The deep tech company Viewpointsystem headquartered in Vienna, Austria, develops and produces smart glasses based on eye tracking. Viewpointsystem has a background of more than 20 years in vision research. In 2016, the company launched its first head-worn eye tracking solution for industrial and other commercial applications. In July 2020, the new “VPS 19” smart glasses, which are specially designed for remote support applications, went into series production. They have already been delivered to industrial customers on three continents.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Viewpointsystem: Key applications of our smart glasses are remote support, machine maintenance, barcode scanning, training and documentation and consulting.
To date, we have implemented more than 500 national and international projects in various industries, including manufacturing, mobility & transportation, security & military, construction, marketing, research & development. Our solutions and products are currently in use by more than 100 commercial customers worldwide including global enterprises such as Heineken, Coca Cola, Jordans Dorset Ryvita and Takenaka.
E.E: What’s the news for 2020 about new products?
Viewpointsystem: Since a few weeks we produce our new smart glasses VPS 19. They are a cost-efficient aid for very precise remote support and live consulting between frontline workers and remote experts – a highly demanded application.
Integrated eye tracking makes the VPS 19 highly efficient: The remote expert sees exactly where the on-site person is looking and, moreover, what he or she is actually perceiving and what not. This enables the remote expert to provide super fast and super precise instructions and assistance to the on-site staff in real time via audio, augmented information or annotations. Thanks to eye tracking, the interaction overcomes language barriers and prevents misunderstandings.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
Viewpointsystem: We are experiencing a high demand for remote support solutions, especially now in times of Covid-19. A lot of companies are not allowed to travel at the moment, many employees still work from their home office. On the other hand, the companies are under pressure, they have to keep their production processes running and, in return, constantly maintain their plants and machines. With remote support solutions, the companies also save travel time and costs and reduce their CO2 footprint.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
Viewpointsystem: Remarkably, the crisis is increasing the demand for digitization and solutions like smart glasses. However, although smart glasses are being used more and more in enterprises, they are still far from being a proven everyday solution.
When deciding on a system, we always recommend companies to focus on practical, scalable, future-proof solutions. Before purchasing, it is worthwhile to check carefully whether the preferred smart glasses may involve hidden investments and possible follow-up costs.
We also recommend that production employees try out the preferred system under real working conditions before purchasing. Remember that even the most advanced technology is useless if the user does not accept it. Clumsy “face computers” causing fatigue will not be worn by the employees working in production in the long run.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
Viewpointsystem: In demand are comfortable, lightweight smart glasses that look good, have the widest possible field of vision and can be worn for hours just like normal glasses.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2020?
Viewpointsystem: We expect that smart glasses will continue to gain ground in the industry, especially in remote support, training and documentation. In the B2C sector, however, it will be years before smart glasses are developed in such a way that they are accepted by consumers. But B2B will pave the way for B2C.
