Augmented & Virtual Reality Today
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NOVEMBER 2017 Augmented & Virtual Reality Today A SOMO WHITEPAPER Table of Contents Introduction 3 State of the Union 4 Having AR ≠ Having a Great Product 5 Good Use Cases 9 Demos of Note at AWE Europe 11 Conclusions 12 www.somoglobal.com 2 Introduction Back in 2016, Gartner predicted that 1 in 5 global retail brands would be using augmented reality (AR) for shopping in 2017. The year has come and is nearly gone, yet we have still not seen the traction or mass roll-out globally. Somo attended Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Munich recently (19-20 October), one of the world’s largest augmented reality and virtual reality events, to find out the state of the union within the AR/VR industries. What is Augmented Reality (AR)? What is Virtual Reality (VR)? AR is a technology that superimposes digital information onto VR is consumed via a headset worn over the the camera feed or view of the end user. This digital information user’s eyes. The user is directly looking into could take the form of videos, text, images and even 3D models. a screen. This takes them into a completely There are currently 2 main forms in which the end user can different virtual world; they will not be able to consume AR - either using their smartphones, where the digital see what is happening in the physical world. object overlay is superimposed on the camera feed; or via a The VR user can have a varying amount of headset where the information is superimposed directly over interaction with the virtual world, dependant the user’s view of the world via a clear heads up display. on the headset used. www.somoglobal.com 3 State of the Union AR/VR is no longer the new kid on the block Both AR and VR are terms that have entered into the everyday English language. Most people, even if they haven’t tried it, will likely know what it is. This is partly thanks to the popularity of Pokémon Go but also the unveiling of ARKit for iOS 11, CoreAR by Google for Android and Web AR. For VR, hardware manufacturers and phone carriers have been giving away VR headsets with mobile phone contracts. The lack of For businesses, this means there is no longer an excuse not to at least have an opinion empirical about these technologies, especially if the business utilises CAD models in their day “metrics on to day production pipeline. At AWE Europe it was evident that many companies in the the success manufacturing, construction, design and automotive industries have experimented with AR/ VR in the form of proof of concepts (POCs), to understand what the platforms are capable of, of each POC and to learn from the process of building one. and the lack of From startups specialising in the realities, to digital and innovation agencies branching out well thought into AR/VR, and the tech giants like Google and Facebook, the technology workforce is scaling through up in these capabilities. use cases Although more and more practitioners are joining the field, 2017 seemed to have lacked [contribute the wow factor in terms of groundbreaking projects. This year’s AWE Europe had many to absence companies exhibit, but the use cases have been much of a muchness, and the technological of mass scale “ improvements iterative. This is not to say that they were not impressive, but it seems that the depolyment of industry’s initial big-bang-first-impression-that-will-leave-you-speechless is fading to make AR/VR apps] way for solid performance enhancements such as higher resolution headsets and better AR on device tracking. Scale or no scale Despite the fact that many companies have tested the waters with POCs, and one-off event activations, no company at AWE Europe had deployed these concepts at scale. There may be many factors affecting this; the price of roll-out, market readiness, device limitations etc. The two main factors that were most evident at the event were the lack of empirical metrics on the success of each POC and the lack of well thought through use cases. www.somoglobal.com 4 Having AR ≠ A Good Product Admittedly AR has created a surge in interest in recent years; as with many other technologies, there is an initial hype stage. The lack of empirical metrics and well thought out use cases have been identified previously as reasons for the absence of large-scale deployment. Lack of empirical data to prove the usefulness of AR is a bit of a chicken and egg conundrum. Statistically significant data comes from mass scale deployment, of which, at the moment, there are few. On the other hand, the lack of large-scale deployment could be down to stakeholders not wanting to spend money scaling a project with no real metrics to justify investment. This means that in order to achieve either of these, an actual scalable use case must be determined. Such use cases will have to enable users to complete tasks that cannot otherwise be done without the use of AR. AR and VR are suffering the same growing pains as many of the other platforms used to in the past, plagued with many “gimmicky” use cases for everything under the sun, with ill thought through use cases. It seems that it is currently driven by technological capabilities rather than real user needs - a technology without a home; solutions without problems. As with websites and apps, this is one of the growing pains of a new medium, but coupled with the high cost of development it needs to find its place in the market before the hype burns out. The following are some of the use cases seen at AWE, their potential pitfalls, and recommendations for improvements. It seems the AR/VR industry is currently driven by “ “technological capabilities rather than real user needs - A technology without a home; solutions without problems. www.somoglobal.com 5 COMMON USE CASE ONE CAD Design Collaboration (Automotive) Allow designers to collaborate and share designs in real time with each other using VR and/or AR. These POCs utilise digital twins and VR spaces to allow designers from different offices to work on the same 3D project. Pitfalls Designers and engineers have years of experience and skill using CAD programs; they have historically always collaborated with each other by sending files to be seen on 2D screens. It can be argued that if an engineer/designer cannot visualise a 3D drawing/model, they do not have the skills to complete the design. Although CAD is used both by engineers and to design VR and AR environments, there is a plethora of different types of CAD; engineers mainly use solid modelling techniques, which provide them with a high degree of accuracy and the ability to assign material densities and simulate forces on parts. Conversely, VR CAD models are mostly mesh models which prioritise rendering speed and appearance, hence most of the models are hollow with photorealistic textures. Editing engineering CAD models in VR and retaining its solid properties is not possible at the time of writing, and part manipulation in VR using controllers lack the accuracy of entering numeric values on a keyboard. Recommendations (applicable to all designing for experts) Despite the fact that internal design VR may not be a good use case at the moment, there is value in using VR for design approvals from clients. For those without CAD training and experience, viewing models in VR/AR in the approval process aids understanding and visualisation, e.g. clients or non-designers who do not need to manipulate the model itself. This of course doesn’t just apply to automotive use cases, but to product design more generally as well. www.somoglobal.com 6 COMMON USE CASE TWO Warehouse Picking (AR Wayfinding for Experts) Warehouse staff can use AR and barcode recognition to scan packages, and see navigation directions overlaid on the ground to take them to where they need to go. Pitfalls Unlike a supermarket, bays and aisles of a warehouse rarely change. The AR element of the app may prove to be useful for the first few uses, but since the worker’s job is to transport items to the right locations every day, it will not take long before they understand the logic of the layout and are able to navigate through the warehouse. It is reasonable to assume that there is signposting in a warehouse to guide workers to the correct locations, as well as other members of staff who could easily point the newcomer to their destination. Furthermore, efficiency is of utmost importance to those in the industry. Using AR is a cumbersome experience on mobile, and leaves the user with only one hand to transport the goods. An AR headset may solve this problem, but would incur a high level of investment. With the recent trend of companies such as Amazon and UPS investing in automated distribution solutions, it may seem frivolous to spend budgets on an AR wayfinding solution for warehouse staff. This does not mean that there is not a good use case for AR wayfinding, but that it may not be the most suitable for warehouse staff. Recommendations The technology for AR wayfinding in indoor spaces has had recent improvements. AR is great for reducing the learning curve, allowing users who cannot read maps to navigate effectively. A good use case would be in a location where there are many first time visitors who are looking for a specific item. For example, AR could be embedded as a feature in an app or website (NB web VR is still experimental) of a museum, tourist attraction, theme park etc., provided that the users will not run into battery or connectivity issues.