When Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic, governments around the world gave stay-at-home orders. It resulted in forcing all kinds of industries to change the way they were operating.
Until now, businesses are figuring out how to return to their previous productiveness without putting workers’ health safety at risk. Businesses adapted to the situation and embraced digitization to resume their operations.
Digitization has helped businesses to a great extent. One of the ways the manufacturing sector resumed its operations is through the use of Smart Glasses.
Here, we’ll talk about how smart glasses improve manufacturing during COVID 19 and how smart glasses can increase worker performance.
The Challenge Of Covid-19 For Operational Business Continuity
At the moment, no industry is safe from the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic. The global economy has been hit hard. Because the major cause of this virus’s spread is human contact, governments quickly imposed travel and gathering restrictions. These restrictions forced the industries to send employees home, which brought the economy to a standstill.
Thankfully, enterprises adapted and took measures to keep the businesses running while ensuring the employees’ health safety at the same time. Understandably, some industries like food, agriculture, medicine, and other strategic manufacturing sectors must keep working even in such a global crisis.
The Power Of Digital Empowerment In Quarantine Areas
In areas where coronavirus cases are in such high numbers that people must not leave their houses, how can companies remain functional? The lack of manpower on-site requires other workers and technicians to step in and fill the gaps so that the operations must keep running.
But the big question is how it can be done when the manpower available on-site is unaware of the technical aspects of particular jobs? That’s where technology and digital empowerments step in to assure business continuity.
It’s yet to become clear when everything returns to normal. But one thing is clear: organizations that have invested in a digital instruction and inspection execution platform will reap huge rewards.
How Smart Glasses Improve Manufacturing During COVID 19
Imagine that you work in a manufacturing unit, and your normal duties don’t involve cleaning and packaging changeover on a blister machine. But now you are asked to do so because of the lack of manpower. To operate the machine or handle the new responsibilities, you could start by reading the operating procedures from an instructions manual.
Most likely, you will need a considerable amount of time before you understand the procedure comprehensively. What if, instead of reading an entire instruction manual, you can picture a tablet on the blister floor and access the step-by-step instructions. It’s the most efficient way to help yourself complete the cleaning and changeover tasks.
At some points, you can even access a complete workflow video explaining the complete process to help you understand and do it in a better way. And that’s how smart glasses improve manufacturing during COVID 19, and the answer to how smart glasses can improve worker efficiency also lies in it.
With the help of such technology, technicians can request managers or supervisors working from home. Besides, it enables real-time monitoring, supervision, and assistance. Manufacturing units are fighting off on-site challenges with the help of smart glasses.
The Hinge Moment For Smart Glasses In Enterprise
Even though the instructions are step-by-step and comprehensive, unexpected things will happen like filter jam, leakage in pipes, etc. When such unexpected issues arise, the inexperienced 
operator will need professional assistance from the specialists. Because of the work from home orders, such individuals might not help the inexperienced operator and might not come to the site.
In situations like these, smart glasses will make a big difference by helping inexperienced technicians fix the problem and ensure production continuity.
How Can Smart Glasses Increase Worker Performance?
If a stand-in operator faces an issue, all he needs to do is wear smart glasses and let the camera installed in the glasses see what he’s seeing. With remote assistance software, the camera will send the image or video to an expert sitting at home.
The expert sitting at home will open the software on his computer, log in to the software to access the live stream, and instruct the stand-in operator in real-time through the assistance software. The expert can also freeze the imagery, analyze the problem, and send instructions to the smart glasses.
It means the smart glasses will instruct the stand-in operator to do exactly what’s required and as instructed by the remote expert.
By enabling hands-free video conferences and providing a visual representation of the on-site situation, smart glasses improve manufacturing during COVID 19 and improve worker performance.
With all these benefits, functionalities, and smart glasses features, the probability of an inexperienced stand-in operator handling on-site issues increases dramatically.
The Right Smart Glasses For Remote Assistance
Now that you know how smart glasses improve manufacturing during COVID 19 and how smart glasses can increase worker performance, we should dig deep and learn the right smart glasses for remote assistance.
The kind of smart glasses you choose for your manufacturing unit decides how much improvement you’ll get. Choosing the right smart glasses is just like choosing a fire extinguisher where all you need to consider is the size and functionality. If a fire extinguisher is functional and has the right size to do the job, you’ll choose it. And, the same goes for smart glasses.
Below are those four features that make smart glasses effective:
- While the wearer will be wearing the smart glasses to get help from them, he still needs to do the job without getting any obstructions. The glasses must not create any obstructions, requiring the glasses to position the display in the corner of the view field.
- The camera serves as remote experts’ remote eyes, meaning the camera’s quality makes a difference. The quality of the camera and the positioning of the camera in smart glasses must be accurate. Ideally, the right place to install the camera in smart glasses is above the nose bridge as it captures the natural perspective.
- The battery installed in smart glasses must be high because video streaming drains the battery quickly. The battery power needs to be substantial, so the glasses don’t turn off between use. The right approach provides power to the glasses either by a hot-swap battery or by a cable-connected pocket unit.
- The design must be user-friendly. The wearer must feel comfortable while wearing glasses. Ideally, the build should be lightweight.
There are many powerful augmented-reality powered glasses available in the market, like Hololens 2 or the Magic Leap 1. Still, they don’t make the ideal option when it comes to remote assistance. These glasses are overly stuffed with features that are not required for remote assistance. Because of the weight these glasses carry, the wearer finds these glasses hard to wear and remain comfortable.
When it comes to the right smart glasses for comfortable remote assistance, some of the best options are Google Glass EE2, Realwear HMT-1, Vuzix M400, Iristick Z1 for smart glasses.
Google Glass EE2, Vuzix M400, and Realwear are standalone devices. In contrast, Z1 connects with an Android or IOS device. Besides, it’s powered by a pocket unit that connects with a cable. By connecting your mobile phone, Iristick Z1 uses your mobile phone’s processing power to deliver its functionality. All these devices haves friendly designs.
Every smart glasses available in the market carry some unique features. That’s why it might be hard to find the right one. Simple design, user-friendliness, and high-end functionality are the right combination, and any smart glasses with this combination will deliver an impactful performance.
Google Glass is powerful in terms of functionality and lightweight in design, making the wearer comfortable. The Vuzix M400 comes with various accessories, and you can adjust the configurations according to your needs. Besides, you can wear Vuzix M400 on a hard hat.
The Iristick Z1 offers two features that make it a good product. The first feature is that the camera is installed above the nose bridge and the second feature is its bionic eye. With Z1, the remote expert doesn’t only access the on-site visuals but also zoom-in to see details. VREXA offers customized solutions to help you get the best out of smart glasses.
We hope you are now aware of how smart glasses can increase worker performance and improve manufacturing during COVID 19.
