Different Industrial Applications For Augmented Reality

If you have heard the terms mixed reality, virtual reality, or even augmented reality, you should know that each one of these is slightly different. The terminology references differences in perception in regard to digital and physical space.

VR or virtual reality immerses the person in a completely digital world. Once you have placed the goggles on, the world around you is going to completely vanish.

There are prototypes for these goggles, and virtual worlds, which are fun but they can also be very dangerous when using the goggles in a real-world situation.

AR or augmented reality is slightly different, superimposing images on the real world that you can see in front of you.

Additionally, although you can see these digital things around you, you still have the real world in plain view.

Mixed reality is a combination of both VR and AR, allowing you to mix both elements. All of these are in very early stages of development yet mixed reality is the one that is not yet as widely available. Aircada.com works to increase operational efficiency with the latest technology.

Six Augmented Reality Industrial Applications

1. Product Design and Development

There are many prototypes and concepts related to augmentation. The engineers that are responsible for creating these digital overlays need to do this so that you can also see the real world.

The augmented reality effect is incorporated throughout the entire design phase, and along the way, improvements and changes can be made at a minimal cost.

2. Maintenance and Repair

The realm of MRO is one of the more interesting aspects of this technology. For example, with AR systems, expert knowledge is needed by the technician to perform maintenance, but they don’t have to be physically there.

Instructions are provided to anyone with an AR headset, and they can easily go through the process of walking around and finding certain objects.

Augmented reality will always include the equipment that you will need to use, plus it will document operation times, potential points of failure, and the date when the equipment was last serviced.

All of this information can lead to predictive maintenance and preventative measures. The operators will be able to, over the course of time, fix things much more quickly and eliminate excessive downtime.

3. Training Programs

AR does represent real-time capabilities, yet augmented does not have to be only in situations where there are live interactions.

There can be recordings, often provided training module that can help each user complete each task. By completing each task, they can learn and comprehend what is being presented, sometimes even with a text format.

Augmented reality is a hands-on experience, one that can be scaled to higher levels of complexity. If you just need to record something for people to learn, this can be repeated with many individuals.

4. Assembly

Next, you are going to need sensors on the AR equipment that can provide data analyses, helping employees develop additional insight as to how to complete complicated tasks or even work faster.

This pertains primarily to assembly. Overlay blueprints, and assembly instructions, can be provided such as showing them how to use cables, parks, and bolts, that will be in direct line of sight.

Every job that they do while they are working can be done more efficiently and errors can be minimized through this type of training.

5. Quality Control

The visual inspections of all of these products will allow them to maintain their integrity, and it can be, eventually, automated.

Human interaction, at this point, is still needed which means any improvements that must be done must be handled by human beings.

This is where quality-control technicians come in, allowing them to assess and identify what could be defective components that need to be repaired or replaced after their visual inspection.

6. Order Picking

Finally, augmented can help you see the inventory in your warehouse.

All of the workers that have access to this technology can navigate to specific areas to find and receive products. They can then assess inventory levels, as well as the estimated time when orders will be picked up.

By providing this information, the efficiency levels of your workers can be improved upon, primarily because they are not required to remember as much information or referred to a database on a computer that may not be updated.