During the Smart Industry conference (www.smart-industry.cz), which took place on 14 November in Kopřivnice, a new product using augmented reality - Lumnio - was launched on the Czech market. The new product was developed by Pocket Virtuality, a member of the CSG Aerospace division of the CSG industrial-technology group. Lumnio enables remote service and maintenance using either digitized manuals or remote support. There is a great deal of interest in the market for this solution and Lumnio has made no secret of its global ambitions as a result.
Lumnio is a cloud-based IVR service. It simplifies and connects the field service technician with remote support. This is manifested either by showing the technician an augmented reality manual on how to proceed during a specific service action, or by connecting remotely to a more experienced technician who guides the technician during service work and checks the correctness of the actions performed. The main benefits include, for example, reduced service and maintenance costs, speeding up service, digitisation and recording of individual activities performed.
"The advantage of Lumnio is that we have the whole process covered, from capturing know-how in the field to showing users specific workflows either on tablets, phones or augmented reality glasses. No competing solution offers this comprehensiveness, in addition to a combination of 2D and 3D resolution with the ability where 3D models are not available to acquire them on the spot by scanning the device," said Robert Paskovsky, Marketing Director at Pocket Virtuality.
At the Smart Industry conference, during the first public presentation of Lumnia, Pocket Virtuality representatives presented the use of augmented reality in service and maintenance on smart glasses or tablets using specific scenarios from practice. The advantage is that the system is already being used by selected CSG group companies as well as by customers who have piloted Lumnio. An example of such a customer is Complete CZ, a company engaged in the supply and service of cooling technology, whose representative also spoke at the conference.
"We purchased the RealWear Navigator smart glasses and Lumnio solution for all our service technicians who keep our customers' cooling systems running smoothly. By digitizing our service operations, we are significantly more efficient and flexible. It has enabled us to put junior technicians on standby, and among other things, we have increased service volume by 12 percent year-on-year while reducing process costs. The benefits, which are numerous, convinced us that choosing this solution was the right step for our company," said Petr Řezníček, CEO of Complete CZ.
After the launch of Lumnio on the Czech market, it will be followed by its launch in the neighbouring countries, i.e. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. According to Pocket Virtuality representatives, this will be followed by southern European countries such as Italy and Spain, the Balkans and Western Europe. Lumnio has made no secret of its global ambitions. That's why Lumnio Ltd. was founded in the United States and under its name the product, which is offered as SaaS, i.e. software as a service, will be offered globally for download.
"The basis of our service is simplicity and user-friendliness. The customer downloads the demo version and can start using the demo version within half an hour without any additional hardware requirements. If it works well, they simply buy a license. In addition to the fact that customers can download Lumnio themselves, we will also offer sales through local partners, also because Lumnio allows integration with ERP systems that potential customers use. Thanks to preliminary research, we believe in the global success of the product and would like to generate sales of 250 million crowns already in 2028," added Bohuslav Paule.
Lumnio's creators will continue to develop and incorporate artificial intelligence into the solution. Thanks to the creation of a language model, this will be used, for example, for online translations of calls, when, for example, a specialist from the Czech Republic will be able to remotely guide a mechanic from abroad with whom he would not normally understand. Artificial intelligence should also be used to detect the performance of each service operation and confirm its correctness. The creators continue to envisage further development of 3D functionalities to lead to the recognition of a device or part of it and the design of correct procedures and documents. Work is also underway to extend augmented reality functionalities and support for new devices.
