{"id":115612,"date":"2018-10-09T05:35:56","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T12:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=115612"},"modified":"2024-05-10T05:58:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:58:25","slug":"tech-giants-anticipate-augmented-reality-future","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/tech-giants-anticipate-augmented-reality-future","title":{"rendered":"Tech Giants Anticipate Augmented Reality Future"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[331,369862,801],"tags":[114602,114612,21622,114622],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-115612","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d","category-augmented-reality--vr--mr","category-operational-intelligence","tag-ar","tag-augmented-reality","tag-digital-twin","tag-hololens","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"A recent Apple acquisition signals more business investment in augmented reality. Which businesses are already benefiting from AR?","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Apple\u2019s acquisition of Akonia Holographics, maker of lenses for augmented reality (AR) glasses<\/a>, could signal the next wave in mobile computing for businesses and consumers\u2014devices that are more wearable and less intrusive.\r\n\r\nAR glasses superimpose location-specific information and graphics onto a user\u2019s field of vision through transparent lenses. In 2012, Google launched the first notable iteration of AR glasses, then called Google Glass. In 2015, parent company, Alphabet ended production of Glass temporarily<\/a>. Since then, makers of smartphones and mobile devices have been working to incorporate AR applications into their products.\r\n\r\nWearing the Future<\/strong>\r\n\r\nApple\u2019s CEO Tim Cook has called augmented reality a \u201cbig and profound\u201d technology development. Among tech giants, he\u2019s not alone in this assessment. Microsoft\u2019s HoloLens stands out as one of the more mature AR headset technologies. Other headset makers have focused on virtual reality goggles, which encapsulate the user in a digitally generated world."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":20001,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/digital-transformation?adumkts=branding&aduc=advertising&adum=house_ad&utm_Source=advertising&aduca=branding&aduco=dt_learn_more&adut=wherenext-Apple-AR&adupt=awareness"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"While AR has been available on smartphones and handheld devices (think Pok\u00e9mon Go) for some time, the growth of wearable devices may hold significant promise for businesses. Consider that Alphabet\u2019s Glass headset, while a dud in the consumer world, showed strong enough adoption by business users that Alphabet relaunched the effort in 2017<\/a>. Google Glass is now being used by employees at the edge of organizations<\/a>\u2014GE field workers and doctors at Dignity Health among them.\r\n\r\nDoctors could be among those who benefit from Apple\u2019s Akonia acquisition. Apple runs its own health division, which partners with software providers to deliver medical applications on iPads and related devices. Through the Akonia acquisition, that and other Apple divisions could add cutting-edge AR technology to their portfolios.\r\n\r\nLocating the Field of Vision <\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor any company looking to incorporate augmented reality into employee workflows, experts see location as critically important. One Toms River, New Jersey, utility offers a case in point with its service-focused application of AR<\/a>, which saves time and resources while increasing accuracy.\r\n\r\nField workers at Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority use augmented reality and HoloLens to see underground utility lines beneath their feet as AR-generated holograms projected at their exact locations. The system relies on a geographic information system<\/a> (GIS) that tracks the location of every pipeline, valve, connection, and intersection, to an accuracy of just centimeters.\r\n\r\nWith the location intelligence powered by that data, work crews minimize the risk of digging through critical infrastructure, Len Bundra, the organization\u2019s IT director, told WhereNext<\/em> last year. \u201cYou want to make sure your GIS is in shape and accurate,\u201d Bundra explained. \u201cIf your maps are inaccurate, don't think the [AR] hologram is going to make them accurate.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":115622,"text":"As innovative organizations know well, location is critical in AR apps. Placing digital objects in physical space requires a deep understanding of where assets are located.","author_name":"","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"AR in Practice across Industries <\/strong>\r\n\r\nMany organizations, including the planning agency for the US capital<\/a>, start forays into augmented reality by creating a 3D digital twin<\/a>\u2014a precise model of reality made with GIS. The digital twin includes detailed attributes about assets. This information makes it easier to create AR experiences that guide real-world interactions.\r\n\r\nExamples of industries embracing 3D GIS with an eye toward AR:\r\n