Today, remote IT support solutions provider TeamViewer announced a partnership with Almer to develop an AR headset for enterprise end users – noting TeamViewer’s dedicated move towards supporting workplace AR solutions, following a history of working with enterprise customers to leverage AR for various use cases.
The partnership sees the creation of Arc 2, a product the firms are designing to enable remote collaboration. The Almer Arc headset includes a 25MP camera, beamforming microphones, built-in speakers, a holographic display, 8 hours of battery life, and a 138-gram weight.
Sebastian Beetschen, CEO and co-founder of Almer, said:
Our headset is much like a jet fighter visor, mounted directly in front of your eyes, featuring a transparent, see-through screen. The Almer Arc is a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-use AR headset. When a problem arises, the frontline worker takes the Almer Arc and contacts a remote expert, who can see and hear what the worker experiences. The expert identifies the issue, highlights objects, and displays documentation in the worker’s view, simulating a collaborative, in-person experience.
Almer’s history sees the firm’s founders, Beetschen and Timon Binder, use their shared experience working with Microsoft Hololens and Jet Fighter AR headsets to come together to design lightweight, affordable, and scaleable headsets for businesses.
The firm states that the headset allows individuals to leverage XR on mission-critical tasks and in changing environments to connect with distributed team members, enabling users to display information and related assets in the AR space.
Sebastian Beetschen also noted that during the years working in the industry, Almer has “learned a lot” about designing XR devices that are “super adaptable” and provide flexibility for workers’ preferences.
Almer, TeamViewer: Targetting Enterprise
Moreover, according to Almer, the partnership with TeamViewer lays the foundation for large-scale deployment across the “untapped” industrial market.
Percy Stocker, Senior VP of Product Management AR at TeamViewer, said that partnering with Almer is a “no-brainer” for the firm, and Almer’s “product and technology stack is head and shoulders ahead of the industry. We see wide-scale adoption for the product and immediately in industry,” they remarked.
Stocker also added:
Modern production machines are becoming increasingly complex and expensive, while skilled technicians remain in short supply. Unplanned downtime can be extremely costly, for example in the automotive industry where it can reach up to $22,000 per minute and the experts needed to fix these machines are often not on-site. Remote support via smartphones or tablets has limitations with workers’ hands occupied, information is not in their direct line of sight, and the camera doesn’t follow the worker’s view. As such the move to AR presents TeamViewer an opportunity to support this underserved market.
TeamViewer is a leading IT support firm, and having a headset aligned to its marketplace experience and more comprehensive customer portfolio is a notable step towards deploying the enterprise-ready Arc 2.
Unlike scaling consumer-based XR devices, enterprise end-users must commonly undergo more comprehensive installation methods for fleets of headsets, such as user onboarding, device management, and security considerations. Therefore, working with an experienced IT firm can help Almer scale its operations and advance AR adoption in the enterprise.
Almer already has deep partnerships with 21 enterprise clients, building a solid foundation ahead of the TeamViewer partnership. Almer works with clients such as Switzerland’s largest defence international machine manufacturers.
Sebastian Beetschen also added:
The cost saving potential of using AR to service all installed machines for the 10 largest tooling-machine manufacturers in DACH alone accounts for £7.9 billion per year. So, the opportunity is very real.
More on TeamViewer
Teamviwer’s history with AR is already far-reaching. The firm has partnered with groups like Siemans, Salesforce, and Mitsubishi to deploy immersive solutions across the workforce.
TeamViewer works with Mitsubishi to leverage its Assist AR technology. Mitsubishi rapidly began embedding AR into its processes and operations, from collaboration to customer support.
Mitsubishi has invested in TeamViewer’s technology to create a new initiative called SupportMe-X. This is part of its then strategy to create a “smart factory” ecosystem. SupportMe-X allows customers and users to leverage expert support through XR technologies, building on an existing SupportMe ecosystem.
SupportMe-X combines TeamViewer’s Assist AR software and the Microsoft HoloLens 2, allowing Mitsubishi Electric to support its customers through augmented and mixed reality experiences. Technicians can contact the Mitsubishi support team through their smartphones and work with them through live, guided sessions thanks to the AR solution. Engineers also use the HoloLens headsets to work remotely through complex customer problems, providing in-depth guidance.
Mitsubishi chose TeamViewer as the solution for their needs because it is secure, intuitive, and flexible. According to the Solution Business Manager of Mitsubishi, Jakub Kwiatkowski, the combined technologies have significantly impacted both productivity and cost savings.
In 2022, the firm started working with Siemans on the AR platform Frontline into Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) Teamcenter software.
The German company-based firm is partnering with Siemens to offer improved product development processes, achieved via immersive and interactive 3D content and digitally-twinned custom-made products. Siemens created the solution using its Xcelerator portfolio, and together, they aim to enhance innovation and improve decision-making for company products.
TeamViewer integrated a Spatial module into the Frontline AR platform to allow workers to access MR smart glasses applications that provide real-time 3D and other digital assets for leading headsets, including Microsoft’s HoloLens series. The platform also provides digital overlays of RT3D assets to guide employees in their processes, and owners can update and manage workflows with an included no-code editor capable of adding digital assets.
Moreover, computer-aided design (CAD) and PLM technologies integrate seamlessly into TeamViewer’s Frontline Spatial module. This allows AR-backed content to be hosted without prior programming experience.
With this history of deploying AR across workplace environments, TeamViewer could bring crucial knowledge to its partnership with Almer. Moreover, with the debut of the Vision Pro just around the corner, promising spatial productivity gains, Almer may place itself in a solid position to provide a scalable, enterprise-grade competitor to Apple’s potentially market-shifting entry.
