Supply Chain News: New World of Augmented Reality Likely Coming to Logistics Applications

From SCDigest’s On-Target E-Magazine Matrix-like Download Capabilities May Not be too Far Away; Looking at Bar Codes Instead of Scanning Them SCDigest Editorial Staff Are you familiar with the fast-growing concept of "augmented reality?" A new report from DHL’s Trend Research group covers the basics of AR and then takes a deeper dive into emerging or potential applications in logistics. What is augmented reality? The report says AR involves "the expansion of physical reality by adding layers of computer-generated information to the real environment." SCDigest Says: With AR and the head sets, the bar codes can be "scanned"/confirmed simply by looking at them with the camera. Not mentioned in the report, but perhaps the most commonly experienced form of AR today is the widely used yellow stripe displayed in pro and college football games to indicate the first down mark. That yellow stripe is of course not really on the field – it is added to the real video view of the game field by computer generation. There are thousands of other real or emerging applications, some of them quite amazing. In the Matrix movies, characters can simply download a new "app" into their heads to learn something new, such as how to pilot a helicopter. Now, car makers and others are developing AR apps where a consumer will look at a part in an engine say through a cell phone camera, and instructions on how to test or replace the part will instantly appear alongside it. Indeed, "scene recognition" is a generally critical aspect of AR technology, whether that is identifying a particular product on the store shelf so that additional information can be displayed on its make-up, or recognizing where an order picker is in a distribution center to confirm he or she is at the right […]