Augmented Reality in Service Industry
The “telephone game” between customers and technicians is no longer needed, as augmented reality (AR) allows both parties to view the same product and troubleshoot together. This improves first-time fix rates and overall service experiences.
Manufacturers can also leverage AR to improve operational efficiency. It helps track manual process data, such as cycle times and defects.
Manufacturing
Many field service companies struggle to connect their workforce and prevent knowledge loss with traditional mentorship programs. Augmented reality solves this problem by allowing senior technicians to capture the proper procedures with their headset and easily share them with newer workers. Additionally, AR’s remote augmented customer service capabilities allow customers to get in-field assistance from offsite experts without wasting time traveling to the facility.
Whether it’s the manufacturing of home mobility solutions or complex industrial machines like elevators in skyscrapers around the world, AR can improve processes and create a better customer experience. For example, a leading manufacturer uses AR to collect manual process data and identify the exact points where enterprise inefficiencies occur. They then use this data to streamline operations.
Another powerful AR use case for manufacturing is remote triage and troubleshooting. This allows technicians to see the issue from a customer’s perspective and walk through a repair guide with them in real time. This eliminates the “telephone game” augmented reality in service industry between customer and technician and results in a quicker, more accurate repair.
For example, Lockheed Martin engineers use AR to simplify assembling complex machinery such as the F-35 warplane. They place a holographic plan of the machine and instructions right before their eyes, which reduces assembly times. In addition, they can record and narrate their work to generate how-to videos for future employees, which cuts training time by 37 percent.
Food and Beverage
With AR, food and beverage brands can enhance their products for a more immersive experience. For example, Bareburger has incorporated AR into their menus, allowing customers to see what they’re ordering in 3D before they pick it up. They can also see the ingredients in the sandwich, which helps them decide what to order.
The food and beverage industry can also use Augmented Reality to elevate training. For example, a new employee can be shown how to do a task using AR in a realistic setting with the tools and environment of their workplace. This reduces both learning time and the risk of on-the-job mistakes. The food and beverage industry can also use Virtual Reality to train employees on how to prepare a meal or how to work as part of a team in the kitchen. For example, a virtual simulation of a kitchen environment can show the steps needed to make the perfect cappuccino or how to carry four plates at once to a diner’s table.
Augmented Reality is a valuable tool for the field service industry, especially when used in conjunction with remote collaboration tools like video conferencing. Field service technicians can be augmented reality in service industry sent to a location where an issue has been reported, and the augmented reality app will display what they need to do to resolve it. This saves time and ensures that the problem is resolved quickly.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry is one of the most significant sectors to benefit from augmented reality. Its impact extends from educating medical practitioners and patients, to improving diagnosis and patient outcomes.
A close cousin to virtual reality, augmented reality overlays digital content onto the real world. In medicine, that means a surgeon can use AR to visualize veins for improved methods of locating them, or even project X-ray scans into the operating room so they can be seen alongside the real body without radiation exposure.
Other uses include training nurses in clinical skills using tablet-based simulations of various patient scenarios, or enabling doctors to view complex MRI or CT scans to help with surgical planning and accurate positioning of tumours during a procedure. In manufacturing, subject matter experts can use AR to explore large pieces of equipment and find fixes without the need for flying in from other sites.
Augmented reality can also empower consumers to become proactive with their own health and wellbeing. For example, a UK-based company, Curiscope, has developed an app called Virtuali-tee that allows kids to see the inner workings of their bodies with 3D holograms when they hover their smartphones over them. The resulting educational experience makes learning about the human body fun and interesting. It is an excellent way to engage children with science, and also to help them develop healthy habits in early childhood.
Retail
With AR, your field technicians can quickly access operational documentation and visual guidance when a client calls in with a problem. This increases self-installation success, reduces contact center volume and technician visits, and eliminates no-fault-found returns and other costly errors in the field.
AR is also being utilized at the retail end of the customer journey. Foot Locker’s AR app lets users scan the shoes they want to try on, while MAC cosmetics uses virtual mirrors that allow customers to see how a product looks on them before they buy. This isn’t just helpful to customers, it helps drive conversions in the ecommerce sector and in brick-and-mortar stores alike.
AR is transforming retail experiences from the digital realm into immersive, connected visual interactive experiences that can be enjoyed by customers across devices, enhancing brand image and boosting sales. The most exciting part of this is that it’s an opportunity for businesses to innovate at the core of their operations, rather than only add a tech layer on top. This creates a more efficient and innovative service experience that is consistent with customer expectations, regardless of channel. This enables companies to become market leaders and deliver the omnichannel experience that today’s consumers demand. And with analytics informing every facet of the service experience, the potential is limitless for business growth.
