If you follow this blog, you’ve no doubt heard me say this time and again. AR for enterprise business is here. It’s no longer an emerging technology, or a novelty: businesses are using AR to overhaul processes, drive efficiencies, reduce manufacturing errors, and improve their bottom line. But, is AR mature enough for adoption in companies that are launching satellites and building new spacecraft? Absolutely. The technology is uniquely positioned to meet the highly specialized needs of the aerospace industry.
Accuracy is mission-critical
In an industry like aerospace and defense, the acceptable failure rate number needs to be zero — or as close to zero as realistically possible. Augmented reality is the ultimate “measure twice, cut once” reference check. When done right, AR helps accelerate time-to-information when accuracy is essential. Technicians can access critical reference material that helps them make the right decisions — exactly when they need it. Without AR, technicians will spend a considerable amount of time examining diagrams, consulting manuals, or reviewing static guides and then doing mental mapping of these paper instructions onto the real world components of whatever they are building – which leaves a lot of room for error or misinterpretation.
An example of a company doing this well is Lockheed Martin. Since they began using AR in their Space Systems division to help manufacture spacecraft, including NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, they have realized significant ROI including a 95% reduction in the time it takes technicians to interpret drawings and text instructions.
Create experts, share expertise
In aerospace and defense, your workforce consists of highly-specialized SMEs that live and breathe your intellectual property: designs, processes, equipment — all of which is highly proprietary. Augmented reality is an ideal way to build and share expertise with the people who use — and add to — a company’s unique intellectual property. The technology brings an inherent ability to more easily and quickly share expert knowledge, meaning you can use AR to maximize your investment in creating your company’s SMEs.
As mentioned above, Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems division is using AR to to ensure spacecraft are built with the highest precision and accuracy. Beyond the reduction in time-to-information, the team has also experienced an 85 percent reduction in overall training required through the use of AR. In fact, Lockheed Martin has seen a 42% improvement in overall productivity as a result of their use of AR instructions created with the use of our WorkLink platform.
But AR platforms go beyond contextual overlays to deliver work instructions to technicians in-the-moment. Integrated platforms, like ours, can also connect technicians with an SME to communicate real-time instructions or help troubleshoot an equipment error. If you can record AR-supported remote assistance, training and troubleshooting sessions, they become valuable, reusable assets to help others gain expertise in a scalable way.
Security is everything
For any company working in the aerospace and defense sector, security needs to be unassailable. If you’re evaluating a new technology, it first needs to conform to your organization’s specific, stringent security protocols. Partner with IT early to ensure the AR technology you’re evaluating can integrate into your organization’s existing infrastructure. It’s also important to find an AR solution that works with the hardware devices that are already governed or approved for use within your closed systems – whether that’s wearables, smartphones or tablets. Despite some misconceptions, augmented reality is enterprise-ready and has reached a maturity stage to meet even the most rigorous security protocols and keep your data and proprietary content that AR often leverages – such as 3D or CAD models, as well as detailed manufacturing instructions – safe.
What augmented reality does best: solving real-world business problems
Due to the success of their Space Systems team’s initial deployment, Lockheed Martin is now expanding their use of AR into all four business units of their organization across a variety of use cases. If you’re looking to get started with an AR project at your company, partner with leadership early and ensure your AR project fits within all existing information security protocols. Find a use case where AR can help your specialized workforce do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Focus on a single process where you can use AR to speed up critical time-to-information or reduce downtime. Measure the value and evaluate ROI. Once you see value, expand and repeat across other manufacturing applications or even extend to new business units that could benefit from the technology.
Last month, my team and I had an eye-opening experience at Augmented World Expo 2019 (AWE), the premiere augmented and virtual reality conference. It’s a thrill to see how rapidly AR and other technologies are evolving. And it’s just as gratifying to see just how these knowledge-sharing technologies are meeting the business needs in the marketplace.
Just a few years ago, enterprise AR was an emerging technology. But one thing became crystal-clear at AWE this year: AR for the enterprise is no longer a novelty. It’s not just a wild idea to test out in a sandbox. Companies are using AR to solve real business problems. They’re giving their workforce access to critical, specialized knowledge when and where they need it. After seeing impressive use cases, and talking to the enterprise innovators that now use AR for real-world applications — I can safely say: the emerging-tech phase is in the rearview mirror.
We’ve spent a lot of time talking with executives ready to test AR in parts of their business. They’re typically optimistic, but cautious: I get it — but where do I start, and how do I get my team on board?
There are definitely use cases that AR is better suited for than others in an enterprise setting. In order to ensure you’re choosing the right use case for your organization, here are three mistakes to avoid as you prepare your business for AR adoption:
1) Don’t plan to rewire your entire business. You can’t expect AR to replace a process across your global operations overnight. Start smart. Find a discreet project where you can address a real-world business problem. Ensure it’s a process that can be enhanced by real-time knowledge transfer. And above all, ensure it’s a use case where you can measure and share quantifiable results.
What scenarios might be a good candidate for your business’ first use case? Be sure to consider workflows and teams that would benefit from augmented knowledge like step-by-step instructions, contextual digital overlays, and even live video support from a remote expert. For instance, imagine how impactful on-demand expertise – by way of real-time remote assistance or pre-built guided instructions – could be for a field service team or remote workers managing highly-specialized manufacturing tasks.
2) Avoid complexity and embrace efficiency. From the outset, it’s important to understand where AR will most benefit the people and processes that are the lifeblood of your business. You need to make sure it brings instant expertise and context to the task at-hand. You don’t want to add another layer of process; you want to ensure workers can access knowledge from subject matter experts or resources, wherever they are and whenever they need them.
Some questions to ask along the way:
What direction or communications do your remote workers need most while they are in their workstream?
Where can real-time expertise help them complete tasks most efficiently and effectively?
What tasks in physical space — such as locating repair points, modeling, assembly or QA — could benefit from real-time guidance or visual, intuitive instructions?
What situations might benefit from live assistance or access to a support recording of the same scenario, versus specialized standalone training?
What do your senior-staff subject matter experts know that new hires don’t — and can AR-enhanced support, communications or replays help bridge the gap?
3) Don’t lose sight of business realities. At the end of the day, if your first AR use case fails to provide ROI, you might not get a chance to kick off a second one. Ensure you’ve allocated ample budget to complete a project successfully. But don’t burn budget on proprietary hardware or a closed software platform. You likely can build out an initiative with an agnostic AR platform that extends across devices and operating systems your team already uses. Creating a smart budget will help you more quickly achieve ROI.
Beyond planning for cost, you’ll need to navigate another business reality: you’re rarely in it alone. Your AR project will need buy-in from two additional critical sets of stakeholders: your leadership and your IT department. An advocate inside the business can help make the case to leadership for the investment, and ensure they see the hard-cost savings potential in the unprecedented levels of knowledge sharing that AR allows.
Just as critically, however, IT needs to be on board, as early as possible. IT can help you clear hurdles around security, governance or other compliance protocols, like limited-access to intellectual property you might need to share over an AR platform. Approach your AR use case with IT as a full deployment partner, so you’re integrated with the existing systems and infrastructure that knowledge and communications already flow through.
From conversations with business leaders, I know it can seem daunting to get an AR project deployed. With the right use case, you can unlock expertise, share knowledge and add value well beyond the objectives of your initial project. Ready to get started? Download our free eBook, “Building the Perfect AR Use Case” for a step-by-step guide to launching an enterprise AR initiative.
I’m ecstatic to announce that Scope AR has raised a $9.7M Series A! This follows a strong year for Scope AR and we’re on track to have an even better 2019. We’re so excited to have the resources we need to grow and to take advantage of the amazing opportunity that lies before us, which is nothing less than transforming how people perform work in the heavy industries. We’re just at the beginning of the journey with augmented reality-enabled applications, and we have a clear and expanding vision of what is needed to become the global leader in workforce knowledge management.
When we built our first augmented
reality project back in 2012, we were blown away by the market
opportunity that presented itself, and today is another milestone in
enabling front line workers to receive the information they need to do
their jobs more effectively. It’s only a matter of time before this
technology is in the hands of every blue-collar worker, and it’s
extremely exciting to be on the front lines of this world-changing
technology, particularly with the recent advances in hardware which are
finally allowing our dream to come to fruition.
In 2018, Apple and Google both got
into the AR game with ARKit and ARCore, and Microsoft made a big push
with their Hololens headset. With the support of these hardware players
and billions of devices ready to take advantage of this amazing
technology, AR seems ready to take off, and Scope AR is poised to take
advantage of this changing landscape. The core ethos around the company
is knowledge transfer – getting knowledge into a worker’s hands as soon
as possible, enabling them to have the knowledge they need, when they
need it. We have accomplished that goal in a couple of core
capabilities:
Remote AR (Remote Assistance), the
first AR-enabled remote assistance app, which allows a front-line
technician to obtain knowledge and collaborate with someone who has that
knowledge in real time, with the enabling technology of augmented
reality providing that key communication medium that you just don’t get
with FaceTime or Skype.
WorkLink,
the first no-code authoring platform, which allows non-technical users
to create intuitive, visual work instructions for virtually any worker
to receive intuitive, visual guided instructions for the purposes of
training, maintenance, or assembly.
And we aren’t done yet! Stay tuned for some great announcements in the next few months.
Continuing to look ahead, Scope AR
will use this round of capital to grow our sales and marketing teams, as
well as our development teams. We have an extensive roadmap to build to
become the global leader in workforce knowledge management. To help
guide us in this journey, I’m extremely happy to welcome Wayne Hu of
SignalFire and Krishna K. Gupta of Romulus Capital to the board of
directors.
I’m very excited about the future and what we’ll be able to achieve with these additional resources. And if you’re looking to join a rockstar team with huge ambitions to change the world – we’re hiring!
Thriving enterprise AR company continues growth and demonstrated
success with Fortune 500 leaders including Lockheed Martin and Unilever
SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Scope AR, the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality (AR) solutions, today announced it has secured a $9.7 million round of Series A funding. The round was led by Romulus Capital, with follow-on investment participation from existing investors SignalFire, Susa Ventures, Haystack, New Stack Ventures, North American Corporation and Angel List. Krishna Gupta of Romulus Capital and Wayne Hu from SignalFire will join Scope AR’s Board of Directors.
“AR is becoming an important tool for how knowledge is shared within
heavy industry, allowing workers to get the information they need, when
they need it, in an intuitive way,” said Scott Montgomerie,
CEO and co-founder of Scope AR. “We are thrilled to have the support of
our new and existing investors to accelerate our growth and development
during a crucial inflection point in the market. It underscores, yet
again, that enterprise AR is a leading driver within mixed reality
thanks to the impressive ROI and growing list of use cases the
technology enables.”
With this latest infusion of capital, the company has a raised a total of $15.8 million, which will allow the company to further scale and expand enterprise AR adoption in a time when the industrial workforce is shifting and machinery and equipment are becoming increasingly complex. The company is among the first to deliver noteworthy ROI from real-world customer use cases across aerospace, consumer packaged goods and manufacturing industries. Using the company’s products – WorkLink and Remote AR – industry leaders such as Lockheed Martin, Unilever and Prince Castlehave achieved impactful results around improving worker efficiencies, reducing equipment downtime and more accurately diagnosing repair issues.
“Enterprises are now realizing that leveraging AR and other agile,
remote software solutions can be the answer to many operational
challenges they have always faced — from closing the growing skills gap
to reducing downtime,” said Krishna K. Gupta,
founder and general partner of Romulus Capital. “Scope AR’s product
leadership and vision has put them at the forefront of the industry,
addressing these challenges with tools that provide workers with instant
access to critical information that helps resolve operational issues in
an agile and accurate manner. We’re excited about their product roadmap
and growth opportunities as we work more closely with some of the
largest enterprises in the world.”
About Scope AR Scope AR is the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality solutions, delivering the industry’s only cross-platform AR tools for getting workers the knowledge they need, when they need it. The company is revolutionizing the way enterprises work and collaborate by offering AR tools that provide more effective and efficient knowledge-sharing to conduct complex remote tasks, employee training, product and equipment assembly, maintenance and repair, field and customer support, and more. The company’s device-agnostic technology supports smartphones, tablets and wearables, making it easy for leading organizations like Boeing, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, Assa Abloy, GE and others to quickly scale their use of AR to any remote worker. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in San Francisco with offices in Edmonton, Canada.
Scope AR, the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality (AR) solutions, today at Augmented World Expo 2018 (AWE) announced the industry’s first AR platform that offers both real-time remote assistance and access to AR guided smart instructions simultaneously in one application. By combining the functionality of the company’s AR-based live support video calling application, Remote AR, with the company’s AR content creation platform, WorkLink, into one product, organizations can now experience an unprecedented level of support and collaboration.
“The ability for workers to connect in real-time with an expert to get the remote assistance they might need while also having access to rich, animated step-by-step AR instructions in one, unified interface truly has the potential to transform the way people work, while also saving companies valuable time, resources and significant costs,” said Scott Montgomerie, CEO and co-founder of Scope AR. “We are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in AR with products already in use by Fortune 500 companies. With our newly integrated platform, we are thrilled to address a common request we receive and offer our customers an even better AR experience.”
Users will now have immediate access to the best practices and expert knowledge they need to complete complex tasks in the field, shop floor or office. A demo video showcasing the power of the unified solution is available here.
New
executive hires and added support for RealWear’s AR wearable device
point toward continued innovation and success in the year ahead
San Francisco, CA – May 10, 2018 – Scope AR, the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality (AR) solutions, today announced a record-breaking year with revenues that nearly tripled and an employee headcount that nearly doubled in 2017. In a year that also saw the addition of several executive hires, industry-first product milestones and the formation of strategic partnerships, the company has set the pace for continued expansion and success in 2018.
“The
enterprise AR space is evolving quickly as businesses across all
industries are beginning to realize the tremendous potential AR has to
positively impact their bottom line,” said Scott Montgomerie, CEO and
co-founder of Scope AR. “Our recent company and product growth are a
reflection of the increasing priority AR is becoming within the
enterprise, and we look forward to continuing our delivery of solutions
that can not only be put to use immediately, but will evolve to support
the preferred hardware and platforms of the future.”
Demand for Enterprise AR Drives Company New Hires
In response to its significant company growth, Scope AR recently named Francisco Narganes as Vice President of Global Sales, Neil Lamoureux as Vice President of Engineering and Jason Prosnitz as Vice President of Product. Mr. Narganes is a seasoned technology sales executive with over 18 years of experience in go-to-market development, product and services. He has been tasked with leading the global sales team and growing the company’s worldwide revenue and customer base. Mr. Lamoureux brings several decades of management and engineering experience to his role, in which he will be responsible for overall product development and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the enterprise AR space. Mr. Prosnitz has a proven history of motivating teams and implementing effective product marketing strategies and will be responsible for ensuring the company’s entire product suite meets the evolving needs of global organizations.
Product Updates
Other
recent company milestones include the development of industry-first
product functionality and collaboration with other leaders in the space,
including Microsoft, Google, Wikitude, and most recently, RealWear, to
give enterprise companies the AR tools they need to more effectively
conduct complex remote tasks, employee training, product and equipment
assembly, maintenance and repair, field and customer support, and more.
Recent key product innovations and developments include:
Newly added support for RealWear’s HMT-1. With support for the AR wearable device, Remote AR users now have another hands-free option to choose from when needing to connect with an expert to walk through a repair procedure or troubleshoot a problem.
Support for ARCore, which brings real-time remote assistance to more than 100 million Android devices through use of the company’s Remote AR app.
The launch of Remote AR for Microsoft’s HoloLens, marking the first cross-platform live support video calling solution available for HoloLens.
Support for Apple’s ARKit, which enables any enterprise to implement the most advanced AR functionality within their workforce today using devices without AR-specific hardware.
The launch of WorkLink, Scope AR’s augmented reality content creation platform, on Microsoft’s HoloLens, giving users the ability to quickly and easily produce highly interactive mixed reality instruction and training content for deployment on HoloLens.
About Scope AR
Scope AR is the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality solutions, delivering AR tools for getting workers the knowledge they need, when they need it. The company is revolutionizing the way enterprises work and collaborate by offering AR tools that provide more effective and efficient knowledge sharing to conduct complex remote tasks, employee training, product and equipment assembly, maintenance and repair, field and customer support, and more. The company’s device agnostic technology supports smartphones, tablets and wearables, making it easy for leading organizations such as Boeing, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, Assa Abloy, GE and others to quickly scale their use of AR to any remote worker. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in San Francisco with offices in Edmonton, Canada.
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