Industrial Sector Moves Quickly to Adopt Vuforia Augmented Reality with Focus on Improving Workforce Productivity and Operational Efficiency
BOSTON — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 11, 2019 — From the sold-out LiveWorx® 19 digital transformation event, PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) announced new initiatives to fuel its AR business and strengthen the award-winning Vuforia® Augmented Reality (AR) platform. These initiatives include enhanced 3D AR model targets, leveraging Azure Spatial Anchor Services, a strategic collaboration with Matterport to further the PTC enterprise reach into factories and other spaces, and the acquisition of a world-class AR services agency, TWNKLS.
“AR redefines how the enterprise works. Across all industrial use cases including manufacturing, engineering, service and training, AR is improving productivity, reducing waste, and increasing worker safety and compliance. AR empowers organizations to digitally transform their products, processes, and people,” said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. “Our strategic alliances, acquisitions, and groundbreaking technology highlight PTC’s commitment to helping industrial companies succeed with their digital transformation initiatives.”
With the theme “The Augmented Workforce,” AR has been center stage at LiveWorx, the definitive digital transformation event taking place this week in Boston. Powerful keynotes and sessions featured customers, partners, developers, and industry analysts discussing real-world use cases and benefits derived from their adoption of the Vuforia platform and its solutions. LiveWorx attendees will explore how a new set of technological capabilities can integrate with human skills and expertise to complement, rather than replace, people’s unique qualities and strengths.
PTC continues to push the boundaries with new initiatives around its Vuforia AR business. With these announcements and commitment to the industry, the company continues to be a market leader and provide customers with compelling solutions for accelerating their digital transformation efforts.
Create Step-by-Step AR Instructions to Improve Worker Productivity
with Vuforia Expert Capture
Industrial customers can now use
PTC’s
Vuforia Expert Capture to quickly and easily create step-by-step
instructions when and where they do their work, leveraging Microsoft
HoloLens’ location-aware capabilities enabled by Azure Spatial Anchor
Services. Front-line workers can then be safely and effectively guided
through procedures by digital content presented at relevant locations in
the physical environment. This functionality can not only improve the
accuracy and speed at which workers successfully complete new or
unfamiliar tasks, but also reduce training costs and time to
productivity.
PTC Introduces Vuforia Engine 8.3, the Industry’s First Model-Based
AR Enhanced With AI
With the introduction of Vuforia Engine
8.3, PTC is enhancing 3D AR model targets with artificial intelligence
(AI). In addition to providing intuitive AR user interactions, Vuforia
Engine 8.3 offers more robust AR experiences by harnessing the power of
deep learning to provide advanced target recognition capabilities based
on the customer’s 3D CAD model. AI-powered, model-based recognition
enables a product or machine to be recognized from difficult angles,
even in poor lighting environments – enabling easier, faster, and more
accurate user experiences.
PTC Invests in Matterport to Visualize Factories
PTC has
invested in and partnered with
Matterport,
a company that offers immersive 3D technology and spatial capture
solutions. By partnering with Matterport, PTC is offering the first AR
solution with a focus on factories, plants, and other spaces – and the
people who operate them. PTC’s enhanced Vuforia offerings will provide
customers the ability to unify their factory data and allow them to
visualize and interact with a digital twin (a high-fidelity, up-to-date
digital equivalent or proxy of an object, space, or process). The
collaborative solution provides customers an easy way to scan their
facility and convert it into a usable 3D mesh using a Matterport
compatible camera.
PTC Acquires TWNKLS to Help Customers Deploy and Adopt Augmented
Reality
PTC recently acquired Netherlands-based
TWNKLS,
a specialized AR company that develops tailor-made AR applications and
experiences and provides AR services to solve the specific challenges
faced by enterprise companies. The acquisition of TWNKLS will accelerate
PTC’s AR strategy as well as enable customers to realize faster
time-to-value. With expertise in Vuforia, a world-class creative staff,
and experience implementing enterprise AR solutions, the
award-winning
TWNKLS will help strengthen and expand PTC’s industrial AR offerings
to more effectively meet the needs of its customer base.
Industry Recognition and Momentum Continues
PTC’s Vuforia
Experience Platform has been adopted by hundreds of companies worldwide,
including Aggreko, Fujitsu, Global Foundries, Howden, and Volvo;
Representative from each of these companies will be participating on an
AR Customer Panel at LiveWorx, attended by 200 industry analysts and
members of the media.
Additional Resources
- PTC’s Augmented Reality Solutions
- LiveWorx 2019
- Vuforia Expert Capture
- Harvard Business Review: “ Why Every Organization Needs an AR Strategy ,” authored by PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann and Harvard Professor Michael Porter
