In conjunction with innovation initiatives to expand opportunities as well as to increase relevance and revenue, organizations continue to expand the use of augmented, virtual, and mixed reality (AR/VR/MR or XR) as follows –
Automotive
Honda showed off its VR Design Studios in L.A. using XR to fast-track the development of new vehicles.
Toyota launched an AR view-in-your-space experience to support the 2023 Crown.
Kia Germany opened the company’s first virtual flagship dealership.
Fiat added ChatGPT to the Fiat Metaverse Store, a virtual car showroom where visitors interact with a GenAI-powered Fiat Genius.
BMW started a global rollout of Nvidia’s Omniverse platform using digital twins for factory planning with a new plant to open in 2025 for optimizing layouts, robotics, and logistics systems before production starts. BMW also uses Hololight Space on HoloLens 2 at its Munich headquarters to speed up testing of concept vehicles and verification of assembly processes.
Porsche North America switched to the HoloLens 2 to continue providing next-level remote support and training to dealer technicians
Volvo launched an AR safety app designed to support first responders in an emergency involving one of its electric trucks.
Audi and Mercedes-Benz partnered with Magic Leap on concept cars with AR user interfaces.
Energy
Portuguese energy company REN introduced AR with real-time location on tablets to help substation teams avoid unsafe areas and reduce accidents.
Siemens Energy is using Microsoft Teams and HoloLens 2 to simplify acceptance testing by creating “ virtual test beds ” where customers can inspect and approve orders before shipping.
BP deployed Aize’s digital twin solution in the North Sea region to support maintenance, inspection, and equipment modifications, plus consolidate engineering and operational data into a common digital view of BP’s physical assets.
Halliburton announced it’s developing a digital twin system for Petrobras in Brazil to “ reduce capital expenditure, accelerate production times, and improve crude oil recovery rate ”.
ESG
Vancouver Airport Authority worked with Unity to deploy large-scale digital twins to “ meet environmental, social, and corporate governance goals ”.
Virtual Offices / Workspaces
Accenture uses XR with Nth floor (its virtual / spatial computing / metaverse campus) for onboarding new personnel.
Beauty company Coty utilizes flexible workspaces and gamifies training in XR to boost relationship building and collaboration among personnel with virtual meeting rooms, dedicated desks, call zones, etc.
Spanish bank BBVA opened a virtual environment to extend presence of the Madrid headquarters in the Lendaryum metaverse.
Immersive Training
Nestlé rolled out VR at a Nescafé factory in Northern Spain to educate employees about traffic rules on company premises and safety instructions on the production floor.
UPS is using VR to prepare delivery drivers for various traffic and road situations to improve safety.
ASK Chemicals is using AR for field support as part of an effort to capture the knowledge of soon-to-retire experts.
New hires at Bank of America are able to tour a virtual bank branch with VR and AI to learn about – company benefits, processes, managing a challenging situation / an angry customer, etc.
AA, the UK version of Triple A, reduced time-to-competence and overall required training for mobile mechanics with VR.
Australian supermarket giant Woolworths provides virtual de-escalation training.
Insurance firm AXA introduced VR in the form of a 3D factory model to train risk managers, facilities and plant managers, and site operators
Five Guys fast food chain announced plans to roll out VR headsets to fast track learning by immersing crew members in a virtual store during training.
Retail / Merchandising
Nestlé Purina Petcare partnered with Blue Yonder and 3DVR Solutions to enable associates to collaborate remotely with retail partners as avatars in designing and planning shelves.
Hershey tapped into AR and image recognition to help retailers better position merchandise in their stores to increase sales.
Corporate Marketing
Luxury brands Cartier and Tiffany & Co. launched AR virtual try-on campaigns targeting Gen Z shoppers.
Coca-Cola launched an AR giveaway and nationwide campaign with Tesco for Coke Zero
American Express created an AR mall highlighting 10 small businesses for its “Door to Shop Small” campaign.
Dermavant and Botox Cosmetic chose AR (Snapchat Lenses) to educate consumers about their FDA-approved Psoriasis products.
Royal Caribbean revealed the massive Icon of the Seas cruise ship on Fortnite
LVMH teamed up with Fortnite creator Epic Games to create new immersive customer experiences and add new 3D tools to its design pipeline.
Macy’s introduced Mstylelab, a metaverse hub for “ style inspiration and discovery ”.
Reebok announced plans for digital wearables.
Amazon announced Amazon Anywhere, an immersive shopping experience enabling customers to purchase real items within virtual worlds.
Going Forward ….
XR Use Cases are expanding in many industries because of the significant benefits with a rich learning environment based on immersive experiences with impressive visualization capabilities.
With this, expect to see more XR in HR along with increasingly sophisticated and interconnected applications and enhancements to existing XR use cases with artificial intelligence.
An example of this is Hellman, the logistics giant, looking to expand reach for talent recruitment with XR.
Jan 18, 2024 By Emily Friedman / CAIL CAIL Innovation commentary
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