Webex joins with Augmented Reality to help frontline workers
As businesses focus on technologies to enable effective remote-working, Augmented Reality (AR) continues to gain traction.
Unlike Virtual Reality, which creates an entirely virtual world, AR overlays digital content or virtual objects onto the user’s real-world view. This ability to share knowledge, information, schematics, or instructions remotely transforms how businesses can use technology to assist frontline workers such as technicians and off-site engineers.
The backdrop of COVID-19 is accelerating the adoption of AR to bridge personal gaps and to help teams to do their jobs productively, safely, and with access to the right information. Via smartphones, tablets, and head-mounted computers, AR allows off-site workers to share their real-world view and to access specific expertise to talk them through a solution, or to assist them with a task remotely. Or to access in-context training.
The scope of AR is enormous and varied. It includes spinal surgery assisted with AR to holographic AR in-car navigation. Meanwhile, retailers have used AR for years. IKEA has an app called IKEA Place, which allows users to see how IKEA products would look in their own homes, while make-up outlet Sephora’s Virtual Artist app to enable consumers to try on make-up via their smartphone.
For businesses operating with engineering teams or looking to share knowledge with technicians, trainees, or to connect an expert with a person looking at a specific problem, AR is a game-changer. For example, utilities, civil engineering, construction, or off-site manufacturing all have tasks where AR could be the perfect bridge to connect an expert and a user faced with a human-driven task to be completed in real-time.
That’s why we are excited about Cisco Webex Expert on Demand. This solution combines Webex collaboration with a head-mounted computer from RealWear so businesses can equip frontline workers with information, knowledge, and on-the-spot guidance, and ensure they have critical information as needed.
Want to talk about how AR can benefit your frontline team, business, and customers? Drop us a line
