“We are building Software for revolutionizing Operations, Maintenance & Support using Augmented Reality & AI” - Tarun Mehta, CEO, AR Genie Inc

In an interview with the GST Media Agency, at the Consumer Electronics Show 2024, “ Tarun Mehta, CEO, AR Genie Inc”, explained about AR Genie’s innovative Augmented Reality Solutions. 

He discussed the challenges of remote support and how Augmented Reality and Generative AI overcome them by offering real-time remote assistance and work instructions for industrial operations, maintenance, training, and tech support, empowering workers in the field. 

He further mentioned how Computer Vision powered AR Self-Services help consumers self-onboard or troubleshoot any error on their devices independently on their own without any expert help. Below is a brief overview of the interview: 

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 What have you brought to this show—what products, what solutions?‍

“So we have three products out here, and you can see one is AR Genie remote assistance, AR Genie self-service, and AR Genie Work Assist for Operations and Maintenance for Industry 4.0.”

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What technology defines these products?

“Yes, we use Augmented reality and AI. In AI, we use Generative AI and Computer Vision. So what augmented reality does is it enhances your view of the world. So, for example, if I'm wearing AR glasses, it will show virtual objects in front of me. We are using the same technology for industrial operations, maintenance, and support. So if you look at a machine, for example, it will tell you the details of the machine, how do you support it, how do you maintain the machine, etc.”

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So what applications have you invite? What do you start with, and what other next thing?

“So one of the applications we use is for remote assistance. So in remote assistance for bigger machines, If a machine goes down, you have to fly an engineer to the field, and it's very expensive. Just imagine an engineer coming from Japan to India. It's very expensive for someone to fly. What if you have the technology to assist that engineer to help support the person on the field without flying? That's where we come in. We provide the equipment and the tools to do that. And the way it works is these people can wear glasses, the workers on the field can wear glasses, and whatever they are seeing is what the engineer is seeing on his desk. And then he can guide the person by writing virtual instructions in his field of view.”

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So what other fields or applications, from where customers can benefit from it?

“So one more field we have is for industrial operations and maintenance. A typical factory systems are really complex and it takes a worker about a year to learn those systems because they are really complex. And what we can do is because we are wearing these AR glasses, the instructions will come in front of the worker, and he can see on virtually the instructions how to operate a machine. And what we do is we break the instruction into smaller steps. So, for example, step one: do this; step two: do this. Again, these instructions are visible virtually in front of the worker, and he's hands-free because he's wearing the glasses. If he has a tablet, then he has to look at the tablet, hold the tablet with the glasses he is hands free, and he can see how to operate a machine.”

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Okay, So this solution sounds like a B2B solution. Although this is a consumer show, what was the reason behind your decision to be part of the show?

“So we are; some of our products are for consumers for companies selling to consumer devices, even though we are B2B. Some of the companies that we sell to the audiences that are here. So that's one of the reasons we came here, because the whole and then the CES is the best show in the world, you know, everyone knows that, and you got a big audience.”

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So can you tell us specifically more about consumer solution?

“Sure, sure. So I'll tell you about the solution we have for self-service. For example, if you have a router at home and if it is not working, the way you get help is you have to make a phone call or if some worker comes to your home to fix that router. Now we have a self-service solution where the customer can troubleshoot the problem themselves, and the system guides them on how to troubleshoot the problem. And it's really easy to use now the way the system is very smart, it is able to read the lighting patterns on the device. So for example, if the light is blinking red, it can know that, oh you forgot to connect the WAN cable. So that’s one solution we have for end consumers.”

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Okay, is it already tested? Is it already deployed?

“We are deploying it right now. We are working with a big partner in Europe to deploy it.”

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What about the United States?

"In the US, we are working with startups, for example, for drones. That's one company. Also, we have a partnership with the Magic Leap and we are also working with manufacturing companies in the US.”

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You are not in the US yet but you are planning to be here?

“We are based out of the US; our company is based out of San Jose.”

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So what other applications? What about Healthcare? How applicable is your solution?

"So in healthcare, you can use the remote assistance, for example, for supporting medical devices. So if you have big medical devices, they go wrong. You can use our remote assistance application to get on help on fixing it.”

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So, what kind of content you need to create for your solutions? Who creates them?‍

“So this is a very good question. The content can be created by the customer. We don't need to create content for them. And our content can be images, videos, pictures, or 3D files. You can add any of that content. And some of this is important for manufacturers because they want to see 3D models of what they are manufacturing in front of the user. So when the user is wearing the AR glasses, they see the 3D model in front of them.”

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So does your solution use user generated content or can you generate the content?

“We don't generate the content.” So it's user generated content. “Exactly.”

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So how reliable and secure your solution is, how do you deal with security?

“So security, the way we deal with security is that we are cloud-based and we follow all the security rules. But if someone is more security-conscious, we can have an on-premise deployment as well. So the system lives on its premises and is not reliant on the cloud. And some of our customers demand that. So we can do an on-premises installation for the customer as well.”

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So what about reliability?

“It's very, very reliable.”

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In the Consumer Technology Association, we define three major trends in technology development. Those are Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, & Inclusivity. What do you think about these trends and what do you do?‍

“ Okay. So I think for sustainability, you need to have systems, and you need really good customer service. So people don't throw away those systems they buy. And that's where we come in. We provide tools to provide really good customer service with remote visual assistance.” And for AI, we use the AI as well, like our, product team told about troubleshooting that is using AI to help self-diagnose the problem with the customer."

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And inclusivity? Like it's about who can work with your devices? How trained the person should be?‍

"So if you are typically in a factory, it takes about a year to train a person. And with our devices or with our software, you can reduce the training from one year to maybe six months or seven months, and you can make the worker much more efficient. So it's a big problem in certain countries, like Japan or even in the US where it's harder to find skilled workers. And that's where we come in and we provide tools to make training much easier.”

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