Almer attracts Huber + Suhner with its augmented reality glasses

Testing new products with potential customers early is part of a startup’s development process. While some companies run pilot projects on a small scale, others are able to win renowned companies to support their journey early on. This was the case for Almer Technologies, the newly established Swiss startup which has won the Swiss industrial company Huber+Suhner for a pilot project.

Almer Technologies has developed smart augmented reality glasses that allow industrial companies, laboratories, logistics centres to provide remote assistance and support. With the glasses (also referred to as the Go-Pro for mechanics) worn by the mechanic abroad, an expert in Switzerland can observe a machine at the production facility abroad to provide onsite experts with precise instructions that can be implemented instantly during the interactions. Besides addressing the geographical barriers, the AR glasses will enable companies to make their local plants more efficient by allowing employees of industrial companies to view checklists to ensure all required steps to run a particular process or task have been implemented.

Commenting on the peculiarities of the solution, Sebastian Beetschen, CEO of Almer Technologies, said: “The glasses are much lighter, cheaper and easier to use than conventional solutions on the market – for example, Halogens’ maximum wearing time is limited to two to three hours. The Almer glasses can be used for the entire working day without recharging. In addition, the glasses can read QR codes to retrieve and display documentation automatically then synchronise it before or after a mechanic’s visit. In this way, Almer also promotes the paperless work process.”

First pilot project with renowned Swiss company
In the newly launched pilot project, Huber+Suhner will use Almer’s AR glasses to reduce the foreign flights of its application engineers by 50%. While the company sets a foundation to roll out the solution for its global support service Almer will use the pilot phase to obtain feedback from customers. Huber+Suhner is a Switzerland based global company active in the industrial, communication and transportation sectors. The company has a global production network, combined with subsidiaries and agencies in over 80 countries and production plants worldwide.

Holger Haussmann, Head Process Engineering LF at Huber+Suhner, said: “With the augmented reality glasses from Almer, we kill two birds with one stone; on the one hand, we are virtually very fast and close to the customer and are able to work on technical solutions jointly. On the other hand, we reduce the environmental impact and cut costs. Digitalisation thus brings real added value to our customers, partners and us”.

Schaltag– a leading company in industrial electromechanical, will also test the glasses to increase the productivity of their production in Switzerland. During the pilot studies, Almer plans to produce the first 500 prototypes between November 2021 and February 2022 as it nears market launch in the summer of 2022.