the product is, engineers might have to travel to the assembly site to sort out any issues - yet another time consuming and costly affair. While implementing Augmented Reality, an expert can be on the phone, viewing the product and solving the problem in a matter of seconds. This greatly reduces the costs associated with QA.

Augmented Reality and Equipment Maintenance

Equipment maintenance is also a major part of manufacturing and plays an integral part in quality control. Properly functioning machinery makes the assembly line run smoothly. AR makes servicing and maintaining machinery easy. Instead of sending a technician to the site that could be anywhere in the world, an employee utilizing AR could photograph the part that needs attention and receives instant feedback on the issue and solution. Using Vital’s software allows maintenance to be streamlined via pre-recording and step-by-step instructions that walk the user through parts maintenance.

This time saved is a huge benefit of using AR software and smart devices in manufacturing. When manufacturers produce high-quality products in a shorter time, deadlines can be met without compromising quality. Shorter production times also means that the overall cost of the product cost will be driven down and that is good news for your wallet.

Use Cases for AR in Automotive and Aerospace Manufacturing

Already AR software is being used in manufacturing by big brands like Porsche or Volkswagen. In fact, Volkswagen was one of the very first automotive manufacturers to utilize smart tech for mechanics with an app, MARTA, that assists with repairs. The company has gone on to incorporate the software for assembling, quality assurance and control, and to even help VW owners stay connected with their cars.

Similarly, AR is used by Boeing for aircraft production. Recently, Boeing tested the AR waters and witnessed a 40% increase in productivity. “By using augmented reality technology, technicians can easily see where the electrical wiring goes in the aircraft fuselage. They can roam around the airplane and see the wiring renderings in full depth within their surroundings and access instructions hands-free,” said Brian Laughlin, IT Tech Fellow at Boeing. Read the full story about Boeing’s success on their blog.

Curious about how AR can benefit your company’s quality assurance and control process? Sign up for a free, 14-day trial of Vital’s Software for smart glasses, tablets, smartphones, and computers today!  

[vitalenterprises]

Tools for Creating an Augmented Reality App

The concept of augmented reality has been around since the early 90s. However, its availability to the public has been fairly recent. The concept is simple;  augmented reality lets you place computer-generated images or information on top of what you see in real-time as it is viewed through the lens of a wearable device or on the screen of a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Many smart glasses and apps are used for gaming and entertainment and rely heavily on the use of AR technology to enhance the experience. You may have heard of Ikea’s app, Ikea Place, used to enhance the shopping experience and help users visualize what furniture would look like in their home without the hassle of bringing it home and building it. Pokemon Go is yet another popular app that uses AR to enhance the real world around the user.

AR-based apps are used beyond the retail and gaming industries too! AR has been emerging in travel apps, to provide information about different destinations in real time, cutting down the need for tour guides. AR is used in education to enhance research initiatives and to bring students living in different parts of the world to the same classroom. With the 2013 launch of Volkswagen's, MARTA app, augmented reality is becoming widely used in the Manufacturing Enterprise, optimizing quality control, repair, and training processes.

Developing apps and software that utilize AR isn’t just unicorns and enchantments, effectively utilizing software development kits built specifically for AR is where the real magic happens. These kits are also known as AR kits. There several types of AR kits - some are open source SDK as well as platform-dependent AR kits. Each kit has specific features that make the AR experience the engineer hopes to create come to life.

Below you will find several SDKs that are integral to building a successful Augmented Reality app and user experience.

Popular platform specific AR Software Development Kits

Apple ARkit:

As the name suggests, the AR kit was introduced by iOS 11 for app development for Apple products such as the iPhone and iPad.

Google ARcore:

The AR core is for Android and lets you implement augmented reality concept perfectly. You can use it to make transformational apps for android. Augmented reality lets you bring the idea that you have for apps right out of the screen.

Vuforia:

It is one of the most popular AR SDK used for AR app developed specifically for mobile devices. It uses computer vision technology along with 3D objects and the real-time environment. The real-time object or space is scanned and captured through the camera of the mobile device and the 3D image is positioned on it in such a manner that the user perspective of the image and object corresponds with each other making the object a part of the real environment.

Wikitude:

This AR kit uses JavaScript for both Android and iOS. It is available with Unity and  Cordova extensions as well. It uses image location, recognition, and geolocation, along with SLAM which is an instant tracking technology.

EasyAR:

It is one of the most used SDK for AR app development. It is popular for its efficiency and, as its name suggests, ease of use. Its API enables the developers to meet the challenges of AR development.

AR toolkit:

This is a modular open source SDK which supports all major platforms. It includes OpenGL ES2x support with GPS and compass integration. It also uses automatic camera calibration utilities. It makes collaboration with new IoT devices, such as smart glasses, easy. AR Toolkit has optical see-through support as well.

Other popularly used SDK are:

Kudan

Max ST

Pikkart AR SDK

Selecting an AR Content Management System

There are many web-based platforms and websites that offer an AR solution for industrial manufacturing and managing content.These are used for development aimed at standalone PC and a more integrated system. All of these, like other AR software, use 3D imaging and modeling along with geolocation features. Some of these platforms are:

Blippbuilder

BuilderAR

Catchoom CraftAR

Hoppala Augmentation

TARTT

After selecting the perfect SDK and CMS, it’s time to put them together to change the world.

[vitalenterprises]

SCM rolls out “Smartech” powered by Vital Enterprises

We’re excited to announce that SCM, a technological world leader in processing wood, is rolling out smart technology powered by Vital Enterprises. Integration of Vital’s software for smart glasses into the workplace will streamline many of the day-to-day operations overseen by SCM’s clients worldwide.

Smartech is focused on optimizing support for SCM’s clients operating powerful machinery. By utilizing Vital’s signature features, users will have instant access to experts from SCM’s technicians around the globe.

“We are thrilled to partner with SCM and enable them to optimize their technicians’ knowledge and expertise around the globe.” says Ash Eldritch, Co-founder and CEO of Vital Enterprises.“We have worked hard to perfect these features and look forward to expanding our state of the art software to assist more Enterprises in the integration of IIoT and smart tech into their client facing services.”

Smartech will enhance customer support, quality assurance and workflow optimization using Vital’s signature features, including:

Software for smart glasses, tablets, desktop computers, and phones

SCM service direct connection

Remote support by video streaming

Two-way document sharing with live annotations

Photo capture and point out

Instant chat options

Voice recognition

Learn more about and connect with Vital Enterprises

Learn more about and connect with SCM.

[vitalenterprises]

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality - What’s the Difference?

In the last decade, it has been nearly impossible to keep up with the fast-paced growth of technology used in day to day life. As of 2017, 2.32 billion people used smartphones worldwide. Further projections estimate that 36% of the world’s population will use a smartphone by 2018. With the supersonic advancement of this technology, including smartphones, tablets, fitness trackers, cameras, and wearables, we are eager to learn what’s next?

Enter the world of virtual, augmented, and mixed realities. The use of technology to create a utopia, an intergalactic war zone, and an interactive workspace is growing rapidly. Already, Virtual Reality has been fighting its way into households worldwide, its big break coming with big players such as Facebook, Google and Apple purchasing headset and game manufactures in the last few years. Augmented Reality has had a slower start but it’s projected that 14.1 million US workers will be utilizing AR in the workplace by 2025.

Historically, Virtual Reality has always been a concept toyed with in sci-fi movies and comics. Experiencing it as an actual reality didn’t come to fruition until the mid-80’s and NASA’s Virtual Interface Environment Workstation (VIEW) system that combined a head-mounted device with gloves to enable the haptic interaction. Augmented reality, it’s beginning rooted in 1986 with Ivan Sutherland’s invention of a head-mounted display system, has had a slower start. Finally catching up, AR is widely used in Enterprise Manufacturing. It is personalized to the users' needs and has a more practical application such as quality assurance or remote assistance on the job.  

So how do we define Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Realities?

Virtual Reality: New Technology, New World

As the name implies virtual reality pertains to an artificial reality. The environment, the elements, and the whole experience are all unreal. Generally, the person experiencing virtual reality can feel the difference very easily between virtual reality and actual reality. With the use of modern headsets, this experience has improved but there is no illusion between what you feel and see even if it is 3D.

To make it easier, let’s say that virtual reality is a simulated environment created by using computer technology. Graphics and 3D modeling is the baseline of the technologies used. The scenes that are created here use animation and graphics tools and technology. There is a new wave in Virtual reality products launched by different brands. The most popular being the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Google Daydream View, Samsung Gear and Sony Playstation VR.

Augmented Reality: Same Old World, New Technology

Augmented reality is an enhanced version of a real-time image or a real image with an overlay of digital information. The information is layered on the image by using Smart Glasses and AR software. This is a revolutionary and unique technology often used to streamline Enterprise manufacturing. AR in the Enterprise made its debut in 2013 with Volkswagen's MARTA app used to demonstrate repairs to mechanics as if the car were right in front of them. Written text and other information can be displayed over an image captured by any smart device and scanned by AR software running on apps in Android or iOS phones, tablets, and computers.

AR applications boast features that make working handsfree simple such as voice activation, remote assistance, instruction displays, and seamless data transfer. AR programs are used by military, medicine and other niches for training. Many AR software providers like Vital Enterprises provide software that creates a virtual workplace connecting colleagues working in different countries or regions.

The Basic Difference Between Virtual and Augmented Reality

Although the terms and concept might seem similar from the outside, there is a major difference between AR and VR in use. In Virtual reality, a fictional environment is created using 3D imaging technology and smart glasses. When a user dons their headset and switches on their game console, this image is projected creating a virtual reality. All the entities in that virtual environment will behave as if they were real i.e. people walking around the room, car horns honking in the street, wind rustling in the leaves of a tree. The user becomes a  part of that environment as if one of the fictional identities. For example, in a Virtual Reality park, you will be able to walk around the soccer fields or play on the playground without actually being present. Along with a headset or eyepiece, sensors and sound effects are required to enhance the Virtual Reality and the interaction therewithin.

Conversely, in augmented reality, you can see a fictional or non-existent entity moving around on a real image that is right in front of your eyes. You can experience watching an elephant standing or walking on the road that is actually in front of you. The image is layered such that you will be able to see live traffic and people walking behind the image of the elephant. In augmented reality the canvas can be anything you want, no special gadgets are required to enhance the “live” aspects of the world you are enhancing with AR.There are many apps and types of software available that you can use to get the feel. Most smart devices and smart glasses or headsets in existence today,  like Google Glass, ODG and Epson headsets are compatible with augmented reality software

Mixed Reality: The Technology In Between

Mixed reality is, as its name suggests, a cross breed between AR and VR. Sometimes AR and mixed reality are grouped as one. However, there is a baseline difference between the two. Mixed reality extends the real images with a virtual environment and entities as if they actually belong in the real world. It is very hard to differentiate augmented reality from mixed reality as there is a very thin line between the two. For example, if you place a 3d object on a real image, like a pet and you go about your work then this is a mixed reality. But this can also be and is sometimes advocated as augmented reality.

You can call the mixed reality as the bridge or link between the AR and VR. A gadget like Hololens and Magic Leap is a step ahead in this direction.

In short, all these concepts and technologies let you imagine and experience the new dimension of reality. The advancement of such technologies is filling the gap between reality and imagination, which in turns open doors to the seemingly impossible.

[vitalenterprises]

“We don’t see this as replacing the expertise of engineering and production operations, it’s more about augmenting this capability with tools to help do their job even better,” Graham Cox of IBM explains.

We couldn't agree more! The profound and accelerating impact of automation on employment opportunities is a complex social and economic issue that must be addressed. At Vital, we see our mission as augmenting the capabilities of skilled workers to enable them to perform more complex tasks more efficiently and accurately. As lower-skilled jobs are steadily automated away, superhuman workers will stay one step ahead!

[vitalenterprises]

Vital Enterprises co-founder and CEO Ash Eldritch was quoted in this recent Photonics Spectra feature story about Wearables in the Workplace. 

[vitalenterprises]

Vital Enterprises quoted in ENGINEERING.com article: “Your work instructions tend to be these PDFs that are hard to work through, plus they’re static documents, so they may be out of date,” commented Ash Eldritch, CEO and co-founder of Vital Enterprises, a developer of augmented reality software. “We take those instructions and make them glanceable in your field of view at all times, hands-free and voice-controlled,” Eldritch continued. “So we break down the work instructions along with associated technical drawings and even video from the last person who did the procedure and put all that onto the [AR] glasses. That means you can keep your hands on your task and you don’t need to walk over to a work station to check something.”

[vitalenterprises]

Inc. Magazine #AugmentedReality is on the list, because of the potential to "transforming how people work and unlocking the potential of the human capital assets on companies' balance sheets". #superpowers for engineers!