ISAIC Unveils Cutting-Edge Augmented Reality Tools at TexProcess Conference

From May 10 to May 12, Innovation Manager, Alex Stchenike, and Training Developer, Cassie Franklin, represented Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC) at the TexProcess Conference in Atlanta. This conference serves as a platform for stakeholders in the manufacturing industry to explore and learn about the latest technologies and machines used in the development of sewn goods. According to Cassie, it's like "the Comic Con for industrial sewing." 

During the conference, ISAIC partnered with Merrow, a sewing machine manufacturer, to showcase our mixed reality (MR) training abilities using voice-controlled headsets. This collaboration aimed to scale training remotely and make it more accessible. Alex and Cassie demonstrated the use of voice-controlled headsets with augmented reality (AR) enabled software, offering a unique and immersive training experience. 

The showcased tools had been piloted for several months to evaluate their effectiveness in remote technical support and remote training. TexProcess marked the first public demonstration of this pilot technology by our innovation team. The presentation aimed to generate interest and encourage attendees to consider integrating this technology into their production environments for enhanced workforce training. 

The demonstration was a resounding success. One platform served as an interactive virtual meeting place, while an operator with a document camera faced a white surface. This allowed the technical support deliverer to place their hands within the viewfinder of the person wearing the headset and receiving assistance. The recipient, equipped with a headset featuring a viewfinder screen, could see the tools or hands of the support giver within the viewfinder's frame or work instructions uploaded from the support computer. 

The significance of this technology lies in its potential to remotely assist in machine repairs, mitigating the challenges of finding and affording industrial mechanics. By helping more people fix their machines in less time and with fewer resources, this technology enables us to serve a greater number of individuals. In addition to showcasing our innovations piloted in Detroit, ISAIC leaders had the opportunity to learn about new tools, witness 3D printing for textiles, and explore new training programs at the conference. 

Additional Context: 

Augmented reality: Superimposes computer generated images into the real world. 

Virtual reality: An immersive experience of an entirely computer-generated environment and images. 

**ISAIC demonstration is considered mixed reality because it is a combination of the real world and virtual world, but it's not considered augmented because there are no computer-generated images involved.