Enterprise augmented reality: AR applications are just around the bend
Developed with PTC's Vuforia AR platform, one shipbuilding application helps workers identify and remove temporary steel -- the steel that helps hold ship parts together during construction but is not needed when construction is complete.
Such inspection applications tend to require that workers' hands be free.
"One of the groundbreaking tools we are working on is augmented reality, allowing us to superimpose a 3D computer model onto a real world object in real time," said Richard Ritter, instructional designer at Emerson Process Management, in an email exchange.
In the retail industry, merchants are giving their customers new perspectives on the wares they offer. For example:
- Canadian Tire's WOW Guide is a 200-page printed shopping catalog that enables customers to gain additional information, including videos and reviews, by hovering a smartphone over a product image. Canadian Tire calls the technology "Phygital" a combination of physical and digital.
- Wayfair, an online retailer of home furnishings and décor, offers WayfairView. The smartphone-based app is downloadable from Google Play and enables shoppers to superimpose furniture images on the spaces in their homes. It is intended to work with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro smartphone running Google's Tango AR technology.
- Lowe's Holoroom lets customers design projects, such as a kitchen or bathroom, and view the layout in a YouTube360 video. Holoroom VR technology runs on Facebook's Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard, and AR version for the Apple iPad is in the works.
Whatever the industry, a common theme is emerging for AR strategy: Start with widely-used smartphone and tablet devices and build from there, adding headset technology when it is ready for the mainstream.
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