Bern, Switzerland and Goppingen, Germany - 25th January 2024; The popular global leader in remote IT support TeamViewer has signalled its shift to augmented reality (AR) having struck a strategic partnership with AR startup Almer. This news comes hot on the heels of Apple’s entry into the AR market with the launch of their Vision Pro headset next month.

 

The Almer Arc headset enables collaboration with remote individuals as if they were physically present and augmentation of the wearer's environment with relevant information for pointing out objects in reality. Almer is also announcing the launch of Arc 2, it’s latest headset which features a 25MP camera, beamforming microphones, built-in speakers, and a holographic see-through screen with 8-hours battery life. As opposed to Apple’s Vision Pro, the Almer Arc 2 is a mere 138 grams, 4 times lighter. Thanks to the completely transparent display of the Arc 2, it can be employed in mission critical task and changing environment, while the Vision Pro is for a static interior environment. 

 

This partnership will enable TeamViewer to expand into untapped opportunities with industrial companies. Meanwhile, Almer will be able to scale its operations and advance AR adoption. 

 

Percy Stocker, Senior VP Product Management AR at TeamViewer commented: “Partnering with Almer was a no-brainer for us, their product and technology stack is head and shoulders ahead of the industry. We see wide scale adoption for the product and immediately in industry. Modern production machines are becoming increasingly complex and expensive, while skilled technicians remain in short supply. Unplanned downtime can be extremely costly, for example in the automotive industry where it can reach up to $22,000 per minute and the experts needed to fix these machines are often not on-site. Remote support via smartphones or tablets has limitations with workers' hands occupied, information is not in their direct line of sight, and the camera doesn't follow the worker's view. As such the move to AR presents TeamViewer an opportunity to support this underserved market.”. 

 

Almer was founded in 2021 by Sebastian Beetschen and Timon Binder. Sebastian was working on the Hololens 2 at Microsoft Research and felt the AR opportunity extended beyond clunky helmet-like apparatus. He felt he could make a more compact, comfortable, and affordable AR device and teamed up with Timon, a former jet fighter pilot, who recognized the potential. Timon brought his experience with AR jet fighter helmets that led to the creation of the Almer Arc headset. 

 

Sebastian Beetschen, CEO and co-founder of Almer commented: “Our headset is much like a jet fighter visor, mounted directly in front of your eyes, featuring a transparent, see-through screen. The Almer Arc is a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-use AR headset. When a problem arises, the frontline worker takes the Almer Arc and contacts a remote expert, who can see and hear what the worker experiences. The expert identifies the issue, highlights objects, and displays documentation in the worker's view, simulating a collaborative, in-person experience.”

 

Today, Almer has 21 customers, including Switzerland's largest defense contractor, which uses the Almer Arc to service fighter jets remotely in the US, as well as several international machine manufacturers. Almer is venture backed startup having raised $7.6m to date from strategic investors including engineering giant Stena and manufacturing leaders Helbling among others. The Almer team consists of top talent from the fields of computer vision and microtechnology, from renowned Swiss institutes of technology, ETH and EPFL. 

 

On the launch of Arc 2, Sebastian Beetschen commented: “We have learned a lot on how to make the headset super adaptable and users can set their preferences on how they wear it. Something new entrants like Apple still have to learn. Not only this, Arc 2 comes with an improved wide angle 25MP camera that can see and understand everything that you see and zoom into tiny details as never before. This makes it possible to understand the environment and assist, enabling superhuman capabilities”. 

 

The global augmented reality market* is projected to grow from $62.75 billion in 2023 to $1,1 trillion 2030, at a CAGR of 50.7%. Within this trend, the market for AR headsets is exponentially increasing over the next few years and is set to hit $120 billion in 2026. Initially, Almer is focusing on the Swiss industry and will soon expand into the neighboring DACH region before going global. 

 

Sebastian Beetschen added: “The cost saving potential of using AR to service all installed machines for the 10 largest tooling-machine manufacturers in DACH alone accounts for £7.9 billion per year**. So, the opportunity is very real”. 2

 

Ends 

 

* Fortune Business Insights, Technology / Augmented Reality (AR) Market and Grand View Research, Augmented Reality Headsets Market, Industry Report

 

** According to Acceliox, a machine hour in the sheet metal industry costs approx. 150 CHF/h and has downtimes (machine malfunction, adjustment, waiting for pre-material,...) of about 100 hours per month. This results in approx. 15'000 CHF downtime costs / month (180’000 CHF / year). According to Acceliox, approx. 5% of the planned and unplanned downtime can be eliminated with the Almer remote support, resulting in cost savings of approx. 9’000 CHF / machine and year. 

 

From UGG (United Grinding Group) we know that they produce approx. new 2’000 machines per year. Assuming conservatively a lifetime of 30 years, results in a pool of approx. 60'000 UGG machines in use. Calculating with 9’000 CHF / machine & year, results in a cost saving potential of 540 million CHF per year by Almer remote support alone with machines from United Grinding Group. 

 

The 10 largest tooling-machine manufacturers in DACH are with their respective turnover **: 

DMG Mori AG 1.16 Mia €, Grob-Werke: 1.16 Mia €, GF Machining Solutions: 677 Mio €, UGG 400 mio €, Gebrüder Heller Maschinenfabrik: 382 Mio €, Emag Gruppe: 360 mio €, Index-Werke: 351 Mio €, Hermle 296 mio €, Chiron 293 mio € und Starreg: 277 mio €. Extrapolated from their revenue, the cost saving potential of all their installed machines together accounts for 7.2 billion CHF per year by remote support, for the 10 largest tooling-machine manufacturers in DACH.

 

Notes to the editor

Media images can be found here. For further information please contact the Almer press office: Bilal Mahmood on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +44 (0) 771 400 7257

 

About Almer 

Almer Technologies is a Swiss startup that develops, reality augmenting (augmented reality) glasses that can display information to the user in reality. Thanks to this digitalization, industrial companies, laboratories, and logistics centers can make better use of technology and thus massively increase their efficiency.

 

About TeamViewer 

TeamViewer is a leading global technology company that provides a connectivity platform to remotely access, control, manage, monitor, and repair devices of any kind – from laptops and mobile phones to industrial machines and robots. Although TeamViewer is free of charge for private use, it has more than 630,000 subscribers and enables companies of all sizes and from all industries to digitize their business-critical processes through seamless connectivity. Against the backdrop of global megatrends like device proliferation, automation and new work, TeamViewer proactively shapes digital transformation and continuously innovates in the fields of Augmented Reality, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. 

 

Since the company's foundation in 2005, TeamViewer's software has been installed on more than 2.5 billion devices around the world. The company is headquartered in Goppingen, Germany, and employs more than 1,400 people globally. In 2022, TeamViewer achieved a revenue of around EUR 566 million. TeamViewer SE (TMV) is listed at Frankfurt Stock Exchange and belongs to the MDAX. Further information can be found at www.teamviewer.com.

 

All best, Bilal.

 

Bilal Mahmood

Stockwood Strategy

Mob: +44 (0) 771 400 7257

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