A number of industries and companies are turning to augmented reality (AR) headset technology to improve workflows and provide workers with information while leaving the hands free. Colgate-Palmolive has decided to work with wearables company RealWear to introduce a voice-operated HMT-1 AR headset to its workforce.
Using the new technology, Colgate-Palmolive employees will be able to troubleshoot machinery while keeping hands free to work, using voice to talk to company experts, equipment suppliers and manufacturing teams.
RealWear have created the HMT-1 headset to be a hands-free, hard-wearing head-mounted device which is suitable for use in a variety of industrial locations and industries, including oil and gas, utilities, automotive and manufacturing.
“Colgate-Palmolive tested RealWear HMT-1 through successful pilots in 8 locations and is now standardizing globally on this wearable device for our manufacturing operations,” said Warren Pruitt, VP Global Engineering at Colgate-Palmolive. “Looking ahead, we see an opportunity to use this tool beyond the plant floor for improved performance and new efficiencies.”
“Colgate-Palmolive’s global deployment signifies that industrial wearable computing has crossed the chasm into mainstream manufacturing companies,” said Andy Lowery, RealWear CEO and cofounder. “This has been a textbook example of how to move with energy and purpose, from evaluation through pilot to global deployment.”
The company is also planning to use the devices to capture and retrieve information on documents and show informational or training videos. The RealWare platform can offer service relating to remote mentoring, document navigation, internt of things (IoT) visualisation and digital workflow solutions.
It is believed that the use of this technology will reduce downtime, increase productivity and improve worker safety. The RealWear HMT-1 devices will be rolled out to mechanics and engineers across 20 of Colgate-Palmolive’s largest manufacturing facilities in 11 countries.
For future coverage of AR headset use in industry and manufacturing keep checking back with VRFocus.
One of the global leaders in hands-free augmented reality (AR) wearable computers, RealWear, have announced a new product which they state is the world’s first commercially available intrinsically safe wearable computer. Dubbed the HMT-1Z1, this new wearable presents no ignition risk where potentially explosive atmospheres exist during routine operations.
This means that the HMT-1Z1 can be used to assist in the work environment even in areas where a possible explosive risk may be present due to the atmosphere. Intrinsic safety is a design and protection technique for safe operation of electrical and electronic equipment in hazardous locations by limiting the electrical or thermal energy so to not cause ignition of explosive gases, even under a fault condition in the device.
The HMT-1Z1 comes with a 2.0 GHz 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 with Adreno 506 GPU chipset, with 2GB RAM running Android 6.0.1 with WearHF hands-free interface. The wearable supported 16GB of internal storage along with a MicroSD slot. It offers 8-10 hours of battery life and offers 20-degree field-of-view, 1 meter fixed focus display with a resolution of 854×480.
“With the launch of the HMT-1Z1, now all workers, even those in potentially explosive areas requiring intrinsically safe equipment, can take full advantage of the freedom and efficiencies available through purpose-built wearable computing,” said Andy Lowery, Co-founder and CEO of RealWear.
With the new HMT-1Z1 wearable, RealWear have made it possible for workers in hazardous and high-risk areas to benefit from hands-free AR that can be a huge benefit to their work. Eastman Chemical, a global advanced materials and specialty additives company, are currently working with RealWear on a project that will utilize the HMT-1Z1.
“We have enjoyed on boarding and deploying RealWear HMT-1 units and are eagerly awaiting the HMT-1Z1 units,” said Jan Shumate, Director, Engineering Services & Solutions for World Wide Engineering and Construction, Eastman Chemical. “Those intrinsic safety-rated units will serve to bridge workflow into hazard-rated areas where we’ve historically had difficulty deploying new technology. We hope to see a step change in our ability to support manufacturing operations with the deployment of the HMT-1Z1.”
Designed for Zone 1 hazardous areas, which include petrochemical plants and also pharmaceutical, food (grain silos and sugar processing), and cosmetic manufacturing, all of which involve processing potentially explosive substances, the HMT-1Z1 will be a big benefit to workers. Some uses include remote mentoring via video collaboration, hands-free document navigation, guided workflow and IoT visualization from process control systems.
VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the HMT-1Z1 in the future so stay tuned for more.
RealWear has raised $17 million for its AR wearable device aimed at workers in construction and other heavy industries.
Vancouver-based RealWear is already shipping its hands-free HMT-1, which is mounted via a band that goes around your head or safety helmet. It’s a wearable device, but RealWear CEO Andy Lowery calls it a “head-mounted tablet,” since it lets you view the equivalent of a seven-inch Android tablet while you’re working.
The funding will help the company ship more of the devices to customers around the world whose workers toil in extreme environments. Columbia Ventures led the round, with participation from Realmax.
“We have targeted this for industrial use,” said Lowery, in an interview with VentureBeat. “We have architected a wearable computer that fits into different protective equipment, like snapping into a hard helmet. It’s similar to [the now-discontinued Google] Glass, but designed for outdoor usage.”
You can arrange the HMT-1 so that you can view it with your dominant eye. You adjust the viewing pod so that it is just below your line of sight, which allows you to see everything in front of you with both eyes. In contrast to glasses, you only look at the display with one eye, and you can control the device with voice commands.
Above: RealWear’s AR wearable device. Helmet not included; Image Credit: Realwear
The company is targeting workers in oil and gas, energy, telecommunications, utilities, manufacturing, and transportation. Workers in these sectors are often at construction sites or refineries where traditional computing devices or even smartphones are not usable. The wearable serves as a “third hand” for someone who has to go through a complicated repair process, Lowery said.
The HMT-1 offers remote mentor video calling, document navigation, guided workflow, mobile forms, and industrial internet of things data visualization, and it currently operates in 10 languages. It allows workers to operate other tools needed for the job, even if climbing a scaffold or tower, in noisy, dusty, or even dangerous environments. Allowing the worker to maintain full situational awareness, HMT-1 is faster, safer, and smarter than either a tablet or smart glasses, Lowery said.
“You can use voice commands to dial your mentor and show them what you are looking at,” he explained.
Lowery was the former president of Daqri, another maker of AR glasses, where he worked from 2014 to 2016. But he left that company and started RealWear in August 2016.
“After seeing the HMT-1 device at work in industrial facilities, it was clear that it is the only device which delivers on the AR and wearable promise for industry today,” said Columbia Ventures CEO Ken Peterson, in a statement. “RealWear’s vision is compelling to us, with the potential to transform how work gets done in industry, empowering industrial knowledge workers with real-time information, without encumbering their hands. RealWear has proven that it has the experience and ambition to make AR and wearable solutions function in actual industrial use cases, and an unlimited number of other uses to explore.”
RealWear began shipping a beta version of the device in early 2017, just eight months after its founding, and then it moved to mass production six months after that. So far, it has shipped thousands of units to more than 200 customers, and it is now making about 1,000 devices a week.
The device can be clipped to any kind of headgear or wrapped around your head. It has a 12-hour battery, with stronger processing power and memory than many other devices that you would wear as glasses or head-mounted displays.
Besides Lowery, who worked for many years at Raytheon, the company’s leaders include Sanjay Jhawar, chief product officer; Chris Parkinson, chief technology officer; Brian Hamilton, chief revenue officer; and Stephen Pombo, vice president of industrial design and human factors.
Above: RealWear is like having a 7-inch Android tablet in front of your eye. Image Credit: Realwear
The company has raised $17 million to date and will likely add $3 million more in the next few months. It has 70 employees.
While the product may remind some of the much-maligned Google Glass, it isn’t supposed to look beautiful. If you want that, you’ll probably favor AR glasses, such the kind Lowery’s former company, Daqri, is building. But RealWear is focused on safety, which is why it designed the device as a head-mounted wearable.
“It doesn’t need to look pretty because it goes on an ugly helmet,” Lowery said.
One of the main areas augmented reality (AR) is gaining popularity in is hands-free enterprise solutions. One company looking to lead this boom is RealWear with its HMT-1 headset. Today, RealWear announced that it has raised $17 million in its Series A funding round to help with this goal.
The funding round was led by Columbia Ventures Corporation with the investment being used to accelerate production of the HMT-1 device. The HMT-1 is RealWear’s flagship product, a fully voice-controlled ultra-rugged wearable device using AR for noisy industrial environments including oil and gas, telecommunications, utilities and manufacturing.
“After seeing the HMT-1 device at work in industrial facilities, it was clear that it is the only device which delivers on the AR and wearable promise for industry today,” said Ken Peterson, CEO, Columbia Ventures in a statement. “RealWear’s vision is compelling to us, with the potential to transform how work gets done in industry, empowering industrial knowledge workers with real-time information, without encumbering their hands. RealWear has proven that it has the experience and ambition to make AR and wearable solutions function in actual industrial use cases, and an unlimited number of other uses to explore.”
“We are thrilled to see the investment community support our vision for the future of industry,” said Andy Lowery, Co-founder and CEO, RealWear. “RealWear is committed to delivering innovative solutions that connect the frontline worker to the enterprise to perform at his or her best.”
Founded in 2016, RealWear took its prototype to beta product release in just 8 months and has now reportedly shipped thousands of units to more than 200 global customers. The HMT-1 offers remote mentor video calling, document navigation, guided workflow, mobile forms and industrial IoT data visualization. Featuring a voice-controlled user interface, provided in 10 languages, the device allows workers to operate the tools and equipment needed for the job, even if climbing a scaffold or tower, in extremely noisy, dusty or even dangerous environments. For further RealWear updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Now, yet another startup in the AR space has secured the necessary funding they need to continue operation and their ventures into new AR technologies and products. RealWare recently moved from their headquarters from Silicon Valley to a site in Vancouver, and has since raised $17 million CAD.
Oregon Live reports that the company hopes to expand to up to 100 employees by the end of the year, and despite the large amount of money invested thus far, RealWare are still looking for another $3 million to add to the pot.
RealWear create wearable specialised clothing for industry purposes. Waterproof, dust tight, drop proof and rugged pieces of equipment that incorporate AR technology, such as building site helmets with AR visors that allow users to view information and instructions while on the job, such as product maintenance, assembly and inspection.
The RealWear website says it’s technology has the “power of a tablet in a wearable form factor” and it’s the kind of technology that can really help busy employees working on the ground. The technology’s software uses Android OS, making it simple to download and APK file and installing it on an Android device.
When RealWear announced their Vancouver site, they said they would hire at least 20 people for the site, which is based near Fort Vancouver.
The eagerness for investors to spend money on RealWear makes sense, they offer a unique product that’s sure to only become more mainstream in industry use cases as time goes on. We’ve already seen how VR can revolutionise and change the construction industry, with designers and architects evangelising the new technologies and their potential uses. As we get more news on the latest industry uses for VR and AR technology, you’ll read about it on VRFocus.
