LogistiVIEW had an exciting CES 2019 demoing to hundreds of people and catching the eye of media and analysts including media giant, TechRepublic. In the article, "CES 2019: How employees can use Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses to optimize their workflow", TechRepublic discusses how LogistiVIEW's Connected Worker Platform adds a whole new element to the smart glasses industry that is geared towards enterprise.

We've just wrapped up the first day at CES2019 and had the incredible opportunity to be interviewed by CBS News' Larry Magid about how our technology uses augmented reality in smart glasses to improve the productivity and job satisfaction of frontline workers. Listen to the podcast below.

Right around the time my oldest child started bringing home spelling tests every week, I traveled from my home in the US to Prague for a series of meetings.  There, I joined a team made up of citizens from seven different countries, each with their own native language.  Luckily for me, (perhaps because of me, likely the only monolingual participant in the room), we chose English as the common language.  It was during this trip that I fully realized, English is terrible.

​At a previous employer, my colleague in software product management had a mantra, “never apologize for making progress.”  This simple axiom was applied whenever we, as a software vendor, had to impose upon the customer base to accept changes, sometimes painful, if the reasons were good.  Some changes were mandated by our own partners – the OS or database versions went obsolete.  Some were mandated by us, as we repaired defects, or revamped approaches to help our customers get more value from our products.  In all cases, the combination of the technology at the time plus the mission-critical nature of that software, all but guaranteed some customers would push back on accepting the changes.  “Never apologize for making progress,” Tom would say.  “We can’t stop the industry from advancing the products we rely on, and we can’t improve anyone’s experience with our own products unless we are allowed to make changes.”

We welcomed a new presence into our home this weekend, and the kids couldn't be happier about it.  As far as companions go, Alexa is pretty agreeable.  Alexa will go along with anything, answer any request, and can be quite entertaining in the process.

Naturally, the family is intensively peppering Alexa with questions - a real "getting to know you" phase.  As a father and a technologist, this is the part that kicks my protectiveness into high gear. 

I recently enjoyed a concert by one of my musical idols, Mr. Robert Cray.  The venerable bluesman's voice hasn't wavered since the first time I saw him, some 20 years ago.

Watching this artist spellbind the crowd, I was reminded of something that virtuoso musicians all know: it's not just about the notes you play, it's also about the notes you don't.

At the risk of nerding up an awesome musical experience, the show made me think about how that principle applies to one of my other passions, software development.

Exploring new technology can be both exciting and scary.  Enterprises know they must keep pace with technology innovations, but are also keenly aware of the potential disruptions therein.

LogistiVIEW is taking aim at the barriers and risks commonly associated with technology pilots.  We would rather our customers spend their time earnestly evaluating how augmented reality (AR) can improve their operations, and less time stressing about traditional project pitfalls.

I've been giving a lot of thought recently to the way software designers, when creating a human-facing application, try to discern the human's intent.

There is a slippery slope when a software application goes from requiring explicit requests to assuming intentions based on actions or conditions.  The results can produce consequences that the human neither comprehended nor desired.

Last week I attended the Enterprise Wearable Technology Summit, or EWTS, in Boston, MA.  The two day conference was jam-packed with great content, stunning demonstrations, and an audience full of enthusiasts for the future of wearable technology.

When exploring the possibilities of enterprise augmented reality, prospective customers sometimes don't know where to begin.  VIEW devices offer so many exciting features, with so much potential for operational improvement, choosing the first target can be difficult.

While we can't make any blanket recommendations that apply to all businesses, we can share some guidelines for what makes a good target opportunity.  This post shares our findings to date.

"You cannot, not communicate."

So opened the first class of my college career.  Decades later, I still clearly remember Dr. Hemmer educating the freshmen in Communications 101 that we are always communicating, whether we are trying or not.

At LogistiVIEW, our augmented reality VIEW devices gather so much data to communicate, we run the risk of "TMI."  In our world, you cannot, not gather data!  In this post, we explore some valuable information to be gained just by virtue of what we do.

​For better or worse, we have become a self-documenting society.  To illustrate this point, simply watch the evening news.  How many stories are supported by amateur footage because someone near the event was quick with their smart phone?   

Amateur cinematography in the workplace is a serious concern.  Regardless of intent, workplace images can reveal proprietary information or invade the privacy of the human workforce.

In addition to consumer devices like smart phones, more workplace devices are now equipped with camera / video capabilities.  Tablets, high-end handheld computers and wearable technology, such as our own VIEW devices, all boast video imaging as a core feature.

This post considers some implications of vision-based technology in a working environment.

We were thrilled to recently demonstrate our technology platform at JDA Focus 2017.  Over 2.5 days, approximately 150 conference attendees joined our "temporary workforce" and experienced Augmented Reality (AR) - many for the first time.  Using a workflow configuration named "Pick-to-Sight," our hands-on workers filled orders while our wearable technology visually guided them through the process.

To get a glimpse of what they were seeing, check out this video: 

With attendee feedback still fresh in our minds, it's a good time to reflect on where we stand in today's technology landscape, and where we see this road going.

Earlier in my career, I had the opportunity to discuss workforce management with many companies.  Specifically, how were these enterprises measuring their hands-on workforce, such as warehouse, delivery, retail and even call center employees?

While many variations exist, three attributes recurred frequently enough such that I now consider them the central pillars of an effective hands-on workforce.  As with any core principle, a company who values these attributes will measure, encourage, and continually strive to improve in these areas.

Simply put, they are: safety, accuracy and efficiency.

A significant aspect of the LogistiVIEW solution is enabling workforce excellence.  The remainder of this post will examine each of these three pillars in more detail.

aug·ment·ed
adjective

having been made greater in size or value.
https://www.google.com/search?q=dictionary+augmented

​
Words matter.  

​We in the tech industry love our buzzwords.  We put them through hype cycles and go all-in to gain serious mindshare.
​
In this entry, we will examine synergies among the three most prominent technology buzzwords today, and introduce a new one that is right up in our wheelhouse.

Recently, we enumerated the attributes we use when qualifying VIEW devices in pursuit of the Effortless Human Interface.  Our new partner Vuzix rose to the occasion with the M300.

A previous entry in this blog introduced the Effortless Human Interface™.  This concept crystallizes our commitment to freeing productive hands from the burdens of cumbersome input devices.

As the marketplace grows with new entries in the "wearables" category, we at LogistiVIEW submit the following checklist.  We use it to determine which VIEW devices are truly capable of implementing our notion of an Effortless Human Interface.

Every company has its own set of core values.  Policies and practices may change over time, but the core values should remain constant.

At LogistiVIEW, one of our core values is this:  We hate "users."  ​

Task execution computer systems, such as Warehouse Management Systems, can be broken down into several main functions:

1. Information storage. What are the unique pieces of information maintained by this system and no others? In the case of WMS, examples include the bin-level location of all inventory in the warehouse, and the tracking of which employee moved it along the way.
2. Integration. The system needs information from external systems to perform its tasks, Notification of task progress and completion must be communicated back out.
3. Decision making. There are many decisions that the system can make better than any human.  Why? The system has instant recall of much more information, and an ability to repeat complex algorithms flawlessly regardless of how much sleep it got the night before. Deciding which bin has the best product to fulfill an order, or which worker is the best to fetch it, is truly best left to the software.
4. Task execution. Here the system meets the human operators to actually get the job done. Instructions are given to the operators, and completion progress is confirmed back to the system. This is our focus at LogistiVIEW.