Trying on a new pair of glasses in the virtual world or projecting a sofa into one’s living room with a mouse click: AR technology makes all of that possible. AR stands for augmented reality and that’s exactly what this technology does. It augments the real and combines it with the virtual world. Virtual objects, animations, text, and pictures can be incorporated into live images. Schreiner Group is now also making use of these opportunities.

The customer resides in Central America and the expert from Schreiner ProTech in Germany. Resolving a problem on the machine sounds impossible? But definitely isn’t! To perform maintenance or service jobs, a specialist no longer has to be on-site. Using an AR headset, one of the customer’s technicians shows the problem directly on the machine. The expert in Germany has the opportunity to view the problem areas or existing settings on a computer screen and ask clarifying questions as needed.

The AR headset has a speaker and a microphone enabling the customer’s technician to communicate with the specialist. Due to a small head-mounted display in front their eye, the technician can see both the screen and the real-world machine. By means of a camera and a microphone the headset transmits the picture and sound to the computer of the expert at the other end of the world in real time. Anyone using the headset for the first time is thrilled. Everything that the expert shows on their PC screen can be seen on the small head-mounted display.

Using an AR headset, Schreiner Group’s expert can easily provide guidance on machine maintenance anywhere in the world.

The technician working on the machine has both hands free and can therefore be guided and also ask questions. Fast delivery of the AR headset that reaches the customer in just one or two days is a major advantage. The fact that the expert does not have to be on-site saves time and costs. Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, the headset has been an important tool: even though travel restrictions frequently prevent visits to customer sites the utilization of this technology ensures optimum support.