Warehouse logistics systems find efficiency and productivity benefits in lightweight augmented-reality headsets

• Lightweight augmented-reality headsets are enhancing productivity in the logistics industry.
• AR is expected to make even more waves with next-gen headsets that use waveguides and micro-LEDs.
• As wearable-AR tech evolves, it could expand into industries like retail and service.
• This article is part of "Build IT," a series about digital tech and innovation trends that are disrupting industries.

This will be a big year for augmented and mixed reality, with Apple's Vision Pro highlighting the notion that tomorrow's computer might be strapped to your head. But AR is already disrupting how people work — not just in the office, but in the warehouse, too.

A 2017 trend report from the global logistics company DHL found that augmented-reality headsets improved the productivity of warehouse pickers by up to 15%. About four years later, Coca-Cola shared similarly impressive results, finding that AR could boost picking accuracy as high as 99.9%.

The latest AR headsets, which look similar to conventional prescription eyewear, could extend productivity benefits across every aspect of logistics — and even beyond.

"The biggest, most promising area is the supply chain, 100%," said Paul Travers, the president and CEO of Vuzix, an AR headset manufacturer founded in 1997. "The idea of helping people in the warehouse, helping people in the front of the store, and augmenting humans in the supply chain is a big deal, and with AI being used, it's going hand in glove with all of it."

Augmented reality proves its worth in the warehouse

Among the companies developing Vuzix's headsets is LogistiView, founded in 2014 to create software that supports automated decision-making and work planning in warehouses. Those decisions can be conveyed to workers through AR headsets.

When the LogistiView cofounder and CEO, Seth Patin, started the company, he said AR "was a great idea, but it wasn't exactly practical." As someone with a background in warehouse-management systems, Patin "saw the great things about them, but also the gaps," he told Business Insider.

It was tough going at first; Patin remembered early deployments, which relied on Google's ill-fated Glass headset, tended to overheat. But the hardware has improved, and LogistiView's customers now include the corporate-facilities servicer Cintas, the contact-lens manufacturer CooperVision, and the luxury-apparel brand Peter Millar. The latter has used "vision picking," which leverages AR to help workers identify items on a warehouse floor, to deal with the surge in orders each holiday season.

Brian Ballard, the senior vice president of solution delivery at TeamViewer, said AR is also a boon for workers. Providing "real-time, high-fidelity information" to fulfillment-distribution workers, he said, helps warehouse pickers remain more focused and prepared.

TeamViewer, founded in 2004 with a focus on remote technical support, offers an integrated AR platform called Frontline to help companies fix mistakes before they occur.

Under-packing a single container by 5% or 10% isn't a disaster, but the cost could be significant if that mistake is made across thousands or tens of thousands of containers. An AR headset can fix that with real-time instructions specific to the items being packed. And if an employee needs assistance, they can call on an expert to advise them remotely.

"In what we would consider assisted augmented reality, logistics is superhot. It's a very high ROI for the customers," said Ballard. "Adoption is not that difficult, and device availability is good."

Why not the Vision Pro?

The devices being used in warehouses, however, might not be what you expect.

With top-tier visual fidelity, easy-to-use interfaces, and large app ecosystems, the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest typically hog the spotlight when it comes to augmented- and virtual-reality devices. But the AR headsets at the cutting edge of logistics and manufacturing are slimmer, lighter, and more durable than the Vision Pro or Quest. The Vuzix M4000 looks more like a pair of safety glasses than something out of "Ready Player One."

The realities of warehouse work drive this difference. As Patin pointed out, AR devices are used through multiple shifts all day and worn by two or three people. "It's a tough environment," he said. Wearing the Vision Pro, which weighs as much as an iPad, would tire out workers who used the headset during an eight-hour shift. The device also needs its battery changed frequently, which could prove frustrating.

There's another, more fundamental concern: safety.

"If you're in an environment where you need protective equipment, you're not going to be allowed to look at the world through a motherboard," said Ballard.

Fully enclosed AR and VR headsets like the Vision Pro and Quest "pass through" a view of the outside world, which is captured by external cameras, but the result is grainy and narrows the user's peripheral vision. AR headsets used in a busy workplace need to keep the wearer's vision unobstructed.

That's not to say that the Vision Pro doesn't have a purpose in the workplace. TeamViewer released a version of its remote-assistance app, TeamViewer Spatial Support, alongside the Vision Pro's launch. Ballard thinks it will prove helpful not only for the workers in a factory or warehouse but for managers and experts trying to assist them remotely. It excels over other devices, he explained, by bringing "a spatial experience to the person trying to help somebody in the field."

Next-gen AR headsets go incognito

Augmented-reality headsets like the Vuzix M4000 are light enough to wear all day, but next-gen headsets will make them look like dinosaurs. New hardware will squeeze the perks of past devices into AR glasses indistinguishable from conventional eyewear. Travers said two technologies will make this possible: waveguides and micro-LED displays.

A waveguide does what it says on the tin, guiding waves from their source to a desired destination. In AR, waveguides are used to redirect light from a display to the lens of a headset. The result is a smaller optical system; it's the difference between the Vuzix M4000, which has a small cylinder attached to the headset, and the Vuzix Z100, which looks like somewhat bulky prescription eyewear.

Waveguides and micro-LED displays go together like peanut butter and jelly. A micro-LED is smaller and brighter than other displays but consumes less power. Vuzix is working with the French micro-LED designer Atomistic to build a 2K-resolution, full-color micro-LED display small enough to fit in the temple of an AR headset. A waveguide then directs the display's light from the temple and into the lens. The result is a sleek, seamless design.

The implications for AR's use in the workplace are significant. Headsets with this technology could expand AR beyond the warehouse and into industries where it's not widely used, like retail and service.

Travers told BI it's even possible to integrate waveguides directly into prescription eyewear to make the tech more seamless. "The fact that you might have the tech in them, nobody will ever know," he said. "We think it's critical for broader markets, including in enterprise, where your employees are front-line workers. They're at the front of the store. They're around people. You don't want them to look like robots."