Will the Apple Vision Pro Finally Solve The Labor Shortage In Manufacturing? I Doubt It. Here's Why.

Earlier this month, Apple announced Vision Pro, which is the company’s mixed reality headset scheduled to hit the streets next year. I’m intrigued by this new technology because, personally, I’ve never been able to wear a virtual reality headset for long before feeling like I’m about to vomit! Maybe… hopefully… Apple Vision Pro will offer augmented reality with a solution to that problem, whether it be higher quality specifications, a better refresh rate or improved graphics.

When you get into the details, Apple Vision Pro looks impressive. The company is marketing the technology as a wearable spatial computer, not as purely a virtual or augmented reality tool. It’s much more than the typical VR headset; it offers a personal virtual desktop and completely immersive experience while allowing you to toggle back and forth easily between the virtual and real world. 

A Harvard Business Review article pointed out that the potential true value of Apple Vision Pro lies in its ability to help people make better decisions by finding the right information and providing the cognitive space to distill its application and usefulness. While actual use case development is still in infancy, it’s easy to wonder if this type of technology can accelerate training of manufacturing and maintenance technicians and help address our industry’s current labor difficulties.

But my take… I doubt it’s going to solve any of the labor shortages in manufacturing. It will certainly intrigue people, both inside and outside the industry, but I think this interest is born out of novelty and excitement. Unfortunately, excitement passes away quickly, and the labor problem we have right now is much deeper and more complicated.

VR solutions have found limited successful applications so far

The term virtual reality goes all the way back to the 1980s, but in the last 40 plus years, we’ve really seen limited successful applications.

Perhaps the best commercial application has been flight simulators for pilots. Virtual reality technology can be used to safely train pilots to learn how to respond in potentially dangerous real-life situations. The technology works well in this application because the skill set to be acquired is relatively limited and restricted.

Google Glass, announced in 2013, struggled with both its consumer and commercial attempts. In hindsight, many believe that the technology was too expensive, released to the public too early in its development, and missing the coolness factor within the consumer market.

A couple of years later Google Glass announced an enterprise version. According to Tech Briefs, the technology was “well suited for visualization, diagnostics, and service purposes, as well as for technical interventions and person-to-person communication.” Yet, in the long run, the investment did not deliver promised returns, and even this version was discontinued earlier this year. 

Facebook, now known as Meta, didn’t even try to reach the general consumer market or industrial users with its Oculus offering; instead, it focused solely on the gaming and entertainment industries. 

The problem with VR/AR training in manufacturing and maintenance

Although using these types of technologies seems to make sense in manufacturing, maintenance, and industrial training applications at first glance, I struggle to find the fit in the long term

First, I think it’s a whole lot ironic and a tad bit ridiculous to tell a group of professionals that they can use this technology to complete all this training virtually, and then expect them to come into an office or factory setting to apply their training in a physical setting.

Second, the manufacturing and maintenance environment requires technicians to rely on all of their human senses to paint an accurate picture of what’s going on with a particular asset or in a specific situation. Those details are difficult, if not impossible, to replicate virtually.

And, finally, I don’t think the root cause of our current labor shortage has anything to do with a lack of technological solutions. We simply cannot attract enough of the best and brightest into working in our factories and into our real-world environments. In fact, Deloitte has conducted a comprehensive study of the public’s perception of manufacturing, finding that less than half of all surveyed believe manufacturing jobs are safe, interesting, and rewarding and only 30 percent of parents are willing to encourage their children to enter the field. The younger generation relies on technology to work remotely–when and where they want to–not to learn and master skills to be applied in a physical workplace.

Conclusion

Over the years, I have yet to see an effective and efficient use of virtual or augmented reality technology when it comes to training in a manufacturing environment. Many related technologies have come and gone; they generate excitement and conversation, and employees love to play around with them. However, I’ve never seen it used for daily training in an industrial setting.

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a tech enthusiast at heart. I believe in technology; I believe many of these developments will truly change the world in the long run. But in the case of Apple Vision Pro, you can call me a skeptic. I just don’t think this latest, greatest solution will help alleviate the labor shortage. Best case, it may help provide some limited training for existing employees, but the problem we have right now is getting people into the workforce at all and finding a long term solution to that.

I’m not 100 percent sure what that looks like, and I applaud the innovation and the push for technology. But we’re still a long way away from solving the hiring and skills training gap that exists today.