Augmented Reality opens up new possibilities for the industry

In order to meet customer-specific requirements during on-site commissioning, it usually requires a flexible concept to make the best possible use of resources and employees.In addition, travel costs and, currently, travel restrictions are major factors for international projects.

Strothmann therefore relies on digitalization methods - the use of Augmented Reality - for example in service and commissioning. Augmented Reality is a computer-aided extension of human perception of reality. Strothmann achieves this through the use of AR data glasses equipped with a camera, a microphone and a miniature display in front of the eye. Thus, commissioning can be digitally accompanied by Strothmann employees and carried out by external technicians worldwide.

The user of the glasses sees data via the miniature display, which is fed to him directly from the specialist at the company's headquarter in Schloß-Holte Stukenbrock. The specialist at home continuously sees the image from the data glasses camera and can comment on it with annotations such as circles or arrows and reflect it back to the technician on site. In this way, even in very difficult technical situations, a precise analysis and instruction of the fitter on site is possible.

The HMT-1 glasses, which come from the manufacturer RealWare, are specially designed for rough use in industrial environments. They are waterproof and can even fall to the ground from a height of two meters without being damaged. They can be controlled by several languages and thus allow a completely touch-free operation, where the operator always has his hands free for his actual task. Strothmann uses the Oculavis Share software platform from the company Oculavis GmbH based in Aachen for communication between data glasses and the expert's workstation. Oculavis Share integrates very well with the RealWare data glasses and offers various functions to be able to work in sufficient detail even with low transmission bandwidths. So also in the case of poor connection and the resulting low resolution of the video image, it is always possible to take single shots in high resolution.

Strothmann sees great potential in this technology and will continue to follow this path in the future and align its service and commissioning processes accordingly.