What is ar (what exactly is AR technology)

What is AR technology? If you don’t understand this, you’re out. Remember the various virtual and real operations Tony performed at home in the movie “Iron Man”? It’s no longer science fiction! Cutting-edge technology is already possible!

What is AR technology?

Augmented reality (AR) - a series of emerging technologies based on data and imaging - promises to bridge this gap and unlock the special untapped potential of human beings. Although AR technology is still in its infancy, there are already signs that it will become mainstream. It is estimated that global consumption of AR technology will reach US$60 billion in 2020. AR will profoundly impact businesses in every industry and organizations ranging from universities to social enterprises. In the coming years, AR will transform the way we learn, make decisions, and interact with the physical world. Customer service, employee training, product design and manufacturing, supply management, and even the way companies compete will all undergo dramatic changes due to AR.

In fact, the application of AR technology has been born decades ago, but it was in extremely limited fields and independent of each other. It was not until recent years that the technology that fully unleashed its potential came out. Essentially, AR turns data and analytics into imaging or animation and overlays it onto the real world. Today, most AR applications are on mobile devices, but in the future it will gradually free up our hands, such as through head-mounted displays or smart glasses.

On a deeper level, AR creates a new information presentation paradigm, which we believe will profoundly affect the way Internet data is constructed, managed, and presented. Although the Internet has changed the way information is collected, transmitted and accessed, the current way data is stored and presented - on 2D screens - still has many limitations. It requires people to translate 2D information in their minds before it can be applied to the 3D world. It's not always an easy task, as you'll see if you try repairing your office copier by following the manual. By projecting data information onto real objects and environments, people can process digital and physical information simultaneously through AR without the need to convert the two types of information into each other. This greatly increases the speed and efficiency with which we absorb information, make decisions and execute.

Key capabilities of AR

Intelligent interconnected products have become increasingly popular in homes, offices and factories. Users can monitor the status and operation of products in real time, remotely control products, and use Real-time data optimizes product performance. In some scenarios, artificial intelligence and interconnection functions can allow products to run fully automatically.

Visualization

AR applications can provide a perspective function similar to X-rays, allowing users to see internal structures that are usually invisible. For example, the medical device company AccuVein has launched an AR technology that can convert the heart beating signal in the patient's blood vessels into vascular vein imaging and project it onto the patient's skin, allowing medical staff to easily locate the location of blood vessels. This greatly improves the success rate of blood draws and other related vascular treatments. This technology more than triples the success rate of blood drawing and reduces the use of other auxiliary measures by 45%.

Instruction and Guidance

AR has subverted traditional instruction, training and coaching systems. In the past, these key functions were tasked with improving productivity, but they were inherently costly, labor-intensive, and had mixed results. In areas such as product assembly, machinery operation, and warehouse logistics, AR transforms complex 2D drawings into interactive 3D holographic imaging, leading users step by step through all necessary processes. Human imagination and understanding are liberated.

In the past, people could only interact with physical controls such as buttons, knobs, etc. Later, touch screens appeared. With the rise of smart interconnected devices, mobile phone applications have gradually replaced physical controllers, allowing people to gain remote control capabilities.

AR brings user interaction to a whole new level. The AR headset can directly project a virtual control panel onto the product, and users can control it using only gestures and voice commands.

In the near future, users wearing smart glasses will be able to directly activate and operate the product's virtual user interface through their eyes and gestures. For example, a worker wearing smart glasses can observe the performance of multiple devices and make adjustments without having to touch any one device.

How AR creates value

AR can create business value in two directions. First, AR can become an integral part of the product. Second, it can improve the performance of various components of the value chain, including areas such as product development, manufacturing, marketing and after-sales services.

AR and the value chain

We have seen the influence of AR on the entire value chain, but the extent is not the same in each field. Overall, the application of AR in visualization and instructions has the greatest impact on enterprise operations. Interactive functions are beginning to emerge, but they are still in the initial testing stage.

Product Development

Manufacturing

Manufacturing processes are often extremely complex, containing hundreds or even thousands of steps. Once a mistake occurs, it can cause huge losses. As mentioned above, AR can send the right information to workers on the assembly line at the right time, thereby reducing errors and improving efficiency and productivity.

Logistics

Warehouse operations account for approximately 20% of a company’s total logistics costs, while picking up goods from the shelves accounts for approximately 65% ??of warehouse operating costs. In most warehouses, workers also use primitive paper lists to find and collect goods. This method is not only slow, but also error-prone.

Logistics companies led by DHL are using AR technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the pickup process. AR equipment can guide workers to the exact location of each shipment and design the best route to the next shipment. At DHL, this technology not only reduces errors, increases employee motivation, but also increases productivity by 25%.

Marketing and Sales

AR not only redefines the concept of product showrooms and demonstrations, but will completely subvert the traditional customer experience. Customers can see how a virtual product will perform in a real environment before purchasing, giving them more realistic expectations, making purchasing decisions with greater confidence, and increasing customer satisfaction. In the future, AR technology may reduce the number of physical stores and showrooms.

After-sales service

In this field, AR has greatly enhanced the potential of intelligent connected products to create value. AR can assist technicians in providing services to consumers, just as it assists workers in factories. Through the predictive analysis data collected by the product, AR can guide technicians to perform repairs in real time, or remotely connect with experts. On-site technicians can use AR technology to discover that a certain part will be damaged within a month and replace it now, solving customer problems in advance and nipping them in the bud.

Human Resources

Early adopters of AR technology, including DHL, the U.S. Navy and Boeing, have long discovered the powerful effects of AR, especially in virtual training that “teaches students according to their aptitude” superior. AR devices can provide customized instructions based on the different experience levels of trained employees or for specific errors. For example, if an employee often makes the same type of mistakes, the company can let the employee use AR assistive devices until the quality of the work improves. In some companies, AR technology has even shortened the training time for new employees to almost zero, while also lowering the technical threshold for recruiting new employees.

While artificial intelligence and robotics are advancing at an impressive pace, we believe that combining the capabilities of machines with the unique strengths of humans will unlock greater productivity than either can achieve on its own. To turn this vision into reality, we need powerful human-machine interfaces that bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds. AR provides us with a historic solution. Humans can use AR to gain new digital knowledge and machine capabilities, thereby improving their capabilities.

AR will profoundly change training and skill development, allowing people to perform complex jobs without lengthy and expensive traditional training (which many people are not equipped to receive). We firmly believe that AR will help humanity benefit more from the digital revolution and its impacts.