HOW IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY WILL FINESSE THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.

This article was authored by Zainab Mosunmola an XRAtlas Contributor.

As an engineering student who is passionate about Immersive technology, it is not far off that I am an Iron Man fangirl. I am incredibly drawn to Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S (Just a Rather Very Intelligent System), his artificial intelligence system, virtual assistant, and engineer in the Iron Man series. It is very beautiful to watch the process of building the iron man suit and the role of JARVIS in all of it. From design, manufacturing, and optimisation down to maintenance. A thrilling example of how finely engineering, Immersive technology, and Artificial Intelligence blend.

One of the most iconic elements of the ‘Iron Man’ series is the impressive heads-up display of the Iron Man suit and the augmented reality of Tony Stark’s workshop. A mix of ‘Terminator vision’, military graphics and Tatiana Plakhova installation, Iron Man has a unique and rich visual UI that he’s able to understand, interact with and manipulate. Tony Stark’s workshop is a truly immersive experience that evolves digital interaction away from a series of screens into something engaging, involving and tactile.”

- Tom Moran, UX Lead at TH_NK.

Immersive technology, which comprises 360 contents, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality unified into Extended Reality (XR) could help me achieve these dreams. It creates distinct experiences by merging the physical world with the digital, it shapes the way we imagine and helps us bring our imagination to life.

Immersive Technologies help us explore imaginary worlds and convincingly share part of these worlds in real life. From putting on a Virtual Reality headset to be transported from the real world into a completely new one or utilizing Augmented Reality to bring virtual assets into the real world. Immersive technologies help us tell better stories and experience them. They are essential in giving our data and ideas life and presenting it in ways other people can understand and participate in. It is safe to say “If you can imagine it and create it, you can experience it!”. 

Uhmmm this is the part where I tell you about my plans to bring the Autobots (in the Transformers movie) from my imaginary world to the real world. That's what the Manufacturing industry is about, bringing our ideas and imaginations to real-world use. How can Immersive Technology help us shape this experience?

 “If showing is better than telling, then doing is better than showing”        

Manufacturers have started leveraging immersive technologies by identifying great potential in the XR domain and harnessing the use of supporting technologies that will help improve productivity on the assembly line, during training, ideation stages, design & visualization, maintenance and quality assurance.

“The advent of Extended Reality (XR) is revamping how people experience their physical and virtual environments, from observation to immersion. XR implementation provides enterprises with a platform that helps people perform their jobs effectively. The market study comprises the solutions, applications, and end-users. The assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic has also been covered in the study, along with geographical analysis.”

-- Market Survey by Mordor Intelligence

The technology will be instrumental in creating new customer experiences, speeding up product development, and improving workplace safety. There are many thrilling uses for these technologies that promise to drive growth from the current GDP contribution of $46.4 billion. According to PwC research, the use of AR and VR in service and product development could lead to a  $360 GDP boost by 2030.

Design, Ideation and collaboration

Adoption of Immersive Technology will help designers and engineers cut down the expenses and time spent during the ideation stage and also to elaborate and augment existing products and processes. It takes the automotive industry, for example, from prototyping with clay models to leveraging 3D models in VR to bring more accurate and realistic designs to life. Ford said the Raptor design required almost 2,000 pounds of clay and about 20,000 hours of work (more than 2 years). XR helps to produce exceptionally detailed representations of real-life products, visualize complex ideas, aids decision making, optimizes and modifies designs, plans best production processes and shortens the factory-to-market time. XR also helps to brainstorm better human-centric products in the aspect of ergonomics (Environment, Health, and Safety) and also compare the performances of different models.

 “Collaboration is the single most beneficial thing that the executive leaders at Ford saw in the potential and promise of AR and VR. Globally connected collaborative working is what sold the technology and has provided the biggest ROI in our company.”

-Elizabeth Baron, Team Lead Advanced Visualization and VR at Ford Motor Company

Another force driving XR in design is the use of intelligent digital twins in product development to brainstorm new ideas. Digital twins use VR to experiment with a wide range of different materials, modifications, and approaches, and collaborate with partners not in close proximity.

Knowledge Sharing and Training

Technical know-how and safety are paramount in manufacturing especially when working on complex processes and equipment. Extended reality helps people in the industry to understand the working principles of these machines and tools with minimal strain, downtime, and cost with optimal safety by creating real-life scenarios that could be risky in real life, adding immersion and interactivity. It helps prepare professionals with challenging jobs or frontliners with major roles (energy, space industries… etc.) by engrossing them in a life-like site simulation and preparing them for delicate situations without the associated risks. It enables trainees to learn complex systems easily, carry out tasks, analyse strategies, and gives a very illustrative lesson that makes it easy to apply them in real conditions.

“Potential boost to GDP by 2030: $294.2 billion. The use of VR and AR in training boosts engagement and knowledge retention and enables organizations to enforce consistent, measurable standards at scale. The technology also provides a way to train employees where it is not always practical - or safe - to do so in the real world. For example, to simulate emergency situations or asset maintenance in dangerous environments.”

-PwC seeing is believing report.

Maintenance and Quality Assurance

Extended Reality allows for experts to carry out an in-depth assessment of a machine or product for predictive or corrective maintenance without being physically on-site. Mixed Reality helps guide engineers through tasks and maintenance by providing contextualized details. With the advent of Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing provides technology-driven procedures that utilize automation, data exchange, and Internet-connected machinery to monitor the production process. Machine learning helps to predict probable malfunction and the condition of the machine or product. Internet of Things (IoT), 5G technology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) help engineers test various functions of a machine and rectify problems using the internet and applications. Digital twins are used to monitoring and optimize machines, products, and the entire production process by providing the state and performance of the system throughout its lifecycle. Ultimately, Extended Reality makes it possible to visualize, connect, and interact with the process.

Process Optimization

Production processes are a repetitive cycle that involves building various components swiftly and with precision. Augmented reality and Mixed Reality help factories increase productivity, access instruction manuals, and support on the frontline to ensure easy running of the assembly. It also cuts down production time, improves product efficiency, reduces documentation processes, the need for paperwork, and the use of long manuals.

“AR adds to the knowledge of the person working-whatever point they are working at on (the) assembly line. They have this added augmented data that they can use when they are doing their task. It’s really proving to be critical to get performance from these people.”

-Rich Rabbitz from Lockheed Martin.

Augmented Reality also helps book-keeping and stock-taking procedures as it can connect systems, show where products and machines are, and also give information about them. 

“Boeing streamlined this process with a set of world-leading smart glasses that offer voice commands and information that reduces the wiring production time in the company by 25%. What’s more, error rates dropped down to almost zero”

- XRToday

Conclusion

With the release of the Hololens 2 headset, Microsoft says XR has helped Manufacturers reduce training time by 75%, at an average savings of $30 per labour hour. They improved the efficiency of certain fieldwork tasks by 60% and reduced follow-up visits by 75%, saving $49 per hour. An aerospace manufacturer slashed task time by more than 90% with instructions, visualization, and real-time data from sensors and IoT devices.

These data and much more show how broad immersive technologies go beyond gaming and entertainment, and I am on my way to designing the process to bring my Autobots to life.