Page 31 - Harvard Business Review (November-December, 2017)

3. How will AR applications recognize across multiple brands of phones and led to growth in employment, not a decline.
the physical environment? To accurately tablets and should make sure they’re ready Technology has dramatically increased our
superimpose digital information on the for smart glasses when they arrive. (See productivity and our standard of living.
physical world, AR technologies must “The Battle of the Smart Glasses.”) It has given rise to new kinds of offerings
recognize what they’re looking at. The 5. Should you use a software- that meet new needs and require new
simplest approach is to determine the development or a content-publishing types of workers. Many of today’s jobs
location of the AR device using, say, GPS model? Many early AR experiences have involve products and services that did not
and show relevant information for that been delivered through stand-alone even exist a hundred years ago. A lesson of
location without anchoring it to a specific software applications that are downloaded, history is that today’s digital revolution will
object. This is known as an “unregistered” complete with digital content, to a phone generate new waves of innovation and new
AR experience. Vehicle heads-up navigation or a tablet. This approach creates reliable, kinds of work that we cannot yet imagine.
displays typically work this way. high-resolution experiences and allows The role of humans in this future is
Higher-value “registered” experiences organizations to make apps that don’t misunderstood. People have unique
anchor information to specific objects. require internet connectivity. The problem strengths that machines and algorithms
They can do this through markers, such as with this model is that any change to the will not replicate anytime soon. We have
bar codes, logos, or labels, which are placed AR experience requires software developers sophisticated motor skills—well beyond
on the objects and scanned by the user with to rewrite the app, which can create what robots are capable of today—that
an AR device. A more powerful approach, expensive bottlenecks. allow us to do the subtle manipulation
however, uses technology that recognizes An emerging alternative uses that’s needed in, say, replacing a machine
objects by comparing their shape to commercial AR-publishing software to part or wiring a turbine. Even relatively less
a catalog of 3-D models. This allows a create AR content and host it in the cloud. skilled work, such as drawing blood, pruning
maintenance technician, for example, to The AR experience can then be downloaded a garden, or repairing a flat tire, requires
instantly recognize and interact with any on demand using a general-purpose app human dexterity and defies automation.
type of equipment he or she is responsible running on an AR device. Like website Human cognition adapts instantaneously
for maintaining and to do so from any content, the AR content can be updated to novel situations; people easily adjust
angle. While markers are a good starting or supplemented without changing the the way they interpret information, solve
point, shape-recognition technologies are software itself—an important benefit problems, exercise judgment, and take
advancing quickly, and organizations will when large amounts of information and action to suit their circumstances. Humans
need the capability to use them to tap into frequent content changes are involved. have flexibility, imagination, intuition,
many of the highest-value AR applications. The content-publishing model will become and creative ability that for the foreseeable
4. What AR hardware is required? common as more and more machines and future are beyond the reach of any machine.
AR experiences aimed at broad consumer products include real-time AR interaction While the advances in artificial
audiences have typically been designed and control. A content-publishing intelligence and robotics are impressive,
for smartphones, taking advantage of capability is essential to scaling AR up we believe that combining the capabilities
their simplicity and ubiquity. For more- across the organization. of machines with humans’ distinctive
sophisticated experiences, companies use strengths will lead to far greater
tablets, which offer larger screens, better productivity and more value creation than
graphics, and greater processing power. THE BROADER IMPACT either could generate alone. What’s needed
Since tablet penetration is lower, companies The digital revolution, with its SCPs and to realize this opportunity is a powerful
will often provide them to users. For certain explosion of data, is unleashing productivity human interface that bridges the gap
high-value applications—notably those in and unlocking value across the economy. between the digital and physical worlds. We
aircraft and automobiles—manufacturers Increasingly, the constraint is not a lack of see AR as a historic innovation that provides
are building dedicated AR heads-up displays data and knowledge but how to assimilate this. It helps humans enhance their own
into their products—a costly approach. and act on them—in other words, the capabilities by taking full advantage of new
Eventually, however, most AR interface with humans. AR is emerging as digital knowledge and machine capabilities.
applications for service, manufacturing, a leading solution to this challenge. It will profoundly change training and skill
and even product interfaces will require At the same time, the rapid evolution of development, allowing people to perform
head-mounted displays that free users’ machine learning and automation is raising sophisticated work without protracted
hands. This technology is currently both serious concerns about human opportunity. and expensive conventional instruction—a
immature and expensive, but we expect Will there be enough jobs for everyone, model that is inaccessible to so many today.
that affordable smart glasses will become especially for people without advanced AR, then, enables people to better tap into the
widely available in the next few years and education and knowledge? In a world digital revolution and all it has to offer.
will play a major part in releasing AR’s full of artificial intelligence and robots, will HBR Reprint R1706B
power. Microsoft, Google, and Apple now humans become obsolete?
offer AR technologies optimized for their It is easy to conclude that new
own devices. However, most organizations technology diminishes human opportunity. MICHAEL E. PORTER is a University Professor at
Harvard, based at Harvard Business School.
should take a cross-platform approach Yet new inventions have been replacing JAMES E. HEPPELMANN is the president and CEO of PTC,
that allows AR experiences to be deployed human labor for centuries, and they have a leading maker of industrial software.

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