Page 44 - INC Magazine-November 2018

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conveRSatIon StaRteRS
Nadine Housri, a radiation SURfacInG
oncologist, and her brother Samir
Housri are co-founders of an the
exclusive Quora-esque discussion
platform for cancer docs augmented
and experts. Workplace

Though touted for
decades, augmented
reality didn’t hit the
mainstream until 2016,
with the success of the
mobile game Pokémon
Go. But its biggest
impact is likely to be on
the workday. AR systems
that use special glasses
to project a digital over­
lay onto the wearer’s field
of vision are filtering into
professions that involve
complicated, multi­
step manual tasks. At
Porsche repair centers,
auto mechanics wear
goggles that can receive
visual guidance from
remote experts; sur­
geons at several hospi­
tals are testing glasses
that visualize data from
ultrasound scanners,
allowing them to peer
through skin at under­
lying tissue—all but
giving them X­ray vision.
Google’s attempt at AR,
Glass, flopped upon its
debut in 2012, thanks
in large part to its dorky
look and the creep factor
of its built­in camera.
But an enterprise version
thrives, and custom­
ers include GE Aviation,
where engineers use it
to assemble jet engines.
It won’t be long before
deskbound office work­
ers will use holographic
screens to type emails
and create virtual 3­D
models in the air: The
San Mateo, California–
based startup Meta is
developing just that—
although it recently
pushed back its time­
table after President
Trump’s trade policies
caused a major Chinese
investor to back out.
–J.b.