Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is here to stay and disrupt the way enterprises build their businesses

Effective Use of AR and VR across various sector

Augmented and Virtual Reality will soon be indispensable in the business world. In the next couple of years, both the technologies will play an undeniable role in propelling the businesses to the growth. Impacting the range of businesses and industries, AR and VR will change the way businesses are done and will play a crucial role in increasing the productivity internally and reducing the overall costs.

Confined to the gaming industry once, Augmented and Virtual Reality technology is expanding every single day. Both these technologies sound the same but are different from each other. Hence, their applications also vary. Virtual reality detaches people from the physical world and puts them in a new digital environment.  A digital environment is created in a way that it feels actual reality. On the other hand, Augmented reality embraces the physical world and adds a digital layer on it. It magnifies the experiences. In other words, Virtual Reality takes you to the other world and Augmented Reality gives you the best of both the worlds.

AR and VR in Manufacturing

In an industry, where every second matter, manufacturing cannot entertain the tiniest mistake as it can cost millions of dollars. A lot of manufacturers are adopting AR and VR with open hands. The ability to stimulate everything on the factory floor instantly makes it invaluable for the manufacturing industry.

Augmented and Virtual Reality are re-shaping the manufacturing unit in the following manner:

·         Workforce performance: By improving workers’ sight line, they can accomplish the tasks more efficiently and quickly. A Harvard Business Review suggests, that with the assistance from AR and VR, workers’ performance can be improved by 34%.

·         Inspection and Maintenance: Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology can help in detecting errors and hence reducing the inspection and maintenance time.

·         Product Prototyping: Virtual Reality lets product designers visualize the final product and make modification before the product goes for the manufacturing process.

Airbus and Augmented Reality

One of the successful implementations of Augmented Reality in the manufacturing industry is by Testia, a subsidiary of Airbus. It developed the Smart Augmented Reality Tool (SART) for the aircraft structure manufacturer, Spirit AeroSystems. The SART system allowed the inspection team, to create the digital model of the actual component. This is done as part of the overall quality control structure. This helped the team in identifying the components that do not meet their specifications and standards.  This also helped in reducing the inspection of the A380 fuselage from three weeks to only three days.

AR and VR in Supply Chain

The process of getting the right order from the factory to the homes is a complex procedure. Supply chain industry strives to make it easy, fast, and error-free. AR and VR technologies are helping them achieve this objective in the following manner:

• Order Pick- up: The process of picking the order can be made easy, faster, and less prone to error with Augmented Reality.  DHL has employed the use of smart glasses for their employees. It helped them locate the items and where they need to be placed on a cart.

These smart glasses also keep the order list always on the view of the order picker. They also guide the employee regarding the best route.

• Predictive Modelling:  Numerous large retailers like Amazon have distribution centres and warehouse at different locations. Most of the time, it becomes difficult for the managers or supervisors to manage the different locations. During these situations, AR and VR play an important role in ensuring that the processes are running as per the plan. Supervisor/managers can avail the real-time scenario of the facilities.

• Efficient Delivery Process: the Delivery process is the most important part of the supply chain process. The delivery team tasked with the responsibility to deliver the products to the right location on time and without any damage. VR can greatly enhance the delivery process. VR can help the driver identify the easiest route, blocked routes by reflecting it on the windshield directly. They don’t have to glance at the handheld devices. At the delivery point, packages can be encoded with the scannable images that provide information regarding weight, contents, and handling instructions if any.

AR and VR in Healthcare:

Healthcare is the one industry that leads in the adoption of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. There are numerous ways by which AR and VR influences from training to surgery.

• Remote Surgery: Surgery is a highly specialized skill. The tragedy of losing a life can be avoided sometimes if there is an access to a superior surgeon. VR can give this access. Virtual reality gives the surgeons an ability to operate all over the world without being physically present at the place. A surgeon can transport themselves to another location thousands of miles away and use their skills to save lives.

• Hands-On-Training: AR and VR can stimulate a surgical environment where a physical model of the patient is wired to a computer simulation with a wide array of sensors. Various modern tools like endoscopic cameras are used to diagnose and treat the model patient. The results are the same as if the real patient is treated. This creates an effective dry run for the future surgeons.

Masses can avail medical learning through virtual reality live stream of a surgery where thousands of the medical practitioners can view it on their desktops, mobile phones, and VR gears. This gives them a feel of an actual surgery and helps them to learn from the best surgeons in the world.

Conclusion

Apart from the above-mentioned industries, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are influencing the permanent changes in numerous industries.  From design to delivery, from increasing efficiency to reducing the errors, AR and VR offers limitless possibilities. With the obvious advantages, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is to stay here and disrupt the way enterprises build their businesses.