PTC, a Boston-based computer software and services company, announced that its Vuforia® augmented reality and mixed reality (AR/MR) solutions offer built-in support for Microsoft HoloLens 2 at the MWC in Barcelona. Vuforia solutions give industrial customers an efficient and effective way to create AR/MR interactions that capitalize on Microsoft HoloLens 2 new gestures, voice enhancements, and tracking capabilities without the need for extensive programming or costly custom designers.
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Confronting a shortage of skilled workers, high turnovers and fierce competition, various companies are turning to Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality to overcome these challenges. AR/MR can promote workforce efficiency by delivering information when and where workers need it most: in the real-world context of their daily work environment.
Vuforia’s immersive hands-free experience offered by HoloLens 2 can help workers to improve their manufacturing, service and training processes, says a press release.
“One of the key value drivers for AR/MR in the industrial space is improving worker efficiency with ‘hands-free’ procedural guidance and instruction,” said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. “Vuforia Studio’s efficient AR/MR authoring environment and HoloLens 2 usability and comfort enhancements are a winning combination for industrial manufacturers.”
At the MWC, Microsoft and PTC will present Howden, a Colfax company, as an example of how AR/MR can improve worker efficiency by using Vuforia Studio and HoloLens 2. Howden is a global engineering company with industrial products that help multiple sectors improve their everyday processes, from mine ventilation and waste water treatment to heating and cooling.
“Our equipment typically operates as process critical, and our customers are looking to us for solutions to empower them on how to best service their equipment,” said Maria Wilson, Ph.D., global leader data driven advantage, Howden Group. “Using mixed reality rendered on Microsoft HoloLens, the customer experience is truly immersive. It provides insights into the operating conditions and performance of the equipment that they’ve never had before.”
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Alex Kipman, technical fellow, AI and Mixed Reality at Microsoft, said the integration of Vuforia an Microsoft HoloLens 2 helps advance his company’s efforts to provide their customers in the manufacturing industry with life-changing experiences. “We look forward to our collaboration providing innovative out-of-the-box solutions that accelerate the adoption of mixed reality in the industrial space,” he said.
