Can AR and VR Change the Energy and Utilities Industries?

And if all of that was not enough, companies also need to think through just how to maintain, manage and update the mass of the information that will flow through the headsets, Harding-Rolls said. “They’re producing content and keeping it up to date and creating 3D content to ensure the manuals being followed contain the right information,” he said. “All of that needs to be kept up-to-date and to have proper overlays and all the latest information. This is not like something you can just switch on. There has to be a lot of thought and investment going in to it.”

Even with a thoughtful approach, it may not be immediately clear what the benefits are, Stroud said. “How do I know going into this I picked the right horse? My answer would be that I don’t think you do,” he said flatly. “Minimize your exposure on investments. Make  small iterative deployments with different vendors and users and eventually set functional requirements. The more you play with it, the less the uncertainty.”