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Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#51

Post by isk517 »

softfalcon wrote: post #33
isk517 wrote: post #30

Yes, the company I work for has started using Hololens 2. We have a program that can overlay the 3D models from our CAD program onto the physical steel assemblies for QC. When it works, it works well and enables our quality checkers to perform checks faster and more accurately than using tape measures while going back and forth looking at a 2D drawing printed on 11 x 17 paper. The biggest hurdles is that none of the…

Very interesting, and I agree with your assessment of the difficulties using the aging HoloLens. I am curious, what size of clients are you working with and how many contracts has it realistically turned into? I also believe proper AR hardware/software can revolutionize the QA and inspections industry. What I am noticing is a chicken/egg problem where companies want proof it works, while also reluctant to put their m…

We work with all of the large general contractors in the steel construction industry. Right now, it's turned into one contract, but we are the second company the client has employed since the first company they hired failed to produce a single assembly that met their requirements. The client was the one that originally was using this tech since they wanted a way to do their own QC after the first experience, and we decided it was worth while pursuing ourselves since successfully pulling this project off while be a HUGE boost to our reputation. The construction industry is all about your portfolio of past projects.

QA is the big sales point of the software we are using, but there are many other potential applications for the same product. It should be possible to overlay the model on the main assembly prefab then use that to quickly mark where holes should be drilled and additional pieces attached. The other potential application that is being explored is using the holographic overlays to construct things out of the usual order, instead of building part 1 then starting part 2 since it needs to be built to conform to the first part you can instead build around the hologram so that your not relying on the previously built parts to ensure your angles are correct.

I agree about the chicken/egg problem. Its an emerging technology where the payoff might be a decade away, customers need software that will actually benefit them, developers need reliable hardware capable of running software that has practical uses, and hardware companies want to know there is a customer base. The issue is AR falls under the category of product that the customer does not know they actually want, so the only way it is going to be developed is if one of the hardware manufactures takes a leap of faith and makes the long term investment. Sadly, I feel like AR is a million dollar idea with practical uses that has to contend with a business climate where you can make billions making some doodad that collects private data then displays ads to the masses.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#52

Post by hamburglar »

gavinray wrote: post #40
mentos wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bet is that having a physical monitor will always be the luxury option and that XR will never be able to get away from the annoyance of having something on your face. Curious if you agree or if maybe you prefer Vitures over a physical monitor?

I think that _eventually_ VR/AR will be a superior screen-viewing experience, but from what I've tried it's not there yet. It's good enough for watching videos, but for working and reading text, I personally haven't used a device with high enough text quality to prevent eye strain. I'm very bullish on AR though, and I'm willing to bet that consumer grade devices which are genuinely comfortable to work in will become…

I find the quest 3 with virtual monitors actually pretty good from a text-reading perspective and I can use it for a long time, but that’s using a lower resolution than my native monitors. One thing I think is interesting about it is I don’t need my reading glasses, whereas I very much do when looking at a real monitor. I find the virtual display setup somewhat intolerable for other reasons, though, like the inflexibility about how the displays are arranged, and there’s the physical bit about having a bulky HMD on.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#53

Post by isk517 »

NewUser76312 wrote: post #45
isk517 wrote: post #30

Yes, the company I work for has started using Hololens 2. We have a program that can overlay the 3D models from our CAD program onto the physical steel assemblies for QC. When it works, it works well and enables our quality checkers to perform checks faster and more accurately than using tape measures while going back and forth looking at a 2D drawing printed on 11 x 17 paper. The biggest hurdles is that none of the…

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. Quick question about your use case - is the 3D overlay really that important, or would you get most of the value simply seeing the blueprints in your heads-up display, maybe doing a quick finger swipe or voice command to switch between pages/images?

Yes, the 3D overlay is the entire point. A heads up display is just looking at the blueprint on a piece of paper with an additional layer of complexity, it wouldn't remove the need to manually measure, nor would it provide any assistance in spotting missing attached pieces (or some extra pieces). Once the model is overlayed QC goes from having to measure the placement of every pieces and the location of every hole to just walking around the finished assembly and ensuring that every conforms to the civil engineer approved model. A half hour process can be done faster and more precisely in 5 minutes, you notices very quickly when there is solid steel where the hologram has a hole, or thin air where the hologram shows that a plate was suppose to be welded on.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#54

Post by ugolino91 »

NewUser76312 wrote: post #47
ugolino91 wrote: post #20

I’m one of the founders @ resolvebim.com YCW15. We built a VR and (some) AR platform to help engineering and construction companies use HMDs in their everyday workflows to enhance their 3D BIM review workflows. We post case studies regularly on our blog, so you can read about real world deployments there: blog.resolvebim.com From my experience the hardware is still a hurdle simply because it doesn’t completely replac…

Thanks for your response, that's certainly an exciting use case, and what I'd hope AR headsets could help with in the future. From your company's landing page, I saw the video and it looks like you're working with in-office project managers and similar white-collar types. Do you work with any products in the field, like on the job sites? Is that something that would be interesting or valuable? Some examples: letting…

Some of our clients do take the quest into the field, but we advise them about the safety hazards. There are use cases where you can use the HMD while standing still and not moving to eliminate the risk of trip hazards. You can see one of our clients doing it here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tony-duan-6085021a4_bim-resol...

You can see in that video that you can markup the site virtually and yes you can record video, leave issue markers, pull up 2D plans from other tools we integrate with like Procore, ACC, etc. However, it still is primarily a stationary tool on site because of the field of view limitations.

There are some rumors about next gen MR headsets allowing for a "full field of view" by basically removing the head gasket altogether. We'll see.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#55

Post by isk517 »

isk517 wrote: post #51
softfalcon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very interesting, and I agree with your assessment of the difficulties using the aging HoloLens. I am curious, what size of clients are you working with and how many contracts has it realistically turned into? I also believe proper AR hardware/software can revolutionize the QA and inspections industry. What I am noticing is a chicken/egg problem where companies want proof it works, while also reluctant to put their m…

We work with all of the large general contractors in the steel construction industry. Right now, it's turned into one contract, but we are the second company the client has employed since the first company they hired failed to produce a single assembly that met their requirements. The client was the one that originally was using this tech since they wanted a way to do their own QC after the first experience, and we d…

An additional layer of insight to the chicken/egg problem: the developer of the software we are using was founded by someone in the construction industry, not software. I think one of the issue with the adoption of AR is that there is currently a disconnect between the people who have a problem and the people who could produce a solution. Compared to 'a solution in search of a problem', AR seems to be 'a solution that is failing to introduce itself to the problems it can solve'

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#56

Post by crooked-v »

FredPret wrote: post #8
woadwarrior01 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the only use case I have for the Apple Vision Pro, and it works quite well for that, paired with my 16" M3 Macbook Pro.

- How is reading text for long periods? - Does your neck get tired? - Do you ever have to be on video calls? I can't talk to clients looking like a spaceman

Not them, but I have one. I love it for movies or gaming where I can lay down and easily readjust it, but it's just no good for sitting/standing over long periods.

It's not actually the weight. I have a Quest 3 with a BoboVR head strap, external battery, etc that all add up to be heavier than the AVP, but I can easily go for multi-hour social sessions with that on without any physical discomfort. You can put a ton of weight on your head with perfect comfort as long as it's balanced properly.

The AVP's real problem is that its ergonomics are just shit. As with a bunch of other things, they designed for the ads instead of actual usability, so it's significantly worse than headsets that are actually much heavier, and the earband design with the way-too-far-back connectors and no top connections makes it nigh impossible for third parties to improve on it.

The closest thing I've seen to making it comfortable is the third-party ResMed Kontor headstrap, and that's being produced in such low numbers that it's functionally impossible to actually buy.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#57

Post by FredPret »

crooked-v wrote: post #56
FredPret wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- How is reading text for long periods? - Does your neck get tired? - Do you ever have to be on video calls? I can't talk to clients looking like a spaceman

Not them, but I have one. I love it for movies or gaming where I can lay down and easily readjust it, but it's just no good for sitting/standing over long periods. It's not actually the weight. I have a Quest 3 with a BoboVR head strap, external battery, etc that all add up to be heavier than the AVP, but I can easily go for multi-hour social sessions with that on without any physical discomfort. You can put a ton of…

Thanks! I'm intrigued by the idea of being able to do serious multi-monitor computing under a tree, armed with only a small mobile device and smart glasses. Maybe in a few years!

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

#58

Post by eska »

As a bachelor thesis I created a HoloLens 1 app that communicated with Rhino3D to place waypoints for a 5 axis robot arm to cut with a plasma cutter after calculating and previewing the robot arm movements and confirming.

In my day job I occasionally hear about some AR startup doing demos for training and parts setup in CNC machines but the value add seems to be too insignificant for the work required.

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