Using Augmented Reality Glasses to Improve Maintenance

Innovative technologies such as Augmented Reality glasses have the potential to improve the work environment and the way the maintenance staff performs their tasks. With costs coming down, companies can benefit a lot from using AR in maintenance.

Service and augmented reality

Generally, technicians and engineers rely on multiple sources of information when performing their work. These include online and offline resources such as technical manuals, operational manuals, videos and more. Getting the right information can be a challenge and lead to time-wasting and delays in fixing a problem. Other than allowing field staff to perform maintenance and serving of equipment they are not familiar with, AR will be an effective training tool in the future.

It provides countless opportunities when combined with other technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, drones, and others. Combining this technologies will allow manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, and other industries to improve their maintenance practices, efficiency, and productivity.

Also, combing the new technologies will help in cutting maintenance costs in term of staff and other requirements. For example, this will reduce the safety risks hence the injuries as well as medical and insurance costs. Also, staff with avereage technical knowledge will be in aposition to maintain complex equipment that would otherwise require higher levels of expertise – which is usually more expensive to acquire.

How augmented reality glasses provide information quickly

The AR glasses give the maintenance staff the possibility to visualize the correct information for a certain task at the right time without wasting time looking through several resources.

Augmented Reality glasses image: Mac Observer

For example, AR glasses can use technologies such as RFID and QR codes to identify the equipment and materials they engineer is interacting with. The augmented reality glass will then display the information about identified equipment. In addition, the AR smart glasses can display more information such as safety instructions, dangerous environments or any other useful information.

The Augmented Reality glasses can be of great assistance to maintenance personnel and departments since they will spend less time looking for information and hence reduce costs and time to sort issues.