Williamsburg, Va. – Faced with mounting competitive pressure from alternative energy sources and changing employee demographics, utilities of all sizes are turning to augmented reality (AR) to empower workers and realize significant new efficiencies in their business operations. That was a key theme at the Spring 2018 Index AR Retreat for Utilities, an intimate gathering of industry executives and thought leaders who shared success stories about the important role AR is currently playing in their organizations and discussed ways to promote even broader industry adoption.

Featuring hands-on product demonstrations and forums for in-depth dialog, the event was the first of two such retreats now hosted annually by Index AR Solutions, a leading provider of AR applications for enterprise.

Several discussions explored how electrical utilities are facing strong downward pressure on revenues from non-traditional energy generators like solar and wind, along with rising demand for energy efficiency and conservation. Utilities are keen on finding innovative ways to boost operational efficiency to offset any decreases in revenue.

In addition, utilities – like many other industries – are faced with shifting demographics and a large percentage of their workforce approaching retirement. Recruiting, hiring, training, employee retention and knowledge transfer are more important than ever to establishing a quality workforce.

Index AR apps are delivered from a mobile tablet – enabling tribal knowledge and best practices to be shared with younger generations of workers through the modern learning tools they are accustomed to using.

Kevin DeGraw, Vice President of Corporate Operations Oversight at Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE), a large U.S. electric and natural gas utility, participated in a discussion during the Index AR retreat about solutions that can help address the pressing human resource challenges utilities face today.

“Index AR, and technologies such as AR/VR, give utilities the opportunity to engage the workforce in a way that they are not otherwise prepared to do, and can help utilities maintain or improve our costs so that we can keep rates affordable for our customers,” said DeGraw.

Together with teaming partner Newport News Shipbuilding, Index AR has developed and deployed more than 90 AR applications to solve enterprise challenges. A number of Index AR applications were demonstrated at the event, including the recently launched LineAssist SuperApp®, which uses AR to improve the safety, capability and productivity of electrical utility linemen in the field.

Index AR Retreats are specifically designed to promote dialog with client and partner attendees – enabling them to share implementation experiences and best practices in a spirit of collaboration. The Index AR Spring Retreat places special focus on utilities, while the Fall Retreat showcases multiple industries.

“Utilities are facing unprecedented top line and bottom line pressure in their core business,” said Scott Sommers, a former energy banker with more than 20 years working with large utilities, now serving as Vice President of Client and Corporate Development at Index AR Solutions. “Our Spring retreat really underscored how Index AR apps are a tangible investment that utilities can make to counter these significant challenges.”

For more information, visit indexarsolutions.com.

 About Index AR Solutions

Index AR Solutions is a leading American enterprise augmented reality (AR) solutions provider, creating applications that make workers more capable and productive. The privately held company offers custom and off-the-shelf AR applications, proprietary AR software, and client retreats. In collaboration with clients, Index is also building a library of SuperApp® AR products to address common workforce challenges across industry. Index AR is hardware agnostic, delivering quantifiable results across all the major mobile platforms, with clients reporting two to four times increases in worker productivity. For more information about Index AR Solutions, visit www.IndexARSolutions.com.