NTT Data Corp announces release of remote assist system employing smart glasses

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NTT Data Corp and Newson Co Ltd have jointly developed a remote assist system employing smart glasses. The system enables infrastructure management, building management and equipment maintenance industries to improve the quality and efficiency of field service work (on-site installation, servicing and maintenance work) and provides them a means for efficient employee training.

The two companies aim to achieve sales of 10 billion yen by the end of Fiscal 2020 through providing this system.

As the number of skilled workers decreases due to the declining birthrate and aging population, while equipment requiring attention becomes more varied due to the increasing demand for services, many companies providing field services need to cope with labor shortages, transmit skills to younger employees, and improve work efficiency.

As a means of solving these issues, attention is being paid to wearable computer devices, particularly smart glasses (eyeglasses type computer) that allow hands-free operation. In the inspection of infrastructure such as roads, bridges and waterworks, and also in the inspection of equipment, the capability of collecting and analyzing various data, such as work progress information, work site images, voice/sound data, and data on the workers’ physical condition, is expected to support the improvement of work procedures, enable more precise monitoring, and facilitate the prediction and detection of equipment failure. This field work assist system is expected to enable the collection of data on field service works, which is currently impossible.

The remote assist system supports on-site work using smart glasses and smart devices. It supports the single-handed execution of on-site work by enabling the worker to access information such as work instructions, manuals and work videos and also to record work evidence (these are referred to as “functions for on-site operator”) and by enabling the worker to consult a veteran technician at another location (“functions for communication”). These functions help realize higher efficiency and higher quality of on-site work, enable quicker learning of skills by the workers, and reduce their workload.

In addition to image sharing, a function highly demanded by on-site workers, the system makes available functions such as task management (work instruction display and work evidence recording/sharing), evidence management (recording of work evidence in the form of image, audio or video data) and hands-free reading manual. With offline support, these functions remain available even without a server connection outside the wireless network service area. Data saved to the smart glass device in offline mode is transferred to the server when the device reestablishes network connection.