Enterprise-class augmented reality solutions company Scope AR today announced the launch of upgrades to its WorkLink platform that offers real-time support for workers by enabling them to connect to remote experts for instruction.

Field technicians using the WorkLink platform wear AR glasses that can broadcast what the worker is seeing to an expert, who can then speak audibly and draw over the workers’ vision.

This is a fundamental capability of augmented reality, which can use smart glasses or the camera on a mobile device, to add “holographic” objects to the world. Using AR, it is possible to project objects, lines, arrows and other drawings onto the real world that can attach to real world things. That makes it possible for remote experts to provide visual instruction and knowledge without needing to go out to the field themselves.

The upgrades to WorkLink add the ability capture and retain knowledge through recorded sessions that can be played back in the future. This can be useful for types of work that are rote and repetitive, thus meaning the recorded experience of one worker can be useful to another in the same situation and perhaps with the same equipment.

Scope AR has also announced a new enterprise customer, medical device manufacturer Becton, Dickinson and Co., as well as an expansion of its AR platform with aerospace and defense outfit Lockheed Martin Corp.

“With the latest WorkLink platform, we’ve added even more ways for workers to collaborate and quickly get the knowledge they need to successfully do their jobs,” said Scott Montgomerie, chief executive of Scope AR. “With the addition of session recording, businesses can now better capture and retain knowledge for future use and training purposes, while taking compliance, quality assurance and accuracy to the next level.”  

The updated WorkLink platform brings a greater number of functions and is customizable to the needs of the business in question. It’s designed to be deployed across all major platforms, including the HoloLens and the RealWear’s HMT-1, as well as many mobile devices allowing enterprise interests to use whatever equipment is on hand.

The new Session Recording function can capture important information delivered during a live session between a technician and an expert. That allows it to be replayed later and shared so it can be examined for insights into training needs and the process can be improved.

The formerly standalone product Remote AR, now WorkLink Assist, continues to deliver the same remote expert assistance as described above. And WorkLink Create provides the tools to produce AR content seamlessly for step-by-step instructions.

Using the service, Lockheed Martin has been able to make increasingly good use of AR to help its workers get jobs done more efficiently. This has been especially helpful in the firm’s space aerospace engineering division.

“Creating AR work instructions with WorkLink has enabled our Space team to reach unprecedented levels of efficiency and accuracy, as well as reduced manufacturing training and activity ramp-up time by 85%,” said Shelley Peterson, lead of Lockheed Martin’s Emerging Technologies division. “Scope AR’s platform has proven to be so valuable that we have expanded our AR adoption into even more manufacturing applications within the Space division, as well as leveraging the technology in other areas of the business.”

The update to Scope’s flagship product follows Scope AR’s $9.7 million Series A funding round in March.

Image: Scope AR