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Ask HN: Anyone using augmented reality, VR, glasses, helmets etc. in industry?

81 points NewUser76312 | 6 comments | 25 Jun 25 15:12 UTC | HN request time: 1.246s | source | bottom

Since Google Glass made its debut in 2012, there's been a fair amount of hype around augmented reality and related tech coming into its own in industry, presumably enhancing worker productivity and capabilities.

But I've heard and seen so little use in any industries. I would have thought at a minimum that having access to hands-free information retrieval (e.g. blueprints, instructions, notes, etc), video chat and calls for point-of-view sharing, etc would be quite useful for a number of industries. There do seem to be interesting pilot trials involving Hololens in US defense (IVAS) as well as healthcare telemonitoring in Serbia.

Do you know of any relevant examples or use cases, or are you a user yourself? What do you think are the hurdles - actual usefulness, display quality, cost, something else?

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geocrasher ◴[25 Jun 25 16:16 UTC] No.44378979[source]▶
I am actively looking into an Oculus 3 for a virtual desktop environment that I can use portably, such as in an Airbnb, instead of lugging around a 43" 4K monitor. I'm also looking at projectors for this purpose. The context is remote work.
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1. koakuma-chan ◴[25 Jun 25 16:22 UTC] No.44379042[source]▶
That's actually a great idea. Don't need multiple screens if you can just use AR/VR.
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2. rightbyte ◴[25 Jun 25 17:08 UTC] No.44379600[source]▶
I think alt-tabbing or virtual desktops has less mental overhead and physical strain than using VR though.
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3. jayd16 ◴[25 Jun 25 17:17 UTC] No.44379700[source]▶
Its less mental strain to just lay out the windows spatially. Who doesn't like more monitor space? However, its much more physical strain than multiple monitors.
4. jona777than ◴[25 Jun 25 17:18 UTC] No.44379713[source]▶
This is a good point. I thought about it, too.

I could see a frequent traveler using an AVP as a "full setup" on the go. In my experience, I can get away with most with a MacBook. Some projects really benefit from the extra screen real estate (and a mechanical keyboard.)

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5. geocrasher ◴[25 Jun 25 17:38 UTC] No.44379887{3}[source]▶
For me, the problem is that if I don't see it, it doesn't exist. Slack, server monitoring, other communications channels, they all take up real estate. My daily driver is a 43" 4K monitor. Basically 4x 24" 1080p monitors in one. It's the exact opposite of portable.

I can get any task done with my laptop. But not a full day's work. And if I want to travel while I work (which I would like to do) then I need a better solution. This is why I'm looking into VR and also a 4K projector, but a projector would have to be able to be seen in a bright environment, and I don't know what the current state of projectors is.

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6. ramses0 ◴[25 Jun 25 22:57 UTC] No.44382572{4}[source]▶
Look up laser projectors. Random article: https://www.hisense-usa.com/post/laser-light-projectors-vs-l...

Looks like 3k lumens is your maximum. https://www.google.com/search?q=3000+lumen+projector+in+dayl...