The Role of XR in Awareness for Industries
As markets and industries are marked with frequent changes, utilizing technology to efficiently navigate these shifting landscapes to maximize growth and efficiency becomes a crucial part of staying relevant. In this article, we explore how XR (Extended Reality) can be used to adapt to meet industry demands.
Throughout the history of humankind, we can define three key periods where our knowledge-base was pushed beyond limits to progress the growth of industries. The first of this, or industrial revolution, happened back in the 1700s with the advent of mechanization using water and steam power. What resulted here was not just a new way to operate factories — this innovation laid the foundation for a series of steps that would ultimately help industries provide for mass consumer needs by making large scale production possible. These advancements in manufacturing and production technology helped spread the adoption of technological systems (such as the telegraph, railroads, gas, water supply) which had earlier been only available to a select few parts of the world. This enormous expansion saw the growth and movement of people and ideas which collectively helped form a new wave in globalization and industrial transformation. The harnessing of electricity further led to the second industrial revolution, and the introduction of computer systems into this sparked the third one.
The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, is a long-debated notion that will take what was started in the third revolution with the adoption of computers and automation and enhance it with the capabilities of the internet, smart systems, fueled by data and machine learning.
What is Industry 4.0?
Industry veterans were skeptical about the stage at which technology was advanced to coin a term like this, but ever since Henning Kagermann (the head of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering) coined the term in 2011 this skepticism has been met with a lot of changes.
Industry 4.0 is defined as a combination of several major innovations in digital technology that is meant to change the way manufacturing industries function. These technologies include Artificial Intelligence, cloud infrastructure, IoT (Internet of Things), data analytics, and Extended Reality (XR). When all these technologies are combined they bring about a new and efficient way that enables global operations to utilize the power of software into large scale production.
This rapid change can only be credited to the various individual movements across the world whose sole effort is to push boundaries as we did three centuries ago. Although its infrastructure is still in its early stages we can say without a doubt that it is transforming manufacturing as we know it. In short, what these companies are adapting to is the concept of mass customization — a drastic reduction in cost for producing products in mass scales while keeping in mind the needs of their consumer base.
The Role of XR
XR (or Extended Reality) is a term used to bring together all forms of immersive technologies present to date. These include — Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR). All immersive technologies extend the reality we experience by either blending the virtual and “real” worlds or by creating a fully immersive experience.
XR is a superset which includes the entire spectrum from “the complete real” to “the complete virtual” in the concept of reality–virtuality continuum introduced by Paul Milgram. Still, its connotation lies in the extension of human experiences especially relating to the senses of existence (represented by VR) and the acquisition of cognition (represented by AR). With the continuous development in human–computer interactions, this connotation is still evolving.
The possibilities that XR offers in this space is something that no industry overlooks. The ability to manipulate objects in digital space while providing feedback in the physical world broadens the segments to which XR can be applied effectively. Not only do manufacturing industries benefit from this even retail to health-care to even advertising can utilize these inherent capabilities to create experiences that retain users and help businesses adapt to their needs.
Applicability
With the introduction of this new medium comes a shift in the way companies visualize and analyze needs and demands. This rise is a transformation that makes it possible to gather data across machines, enabling more flexible, and more efficient processes to produce goods at reduced costs. This will in turn increase productivity, help increase growth, and ultimately change the ways that companies approach manufacturing. Here, they will have more data and opportunities to think beyond just product consumption.
Augmented Reality — Relate with your Digital Twin
With the extent of XR factories and industries have to think beyond how products are manufactured because retaining consumers is all about how products are sold after they are manufactured.
- Branding and Marketing
Making customers experience a product is the best way to market them.
Trying a dress, Test driving a bike, using a piece of kitchen equipment is all
about experiences. But when they are to cater to a mass population,
customizing those experiences can be challenging. Individuals have their own
choices- color, taste, design, and need, a personalized experience could not
be feasible on a large-scale. In the above image, Augmented Reality (AR) brings the power of technology to cater to these shop-floor needs to everyday life through one of the most frequently used devices in our lives- the smartphone.
AR differentiates itself from the rest in this case, where users can
experience the product, be able to change colors, select designs and suit the
product to their needs and above all experience it. In this scenario where
price and quality complete with each other, While other forms of promotions
merely showcase products, AR-based product branding connects the product
right to the customer.
2. Training and Real-Time Troubleshooting
Operating single equipment without prior knowledge can cause a lot of trouble for many customers and the after-sale services may take a longer time than expected. To simply such processes, we harness the
power of Augmented Reality (AR).
AR recreates a physical object/ scenario into its own digital world with its set
of rules so that consumers can interact with it, with real-time feedback. When
you scan your product using the AR application, the app guides you on how
to operate your equipment live. This real-time navigation feature gives you a
more intuitive edge than a written manual; here, the user gets to explore both the product and its functionality. This technology can be easily coupled with voice assistants where the app can speak and guide you.
This comes handy in a world that is increasingly becoming digitalized and with smartphones penetrating in almost all aspects of our daily lives. AR makes your product journey more interesting and engaging rather than the conventional forms of manuals.
Virtual Reality — Connect with your Digital Twin
Creating empathy via digital spaces is a key highlight of virtual reality; industries can utilize this core concept to create virtual spaces where users can interact with simulations and obtain feedback in real-time. Continuous feedback from the end-users provides more data for iteration and changes. This key innovation is already translated into areas such as product demos, virtual tours, and interactive showcases.
1. Training and Simulations — On and Off Boarding Employees
Regardless of the level of training, in manufacturing there are certain situations that all engineers should be prepared for. The problem that arises here is that manuals or verbal instruction can only go to a certain extent to familiarize them with a situation. This is directly applicable to a training scenario as well — no amount of literature can prepare a prospective employee or engineer without on-hands training. With immersive digital twins, they can role-play and practice.
Watch AR Jet Engine by TILT LABS here
Use Cases — OPC SIMULATOR
OPC is a software interface standard that allows Windows programs to communicate with industrial hardware devices. An American multinational conglomerate company (that makes a variety of commercial and consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems) commissioned us to create an application for communication with the OPC server and to reflect the changes in the server to the application and vise versa.
Technology: Unity 3D (Made with Unity), Steam VR Plugin, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive (HTC VIVE)
Industry: Heavy Electrical Machinery
Use Cases — VR Learning Management System
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of educational courses; with the help of Virtual Reality, we are able to create massive immersive environments where the user can interact with environments in and receive feedback in real-time. This scenario is especially useful where companies have to train employees in certain protocols that involve hazardous scenarios or off-site locations.
Utilizing the core immersive qualities of VR we were able to create training simulations that would have otherwise been conducted in hazardous scenarios. The following demo is used to train Oil rig employees on best practices while working.
Technology: Unity 3D, Steam VR Plugin, HTC Vive
Industry: Heavy Electrical Machinery
Takeaways:
- AR and VR addresses the need for multiple learning and engagement styles
- AR and VR make the experience relate to the user by providing visual, auditory, and kinesthetic feedback.
- Instructions provided are on a step-by-step basis. This combines not only to be an engaging but intuitive experience.
- VR and AR bring a new perspective to training people in industrial environments.
Our Founder and CEO Nikhil Chandran talks about this topic further at the talk mentioned below.
About TILTLABS
TILTLABS — A product realization company based in Kerala, India who provides smart solutions to real-world problems through research and innovation. We help our clients fulfill their goals and dreams by developing comprehensive and dynamic tools to visualize their goals. Our growing client base consists of enterprises in the field of entertainment, Virtual Production, Ed-tech, Information Technology to Data Analytics. Our vision is to empower businesses and individuals alike by bridging the gap between technology & art.
Call : +919037737788
Email: social@tiltlabs.io
Visit: www.tiltlabs.io
