Smart glasses usher in era of augmented reality
For facilities management professionals, reality often leaves a lot to be desired. Equipment breaks down and service technicians often are too busy to respond immediately. Fortunately, augmented reality (AR) promises to make things a bit easier as this new technology gains wider adoption.
Augmented reality is the layering of computer-generated, digital information on top of the physical environment and allows users to integrate that data with the real world. AR technology has become one of the biggest areas of focus for software developers. At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, 10 percent more exhibit space was dedicated to AR products this year, according to the Consumer Technology Association.
The Swedish furniture maker IKEA became one of the first retailers to adopt AR technology in 2012 when it launched a smartphone app that allows customers to see how a product would look in their home. The online home furnishings retailer Wayfair followed suit last year.
An AR product that has important practical applications for facilities managers is the Daqri Smart Glasses, made by the Los Angeles-based technology company Daqri. When an employee wears the glasses, they can see text such as a service checklist or repair instructions strategically positioned right next to a piece of equipment in real time. And to get an expert’s opinion, a service technician can use the Remote Expert tool to see exactly what the employee wearing the glasses is seeing. The new technology helps FM professionals complete inspections and repairs more quickly and with fewer errors and can save retailers money by eliminating the need for physical service visits.
Roy Ashok, Daqri’s Chief Executive, said the glasses make inspections and repairs easier by essentially bringing operating manuals and maintenance instructions to life, letting the FM employee see precisely what the text refers to. The lightweight glasses offer a wide 44-degree field of view and are equipped with a sixth-generation Intel Core m7 Processor, a suite of sensors and a camera.
“We’ve built a product that allows you to access information spacially and in a way that’s relevant to the real world,” he said. “When a worker is managing a facility, they are doing some complex tasks, and augmented reality is beneficial in that setting. These glasses are designed to fundamentally make your world safer and more efficient.”
Facilities managers can use the glasses to make a 3D scan of equipment so they can see if any aspect of it changes over time. Thermal imaging will let the FM see if equipment is running hotter or colder than in the past. The glasses can show BIM (Building Information Modeling) models of the facility so FM professionals can see how bringing in a larger piece of equipment or retrofitting an existing device might alter the layout of the facility or clash with other building systems.
The Remote Expert feature can save FMs time and money by allowing store employees to show them precisely what they are seeing with a piece of equipment. The FM might be able to instruct an employee how to repair it, and the employee will have access to a checklist, instructions, the equipment’s service records and a description of what they are seeing all positioned right alongside the equipment in their view.
If the employee can’t fix the problem, a service technician can be consulted remotely, which likely would cost less than a site visit and could be done quicker. Over time, the savings might more than offset the glasses’ $4,995 price tag.
“The person viewing the equipment remotely can draw a line to a screw that needs to be tightened or another part that has to be repaired, so there’s no chance of any mistakes,” Ashok said.
The smart glasses can be tied into a facility’s asset management program, such as IBM Maximo, to access product manuals and other relevant information. Daqri is working on a web app to allow users to create more content that could be integrated with the glasses.
“We’re trying to lower the barriers to content creation,” Ashok said. “The web app will introduce easy-to-use tools so the content creation time is dramatically reduced.”
Ashok said as AR products gain widespread adoption, they likely will be used for a variety of workplace tasks, such as:
• Training employees through step-by-step tutorials using text instructions layered on top of their workplace setting.
• Conducting meetings between employees working in different locations, enhancing collaboration through visual interaction.
• Touring facilities remotely to check on progress in construction or repairs or to evaluate a building or parcel for acquisition.
• Seeing how clothes or sunglasses would look on a customer without actually trying them on. If the need for private dressing rooms can be reduced, more customers likely would be comfortable buying fitted clothing online, and retailers could see a sharp reduction in stolen merchandise.
• Training drivers how to make simple repairs on trucks and other delivery vehicles and how to use and maintain specialized equipment.
By: Nick Fortuna
