Scope AR

Scope AR technology allows users to overlay expert assistance directly onto their view of a live situation in the form of 3D graphics and animation, text instructions, and reference material. Whether delivered on an inexpensive smartphone, high tablet, or display enabled smart glasses, this kind of real-world assistance is truly game-changing, and we are having a great time changing the game right now. Building on the success of our step by step instruction, we have recently introduced Remote AR, which brings our powerful Augmented Reality interface to the live support call. This has to be experienced to be believed; the frustration of not having your knowledge where you need it is now a thing of the past. And of course we aren’t finished innovating with our step-by-step instructional support. In response to customer demand we are constantly evolving the software suite we use to create our solutions, and we will be making announcements on some exciting new developments in that area shortly.

Scope AR uses augmented reality (AR) to provide step-by-step interactive and visual guidance for training and maintenance purposes. The product can be used to overlay instructions onto any equipment being worked on. You simply download the application to your smartphone or tablet, connect to an expert in real-time, and the expert is able to draw on and annotate anything you are looking at. As you move your camera, anything the expert has added — arrows, text, custom-made 3-D models, etc. — stays locked onto the right place. With partners and customers such as Boeing, Tesla, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, and NASA, Scope AR is positioned to be a leader in the space. Here’s more from our conversation with the co-founder and president David Nedohin.

Yesterday’s Y Combinator Summer 2015 Demo Day had a little something for everyone, with everything from condom delivery to server vulnerability monitoring thrown in the mix. Of the 52 that debuted yesterday, 9 really stood out to us and others we spoke to. Click through to see our Top 9 from the day. For the curious: our Top 9 is a mix of companies that seem likely to succeed, particularly groundbreaking, or just plain awesome. We chose these after much conversation with some of Silicon Valley’s top VCs, successful startup founders, and amongst the TC writers. Our favorites, in no particular order:

Last week Epson held a private launch event to celebrate their 40th anniversary and showcase their ECO Tank and innovation divisions. Scope AR is a preferred partner with Epson – specifically with the Moverio smart-glasses division. As a part of our long-standing relationship, we were proud to be the only vendor invited to participate in the launch event. Our Remote AR solution was used to highlight Epson’s smart-glasses, robotics, and fabric printer divisions. Attendees of the event wore Epson Moverio BT-200 smart-glasses and requested remote assistance via Remote AR. An expert using AR annotation tools that ‘locked’ onto a control panel visible through the Epson smart-glasses then guided them. The attendee would then operate the control panel to unlock, calibrate, and engage the Epson robots, which proceeded to operate the fabrics’ printer. We received glowing reviews and the attendees got a glimpse of what the future holds. We look forward to the next event and continue to spread the word on our Remote AR solution.

Scope AR is proud to have its roots in Edmonton, Alberta; the presence of strong industry and innovative technology push the envelope of augmented reality solutions. Because of our focus on training and maintenance augmented reality applications we have been able to reach internationally to impact procedural learning and technician assistance. Business in Edmonton, a local magazine, featured Scope AR in their August 2015 issue highlighting the impact Scope AR is having locally and globally.

ScopeAR, a company from YC’s Summer 2015 class, wants to help experts be anywhere they need to be via the magic of augmented reality. The idea behind ScopeAR, over simplified: take a video call, and add the ability to draw on and annotate anything the person on the other end is looking at. As they move their camera, anything you’ve added — arrows, text, custom-made 3D models, etc. — stays locked onto the right place. Need to know which valve is “Valve 6B”? Point your camera at that array of valves, and the expert can point right to it. Rather than trying to supply a zillion experts themselves, ScopeAR is focusing on working with companies and teams who already have experts of their own. In many cases (like with the oil rig example above) companies will have specialized experts on hand, but said experts can’t be everywhere at once. Do they hire an expert for each rig, when the experts knowledge might only be needed once a month? Do they hire one expert and fly them around endlessly, wasting much of their time in commute? Or do they let the expert relax in one location, and beam them in via augmented reality when their knowhow is needed? The concept works beyond oil rigs, of course. TrendyGadgetCo could use it to help customers figure out their purchases as if they’re looking right over the customer’s shoulder. Need help figuring out which HDMI port is which? Pop into the app, ring up one of TrendyGadgetCo’s experts, and have them point it out from a zillion miles away. They could say “Turn it off and back on again” while pointing at the power button.

Scott Montgomerie, CEO and Co-Founder at Scope AR, is our Developer of the Month for January. Scope AR provides advanced augmented reality (AR) solutions like training, maintenance, remote support, evaluation, quality control, and diagnostics, for industrial clients, using our Vuforia™ platform. By overlaying visual, animation-based instructions and reference material directly on physical equipment, workers can learn procedures more effectively and perform them more accurately, while improving safety. Scope AR focuses on delivering these solutions using hands-free wearable displays, but these training and maintenance solutions can also be used with more traditional tablet devices. Scott took some time from his busy scheduled to answer some questions for us, so you can get to know him and learn more about the work he does at Scope AR.

As it turns out, that's easier said than done. If the comparatively subtle frames of Google Glass are enough to cause a social uproar, what kind of hilarious reactions will Epson's spectacles get? Well, more of the same, but with less of an excuse. My trip to the local cafe was met with nervous laughter, general bewilderment and the expected barrage of questions: "Are you recording me? Is that Google Glass?" Yes and no, respectively. After a moment's awkwardness, I mumbled an apologetic explanation. "It's uh.. I'm testing it for work," I muttered, trying to describe to the confused barista just what an "Engadget" was and why it required me to wear such goofy headgear. "Well," she offered, "you look very... dapper." We both had a good laugh (as did her coworkers) and I read off my wife's drink request from the Moverio's heads-up display: green tea latte, whip cream, no sweetener. I'd worn Google Glass in public before, but this was different. The Moverio left me feeling self-conscious and embarrassed. As I endured the hushed whispers of other diners, it dawned on me why. It isn't because the BT-200, like all smart glasses, is a glaring faux pas (although it totally is); it's because I had absolutely no reason to be wearing it. Google's wearable is designed to fit into a consumer's daily life: it offers touch- and voice-controlled weather data, navigation routing and notifications from your smartphone. In contrast, Epson's glasses offer a stock Android homescreen in landscape mode and an awkward handheld control unit.

Augmented reality training firm Scope were in attendance at CES with their Epson Smart Glasses software. Displaying computer-generated instructional images on how to, for example, wire up a piece of computer hardware, Scope finds use for its technology in a range of industries. In this video, Scope's software is shown running on Epson's Moverio BT-200 Next-Generation Smart Glasses. Scope AR, which markets its product to organisations ranging from manufacturing companies to technical support operations, engineers and the military, told V3 that we could expect to see a consumer-focused product within the next two years.