Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) are not new, but recent advances in computational power, storage, graphics processing, and high-resolution displays have helped overcome some of the constraints that have stood in the way of the widespread use of these immersive technologies.
Global spending on AR/VR is now expected to reach $17.8 billion in 2018, an increase of nearly 95% over the $9.1 billion estimate for 2017.
Few key practices of AR & VR in Operations & Maintenance
Boeing technicians work with AR instructions for airplane wiring schematics in their field of view allowing technician to be hands-free. This cut wiring production time by 25% and reduced error rates to zero.
At Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), VR and plant data is used to provide a quicker and safer way for workers to inspect equipment, lowering the risk of technicians getting hurt..
VR is used at Airbus to integrate digital mock-ups into production environments, giving assembly workers access to complete 3D models of the aircraft under production, reducing time required to inspect by 86%