Why Mixed Reality Is Key To The Future Of Engineering

The labour market in Britain is undergoing unprecedented challenges as workers choose to retire early. In fact, figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that economic inactivity increased by 522,000 people from October to December 2021 when compared to the same period in 2019. 94% of these people were aged 50 or over, therefore contributing to the large majority of this change.

With many of these retirees accumulating a significant amount of savings, and supported by substantial final-pay pensions, a number are also walking away with valuable knowledge and expertise that’s been left unshared, creating a severe shortage of experts across major industries, including engineering. It’s a shifting market that’s causing alarm among business leaders.

Ensuring that knowledge isn’t lost

Few organisations take the steps to ensure comprehensive knowledge transfer before workers move on, and this undocumented knowledge is highly problematic for the company. This issue is hugely exacerbated by the pace of change in sectors such as defence, utilities, energy and industrial engineering, which are typically defined by a multitude of unplanned scenarios and major complexity in the tasks that engineers have to complete. It all comes together to create a worrying set of circumstances for firms.

Additionally, with technology now evolving and changing all the time, engineering knowledge has a shelf life in terms of value and relevance. Having the ability to adapt to changes is a skill that inexperienced workers are less likely to possess.

The more experienced, and typically older, employees are those best placed to do so due to their comprehensive knowledge of processes. Younger engineers certainly have the ability to learn to adapt quickly, but must establish a sufficient ‘experience baseline’ first.

This is where technology comes in to empower workers in engineering and ensure they have a key role to play, regardless of their existing knowledge or skill level. The right solution can prove to be the perfect compliment to their existing cognitive capabilities and support them in successfully delivering in complicated situations and dynamic environments.

Moving forward with mixed reality

Mixed reality solutions bring physical reality and digital content together to enable engineers to interact with both virtual objects and machinery in the real world, which is helpful for a range of situations. For example, remote workers can easily establish a secure video and audio call with an experienced industry expert to gather assistance when a complex problem leaves them stuck.

The expert can be situated anywhere geographically, and can view what the remote worker sees while using holographic assets to support the task. At the same time, the user stays hands-free and heads-up for the duration.

For the most complex of operations, adopting this approach is highly-effective. Mixed reality technology allows engineers to deal with any problems in real-time, meaning equipment downtime can be eliminated and time-to-resolution can be reduced. In addition, mixed reality means expert engineers can avoid time-consuming travel to site to help a junior worker or the need to conduct it themselves.

With 71% of the UK engineering workforce reporting that internal skills gaps are down to missing engineering or technical skills, it’s critical that junior workers retain knowledge and develop their abilities to help encourage growth of skilled engineers in the talent pool.

With mixed reality, the worker is able to take on new information more easily than if they were reading a manual before undertaking the task, particularly if it’s their first time before completing an operation.

A look into use cases

Use cases across the engineering sector can range from anything to the repair of a bagging machine on a production line right through to troubleshooting issues in the assembly of an entire satellite. Whatever the application, the focus should be on ensuring the job is completed efficiently, with the skill development of more inexperienced engineers an additional benefit. In fact, mixed reality can, and already is used for routine inspection and maintenance of equipment by a number of organisations, even in the most complex of tasks.

As is typically the case with the deployment of  new technology, some workers may approach the use of mixed reality with hesitancy due to a lack of exposure to such devices previously. However, for anyone that’s used a smartphone, it’s likely to be an intuitive experience.

There is an onus however on workers to try the new technology. A way of encouraging adoption among the workforce as a whole is with enthusiasts within the business who take on the technology and then demonstrate its advantages to others, encouraging a viral effect.

The other challenge and concern among organisations is likely to be around the cost associated with implementing the technology. Regular use however ensures that any outlay is paid back quickly. It’s also important to remember that the return on investment is also enhanced by the fact that experts no longer need to travel to different sites.

A technology that’s here to stay

In the industrial engineering sector, mixed reality is an emerging technology that looks set to stay. A long-held concern among experienced staff has been how to support younger, less experienced workers in carrying out inspection, maintenance and repair tasks. Mixed reality provides the answer. The change over recent years however has been that engineering businesses are now understanding the numerous use cases for the technology.

Now, the communication between vendors and customers is gaining traction as use cases are being defined and operationalising of the solution and application takes place, particularly in worker support, the ability to fix problems and facilitation of knowledge transfer.

In the coming years, the benefits of mixed reality technology will become more apparent. Battery life will improve, hardware performance will increase and headsets will become smaller. Engineers will therefore be more likely to use the devices on a daily basis, rather than just for particular scenarios.

Also crucial to future uptake will be the development of 5G and the rollout of low earth orbit satellites. As connectivity improves, richer applications and broader use cases will become reality, enabling a bright future for engineering.