https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/mobile-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
    • Back
    • Embedded IoT World (Part of DesignCon) 2022
Iot World Today
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
    • Back
    • Embedded IoT World (Part of DesignCon) 2022
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Development
  • Security
ioti.com

IIoT/Manufacturing


PTC / Howden

AR

Augmented Reality Technology Heating Up in Industrial Space

Companies like PTC are betting big on the promise of augmented reality technology for industrial use cases.
  • Written by Brian Buntz
  • 14th June 2019

BOSTON—Augmented reality technology could be huge in the industrial space.

That was one of the prominent themes in the opening keynote address at PTC’s LiveWorx Digital Transformation Event, held June 10–13.

Augmented reality technology is not just a promising technology for Hollywood, video games and consumer tech geeks, but represents an extension of the digital world into the human realm, said PTC’s Chief Executive Officer James E. Heppelmann in the keynote.

“Now when we marry digital with human, which is what augmented reality, AR, is all about, we get vastly more productive workers, thanks to the ability of the digital world to monitor, control and optimize the work of humans,” Heppelmann said.

While currently most famous in popular culture as the enabling technology behind the 2016 Pokémon GO craze, AR represents a sort of people-centered parallel to IoT. The Internet of Things brings digital technology to machines to make them more productive.

Augmented reality also enables humans to view data in context and three-dimensions. While the internet itself is a sort of cyber analog to a massive physical library with scores of pages accessible via a web browser or app, augmented reality superimposes contextual information in real time.

Augmented reality is still at an early phase of adoption. Between 2016 and 2018, there was a gradual uptick in AR funding related to retail, defense and real estate applications of the technology, according to March 2018 research from the law firm Perkins Coie. According to the research, survey respondents involved with AR saw problems with user experience as the top obstacle for mass adoption of AR, but two-thirds of respondents ultimately predicted revenue from AR would exceed that of VR.

PTC’s Vuforia, however, is already helping drive growth in the company’s overall bottom line. Sales of Vuforia products have “been growing at more than 80% for years now,” Heppelmann said. This year, PTC’s Vuforia line will represent about 7% of the company’s software sales. Considering the company has more than $1 billion in annual revenue, that’s a substantial figure.

Also this week, the industrial conglomerate Siemens announced its Siemens Digital Industries subsidiary was adding augmented reality capabilities to its Solid Edge 3D industrial design software.

In the consumer realm, Gartner believes AR could be transformative for retail, projecting “100 million consumers will shop in AR online and in-store” by 2020. It’s an ambitious prediction considering the firm made it in April 2019.  

In industrial settings, however, one of the most visible applications of augmented reality for industrial applications is for skills development and training.

In that vein, PTC unveiled its Vuforia Expert Capture technology earlier this year which enables a seasoned worker to simultaneously create a standard operating procedure (SOP) guide while performing a task, such as configuring an industrial machine.

The Expert Capture technology has enabled semiconductor firm GlobalFoundries to decrease the amount of time needed to create an SOP by a factor of 10, according to D.P. Prakash, global head of innovation, AI, ML, AR and VR at GlobalFoundries.

At LiveWorx, PTC announced new capabilities for the Expert Capture system, weaving in support for Microsoft HoloLens’ location-aware functionality.

It also unveiled the acquisition of Dutch AR services agency TWNKLS, which has won a string of awards for its AR technology and deployments. PTC anticipates the purchase will help it expand its AR business growth while accelerating its customers’ AR deployments.

Also related to augmented reality, PTC announced it invested in and created a 3D imaging platform, which helps enable virtual tours of real estate. The partnership between PTC and Matterport will support factory data visualization, enabling PTC customers to scan industrial facilities and create digital twins for them.  

Finally, PTC also unveiled Vuforia Engine 8.3, which it describes as “model-based AR enhanced with AI.” The engine uses deep learning to increase the sophistication of the conversion from PTC consumers’ CAD models to AR models.

PTC partner Rockwell Automation has also been steadily increasing its AR offerings with use cases including data visualization, user training and education while also aligning its smart factory technologies with those of PTC’s including its Vuforia AR products.

The potential of the technology for education is substantial, as is its potential for data gathering, Heppelmann said in a press Q&A session following the keynote. “When you put on a HoloLens, or smart glasses, you become connected to the internet,” he said. “Bits and bytes coming down from the cloud get converted into analog sights and sounds. And then when you generate analog sights and sounds with your mouth and hand [with ARI], that gets converted back into bits and bytes. So the HoloLens is a modem that does analog to digital conversion.”

In addition to that, AR devices are also de facto edge agents “because it has got a computer in it and a whole bunch of sensors,” Heppelmann said.

But the potential of AR to enable companies to stop training workers for “just-in-case” scenarios alone could be groundbreaking, explained the PTC executive. “That’s a huge idea that by itself will transform economies probably,” he said. “Because we don’t really need to try to jam all this stuff in your head that won’t stick anyway. There would be better ways to do it.”

Heppelmann illustrated that point with what he termed was a “silly example.” “Let’s say I wanted to play against the best chess player in the world: Garry Kasparov. And I want to meet him at Starbucks and play chess, and I’d really like to beat him.” But given his lack of experience and unwillingness to study chess full-time, Heppelmann said he could leverage the talents of a chess computer via an AR headset. “What if […] all the computer did was say: ‘Jim, take this part and move it here. Now, take this part and move it,’” he added. “And I’d say: ‘Oh, I beat you again, Garry!’ But I didn’t invest anything in training.”

Augmented reality doesn’t’ mean you should “never learn anything,” Heppelmann was quick to point out. “What I’m saying is I think of the breakthroughs we’re talking about. You know, there are better ways to do stuff. And there are much better ways to marry computers and people together.” 

Tags: AR/VR Data platforms Smart factories IIoT/Manufacturing Features

Related


  • Image shows welding robotics and a digital manufacturing operation.
    IoT Supply Chain Vulnerability Poses Threat to IIoT Security
    The supply chain provides building blocks for IoT but also vulnerabilities. IT pros need to ward against malicious attacks that exploit supply chain security gaps.
  • Supply Chain Analytics and IoT Loom Large in Wake of 2020 Disruption
    The COVID-19 crisis has made disruptive events par for the course. Supply chain analytics, digital twins and other tools have become key to understanding and predicting disruption.
  • IoT App Development Gets Agility Boost From Container Technologies
    IoT app development has clamored for greater agility, productivity and security. Container technologies can realize those benefits.
  • Mixed picture
    IoT Spending Is a Mixed Picture in 2020
    While COVID-19 has forced budget cuts for some organizations, the pandemic has also driven IoT spending increases for others.  

One comment

  1. Avatar Sanya Monga 27th June 2019 @ 4:17 pm
    Reply

    The idea of virtual tours of real estate is very intriguing. AR indeed brings out endless opportunities. Thanks for sharing this!
    At designtack.com, we are also working with AR/VR with a focus on education and retail sector.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your IoT World Today account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Content

  • Connected Farming Harvests Data and Gives Agriculture a Jolt
  • How Rolls-Royce Exploits Internet of Things Data
  • Developing a Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Strategy
  • Rethinking Smart Manufacturing for the New Normal

Roundups

View all

IoT Product Roundup: PTC, Nokia, Arm and More

19th May 2022

IoT Deals, Partnerships Roundup: Intel, Nauto, Helium and more

14th May 2022

IoT Product Roundup: Amazon, Synaptics, Urban Control and More

27th April 2022

White Papers

View all

The Role of Manufacturing Technology in Continuous Improvement Ebook

6th April 2022

IIoT Platform Trends for Manufacturing in 2022

6th April 2022

Latest Videos

View all
Dylan Kennedy of EMQ

Embedded IoT World 2022: Dylan Kennedy of EMQ

Dylan Kennedy, EMQ’s VP of global operations, sat down with Chuck Martin at Embedded IoT World 2022.

Embedded IoT World 2022: Omdia’s Sang Oh Talks Vehicle Chip Shortage

Omdia’s automotive semiconductor analyst sits down with Chuck Martin at this year’s event

E-books

View all

How Remote Access Helps Enterprises Improve IT Service and Employee Satisfaction

12th January 2022

An Integrated Approach to IoT Security

6th November 2020

Webinars

View all

Rethinking the Database in the IoT Era

18th May 2022

Jumpstarting Industrial IoT solutions with an edge data management platform

12th May 2022

AI led Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: Time is NOW

9th December 2021

Special Reports

View all

Omdia’s Smart Home Market Dynamics Report

7th January 2022

Cybersecurity Protection Increasingly Depends on Machine Learning

28th October 2020

IoT Security Best Practices for Industry and Enterprise

20th October 2020

Twitter

IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Explore Emerging Tech For Enterprises at @TechXLR8 2022 this June ➡️ Join us from 1-3 June in harnessing the pow… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

24th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Clearview AI has been fined $9.4 million for collecting images of people from social media platforms to add to its… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

24th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Swiss-startup Airyacht is developing an eponymously named vehicle that it says will take the luxury-yacht experienc… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

@Tesla’s #Autopilot being investigated once again following fatal crash in Newport Beach, California. iotworldtoday.com/2022/05/23/tes…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

A new Kansas law will enable #driverless deliveries from @Walmart and its partner @Gatik_AI. #AVs… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Access a world of opportunity in 2022 with @IoTWorldToday ➡️ Now is time to unlock ROI, by accessing a global com… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

3D Home Printer to Build 72 Residences for National Homebuilder dlvr.it/SQhWSF https://t.co/XJOs70DqzH

19th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Microsoft Ramping up Cybersecurity Service Offerings dlvr.it/SQhPR0 https://t.co/nYzaDRnyVY

19th May 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for IoT World Today newsletters: vertical industry coverage on Tuesdays and horizontal tech coverage on Thursdays.

Special Reports

Our Special Reports take an in-depth look at key topics within the IoT space. Download our latest reports.

Business Resources

Find the latest white papers and other resources from selected vendors.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IoT World Series
  • Channel Futures
  • RISC-V
  • Dark Reading
  • ITPro Today
  • Web Hosting Talk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Login/Register

FOLLOW IoT World Today ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X