4 criteria for choosing the right smart glasses

Today smart glasses are no rarity in industry, and they are already used in many sectors. Smart glasses and support through augmented reality are a solution for a lot of different use cases, for example, for training, in the warehouse, during the assembly process, in production, maintenance of machines as well as in customer service.

More and more companies discover the advantages of using the new technology and consider implementing it. One step, which often is unclear, is choosing the right smart glasses model. Here are some insights into four aspects that are relevant for decision-making:

1. THE WORK SITUATION IN WHICH THE SMART GLASSES ARE USED

One of the most important factors for deciding on smart glasses is the work situation of the worker in need of support. Companies should consider the following aspects:

• Light conditions can influence the filming and scanning possibilities of the camera and the quality of AR elements
• Noise pollution can be critical for voice control and speech-to-text features
• Dust, dirt, and moisture are critical factors which require different safety classification of the glasses (e.g. IP 66 / IP67)
• Ambient temperature (e.g. in cold storage or steel production) demand for a corresponding temperature range of the smart glasses
• Explosion risk (e.g. in paint shops or gas production) require ATX certified smart glasses
• Movement patterns of workers (e.g. picking from low shelves) should not be limited by smart glasses

2. FEATURES OF SMART GLASSES

The characteristics of smart glasses differ in technical properties. Companies need to recognize, which requirements they are looking for and what is important to their workers’ workday. The following questions can help to figure out which features are needed:

• How robust should the glasses be?
• How heavy are the smart glasses? Can they be worn over a whole shift by workers?
• Is the user’s view restricted by wearing smart glasses, and is it still suitable for certain dangerous situations?
• How good is the camera resolution?
• How is the quality of the microphone for voice recognition?
• How good is the performance of Wi-Fi module?
• How good is the battery capacity, and what options for charging are accessible (built-in rechargeable battery or replaceable battery)?
• Which operating system is used?

3. SUPPORT SERVICES

Next to technical features, the accompanying support features are a key factor to make a decision on which smart glasses are suitable for the deployment. This concerns, for example, the administrability of hardware or the technical support (e.g. 24-hour worldwide hardware swap service). Companies have to choose suitable models.

4. CHOOSING COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS – NOT STAND-ALONES

Most of the time, smart glasses come with only basic software solutions from manufacturers. Since the software performance is critical, it ultimately influences the choice of glasses. After all, every pair of smart glasses is just as good as the local software that supports the use case best. It is always important to choose a holistic system and not only one type of smart glasses.