Boeing Uses “Extended Reality” to Dramatically Improve Production and Training

Published Thursday July 26, 2018

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Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners, defense, space and security systems, and service provider of aftermarket support. And they’re no slouch when it comes to implementing cutting-edge technologies either. In this article by Brian Laughlin – Technical Fellow, Technical Architecture / Strategic Planning, he describes how XR, or “extended reality” helps Boeing reduce manufacturing errors, improve quality and lower production costs.

Some interesting quotes from the article:

  • “Results showed that users of the AR system required less time to complete the assembly—and made significantly fewer assembly errors. Overall, the study witnessed an almost 90 percent improvement in first-time quality between desktop and augmented reality modes, with AR reducing time to build the wing by about 30%. Researchers also found that when instructions are presented with augmented reality, people gain a faster understanding and need less convincing of the correctness of tasks.”
  • “Preliminary results suggest the certification costs for training new pilots could be cut by as much as 70% by reducing full-motion simulator time and making it possible for student pilots to learn and practice fundamental piloting skills remotely.”
  • “Preliminary testing of the new XR-enhanced process provided overall process improvements of about 40%, and even better performance is expected with continual refinements going forward. The team was recognized as a runner up for Boeing’s annual “engineer of the year award.””

Proper implementation of these technologies requires a diverse development team of mechanical or aerospace engineers, software and app developers, digital artists, and AR/MR/VR developers. Without this skill set diversity the end product could end up technically inaccurate, unrealistic in appearance, or not function properly. Kinetic Vision is fortunate to have the necessary in-house skills to successfully complete augmented, mixed or virtual reality systems for almost any end-user application. Learn more about Kinetic Vision’s expertise in virtual experiences and VR training.

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