Apple’s Recent Announcement Could Signal the Start of the Enterprise XR Arms Race

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) typically ruffles feathers in the world of software development, and WWDC24 was no exception. Spatial computing aficionados have been closely following developments surrounding the Apple Vision Pro since its February launch. Their interest was piqued when Apple announced main camera access for developers, amongst other enterprise-specific API releases including spatial barcode and QR code scanning.

By opening this camera access for the first time, Apple is enabling developers to build apps that capture the world in its entirety, including multi-modal capture such as object recognition.

Why does Apple’s announcement matter to enterprises?   

Extended reality (XR) technology wields significant power and potential, with the market currently valued at $54 billion. That said, there are still only a few successful use cases for XR technology in enterprises, especially when it comes to improving the day-to-day experience of frontline workers.

Most wearables include passthrough cameras and other sensors that interpret the information they collect via machine learning. However, while these built-in sensors may be fine for a consumer app, they aren’t accurate or reliable enough for many enterprise tasks. Apple’s announcement changes all this.

The Apple Vision Pro focuses as much on augmented reality (AR) as it does virtual reality (VR), signaling Apple’s intent for it to have practical applications in the physical world. It is a step in the right direction for extracting real value out of XR technology at the enterprise level and promises to be the best XR hardware execution yet for frontline workers.

Let’s take a closer look at this.

The Apple Vision Pro – a superpower for frontline workers? 

 On mobile devices, AR is already bringing new levels of engagement and efficiency to retail and logistics’ daily frontline operations by alleviating traditionally mundane tasks like high-volume scanning and counting, and equipping them with real-time insights for decision-making.

For instance, if an employee needs to find out how much of a particular item they need to restock, they can point a mobile device at it and AR overlays will provide the answer. It’s been an easy way for enterprises to drive productivity and retention.

However, imagine frontline retail workers wearing the Apple Vision Pro now that main camera access has been opened and developers can start building more apps.

It might sound like science fiction, but store associates will be able to capture an entire shelf in-store to get an instant update on what needs to be restocked and how much – rather than checking items one by one which is mentally taxing and error-prone. Without having to hold a device, workers can use both hands to select products quickly without needing to stop to record completed tasks. 

Similarly, XR-powered wearables could help improve picking tasks in warehouses. Add in the Apple Vision Pro’s hand tracking, and these physical actions can also lead to automatic data updates – for example, a warehouse worker picking a box and the system automatically registering the item as having been selected.

An average worker may pick 60-80 products an hour so time savings of even a few seconds per item add up to big efficiency gains at scale across the entire workforce.

Full steam ahead for enterprise XR… or not quite? 

Unfortunately, there’s a lot that most businesses still need to do before they can embrace the true power of XR. To get value out of wearables, enterprises must close the gap between physical and digital information.

This means addressing a key missing element of their digital transformation. Digitizing information about physical objects or moving data from the real world to the virtual one depends on the data being collected, processed, and connected effectively.

Many businesses are still struggling with this component, especially in retail and logistics where information is often siloed across departments or systems because of manual data entry and legacy collection processes. As a result, workers aren’t able to receive actionable insights when they need it.

Vision for a bright future 

Apple’s announcement at WWDC24 marked an exciting milestone. The XR arms race starts now, and enterprises need to be prepared to be able to benefit from it. As they look to adopt XR technology into their frontline workflows, adding automated data intelligence will be key to creating a fully immersive, hands-free environment for their workers that’s functional and fun to use. 

We’re still some way off from widespread integration of XR-equipped devices on the frontlines, but keep your eyes peeled in 2024, as it’ll likely continue to be a groundbreaking year for the technology at the enterprise level.

About the Author:

As CTO and Co-founder, Christian Floerkemeier is responsible for Scandit’s product strategy and roadmap and is the technical lead behind Scandit’s patented Barcode Scanner technology. Before founding the company, Floerkemeier was the Associate Director of the Auto-ID Lab at MIT and a member of the MIT research team that developed the RFID technology which is today in use in major supply chains. He was also the Technical Program Shair of the Internet of Things Conference in 2008 and IEEE RFID 2009 and General Chair of IEEE RFID 2011.