John Arczynski, Director of Operations at Index AR Solutions, presented at the Utilities Technology Council™ (UTC) Region 3 Fall Meeting in Williamsburg. During his session, “Augmented Reality: Ready Now,” Arczynski explained that when applied correctly in the industrial workplace, augmented reality (AR) can have positive impacts regarding safety, error reductions, knowledge transfer, cost and schedule.

UTC is a global trade association dedicated to serving critical infrastructure providers. UTC Region 3 serves the southeastern U.S., including the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Intrigued by the power of AR and the results Index AR Solutions is delivering for other customers, nearly 80 utility representatives and other industry executives gathered for Arczynski’s presentation, held close by the sold-out exhibit floor.

Arczynski described some high-level examples of client success stories and drilled down to an individual use case for Ameren Corporation, a major U.S. public utility holding company that sought a more efficient way to troubleshoot and replace thousands of routers and modems in its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).

Ameren chose to have these tasks performed by their linemen rather than contractors, but they needed a tool to help their linemen perform this new task safely and efficiently with minimal quality escapes.

Arczynski described how Index AR worked closely with Ameren subject matter experts to create a tablet-based AR app that overlays each step-by-step task over the actual modems, routers and collectors in the field – giving workers a precise visual representation of what to do and how to do it.

According to studies overseen by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the impact of the AR app is significant, with Ameren benefiting from a dramatic decrease in quality escapes and a significant reduction in the time it takes for a new person to complete the AMI equipment work.

EPRI is in the process of publishing a white paper that details the significant improvements it observed.

For more information on the growing library of solutions Index AR built for Ameren and other major companies, click here.