NEWS

“Connecting Today's Industrial Metaverse”

Industrial XR / 3D Tech / Reality Capture / Digital Twin / AI / Spatial Computing / Connected Workforce

May 9, 2024: Issue 94

What’s Inside: 

• 📚 Industrial Reality Tech Leaders Share What Works
  
• 👭 How 3D Digital Twins Are Ushering in the New Era of Manufacturing
• 🔐 Can AI Unlock AR’s True Potential?
• 👨‍🏫 Making Ports Safer with Simulation Training
• 🏭 Manufacturing Best Practices for Data/AI: Next Steps in Digitalization Journeys

WHAT'S BIG

SLB: Benefits and Challenges in Adopting Reality Technologies

With the introduction of advanced technologies including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR), comes the need for more and better training of technicians and operators in order to reap these technologies’ most efficient and profitable practical application.

Speaking as a member of a panel discussing overcoming barriers for XR and immersive technology adoption at Industrial Immersive 2024 in Houston, Scott Burkey, XR technology fellow with WestRock, observed that the COVID-19 pandemic, while "a terrible thing for our planet," uniquely drove his company to champion utilization of extended reality technologies.

"Overnight, I went from being the guy reaching out trying to find factories to put technology into, to my phone lighting up every day," Burkey said.

Co-panelist Susan Spark, learning technology manager with SLB, noted her company’s careful approach to embracing these multi-reality technologies.

"One of the cautions that we have, particularly from the learning perspective, is that you have to do an analysis of what the performance issues are, whether it’s a headset or PowerPoint, or whatever that may be," Spark said. "You can’t overlook the actual need for this kind of training."

She described one of the company’s VR pilot training projects as a kind of a "Big Bang" pilot. The training, she said, involved several types of drilling rigs in several weather scenarios taught over two weeks in a role-playing course.

"How can you train someone to secure a drilling rig when a hurricane is coming? How do you train someone to do that?" Spark asked, suppressing a laugh. "You can’t really learn it in a [classroom]. The way you learn it is to be there and do it. And the closest we can come to that safe space is VR."

Co-panelist Jennifer Rogers, executive officer of the Learning Technology Standards Committee with the IEEE-Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, enthusiastically agreed with Spark’s concern about promoting a solution in search of a problem.

"It doesn’t matter whether it’s XR or AR or a digital twin," Rogers said. "What’s really important is that you have a problem you’re trying to solve and you’re very specific around what human behaviors you’re trying to change to bring about the value you’re trying to create."  h/t Nancy Ford @ BIC Alliance

Read more about what XR leaders from Subsea7, WestRock, IEEE and SLB shared on best practices for launching and scaling an Immersive Tech program.

WHAT'S UP

• Twin Tech Transformation: Operating a successful manufacturing business requires dealing with times of uncertainty. Although a 3D digital twin can’t eliminate that reality, it can give users more visibility, allowing them to try specific options before committing to them in real life.
• Blurring Boundaries: While AI is already used on the back end to build immersive AR experiences on mobile devices, its role is quickly evolving to help merge the physical and digital worlds when applied to AR glasses. Thanks to the evolution of both technologies, we’re on the precipice of a significant lifestyle change.
• Simulation Success: Discover how HR Wallingford helps improve vessel pilot skills and reduce training program delivery time for many ships and ports with simulation technology.

WHAT'S NEXT

• Over 130K global manufacturing experts attended this year’s Hannover Messe International trade show in Germany to discuss manufacturing best practices, data and AI, and next steps in their digitalization journeys. Read on for three key takeaways from hundreds of conversations, demos, meetings, and more.

• SynergyXR announced the launch of SynergyXR 2.8. This groundbreaking update introduces a revolutionary measurement tool, expanded large-scale AR spaces up to 500+ m2, and enhanced procedural training capabilities.
• Pix4D announced the launch of PIX4Dcatch 2.0. This new and improved version of Pix4D’s terrestrial scanning iOS mobile app adds professional-grade augmented reality (AR) and compatibility with a multitude of RTK devices.
• DroneDeploy has announced the integration of fixed cameras into its unified reality capture platform. The fixed camera capability fortifies DroneDeploy’s existing data captures from aerial drones, handheld 360 cameras, as well as ground-based robots, helping to advance the company’s vision of becoming a central hub for all reality capture data.

WHAT'S THE DEAL

• Effective May 15, 2024, Unity is introducing Matthew Bromberg as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, President, and member of the Unity Board of Directors as the firm moves towards deploying its engine as an enterprise-grade RT3D design and collaboration – namely for game development and creating XR applications.
• The Biden administration announced this week that it’s seeking proposals for projects that develop digital twins of semiconductors which will be part of a new institute under the Department of Commerce, with up to $285 million in funding through the CHIPS and Science Act, Biden’s multibillion-dollar legislative boost to the domestic semiconductor industry.

WHAT ELSE

Drones to the Rescue: Saving Alcatraz from the Sea

(Image Credit: XYHT)

The infamous island of Alcatraz is under attack by climate change, rising sea levels, and old age. Can scanning it from the sky and on the ground preserve it?

When the first functional photogrammetry uncrewed aviation vehicles (UAVs) became mainstream technology around 2013, geodesists and land surveyors around the world adopted these flying wonders as an innovative way to map certain areas of the globe without having to spend millions of dollars in expensive aircraft and full-format cartographic cameras.

Originally it was the small multi-copters with small-format cameras and limited flying time that caught the imagination of the geospatial professionals, but eventually a new generation of fixed-wing aircraft with heavier useful payloads and longer flying times turned uncrewed photogrammetry from a nice-to-have into a must-have piece of equipment.

A perfect example of why fixed-wing uncrewed aviation is here to stay is the recent mapping of Alcatraz. Pete Kelsey, owner of VCTO Labs was the leader of the endeavor, which involved not only aerial images to create a perfect, centimeter-accuracy map of the exterior, but also laser scanners and many other sensors mounted in various crafts to digitally recreate every nook and cranny inside of the macabre prison. Read more! --> (h/t XYHT)

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