A technological breakthrough in the field of remote assistance on escalators and moving walks

Recently there was a lot of talk about Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Metaverse.  Especially since October 2021, when Mark Zuckerberg announced the renaming of Facebook in Meta and indicated the Metaverse as the future of Facebook and of the digital world in general. An Internet that immerses us in a new reality, beyond the one we are actually living in (“meta” in Greek means precisely “beyond”).

This technology does not only impact our way of life as consumers, but the way we work and carry out our business activities.

In the manufacturing sector, for example, technology is making virtual and remote interactions possible and this opens up new perspectives in the field of maintenance and assistance.

Here, we want to focus on the evolution of technologies in the field of vertical transportation in general and that of escalators and moving walkways in particular.

Assisted Reality in the escalators and moving walkways industry

“Assisted Reality” is something already available. We can define it as “an anticipation” of what will be the most advanced (and still to be refined) “Augmented Reality”.

The “Assisted Reality” already allows a dramatic shift in the traditional maintenance and assistance operations.

SMI Italy has recently started a positive collaboration with Univet, the Italian company that created the first and only Augmented Reality safety glasses in the world.

These are glasses that:

• are certified according to EN166 and ANSI Z87.1 standards;
• respond positively to the highest safety tests;
• are classified as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

But, practically speaking, what can be done with these augmented reality safety glasses?

1- EFFICIENT MAINTENANCE ERROR-FREE

The staff can follow the procedures popping up on his glasses, without being distracted and without losing visibility of the surrounding world. The hands are free, the efficiency increases by 30%, the error reduction rate is close to 100%, the time for carrying out the operations is also reduced by 25%.

2- HANDS- FREE OPERATIONS

The operator near the installation will be able to view key information directly on his glasses, always keeping his hands free.

This allows the technician to carry out the work directly in the point that requires the most attention with both his hands free,  maximizing the efficiency of the required task.

3- EQUIPMENTS’ DATA IN SIGHT

With augmented reality viewers, the management of installations reaches the maximum efficiency: installations’ data, breakdowns and maintenance issues can be displayed directly by the operator when needed, without disturbing the activities and without requiring the operator to search for a device on which to view key information.

4- INTELLIGENT ASSISTANCE

Experienced staff can guide an inexperienced operator in the field via a simple internet connection. You can also send written messages that your colleague can see directly on his viewers. It is no longer necessary to send highly skilled and valuable personnel throughout the world. The presence of a simultaneous translator also makes it possible to communicate between two operators speaking different languages.

Huge benefits

The list of benefits related to this innovation are potentially infinite. Let’s think only the proactivity or even just reactivity in case of standstills or potentially critical situations.

How important is it for the customer to be able to count on a supplier able to identify the problem quicky and intervene in very short time?

With the remote assistance technology via smart glasses, the goal of ensuring a very high availability of the systems is reasonably achievable in short time by both the maintenance technician and the customer. The opportunity for a win-win strategy for both counterparts is huge.

SMI-Italia provides qualified remote assistance on escalators and moving walkways both in Italy and abroad using Univet Optical Technologies technology.