On April 13, PTC announced the newest addition to its Vuforia augmented reality (AR) enterprise platform, the Vuforia Engine Area Targets. It is the first offering to support the creation of immersive AR experiences for spaces up to 300,000 square feet. Through the use of Area Targets, industrial organizations can create AR interfaces within their facilities to enable employees to better engage with machinery and understand how the environment is being utilized.
With support from Matterport and Leica 3D scanners, along with NavVis’s indoor mobile mapping systems, Area Targets users can generate photorealistic, survey-grade digital twins, empowering them to create digital canvases of spaces such as factories, malls, or offices for advanced spatial computing applications.
A key capability of PTC's spatial computing vision
As one of the leading emerging technologies, spatial computing powers digital twin renderings to support the activities of machines and people, as well as environments in which they operate. When deployed across the industrial enterprise, spatial computing enables seamless interactions between employees through AR, enabling companies to close the loop on performance management, improve machine learning capabilities with spatial analytics, and optimize design and factory floor operations.
“Vuforia Engine Area Targets is a one-of-a-kind solution for large, persistent AR experiences,” said Mike Campbell, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Augmented Reality, PTC. “Whether users are looking to add navigation to their office building or view in-context data on a factory floor, Area Targets is the answer. We’re pleased to be expanding such a key capability and component of PTC’s spatial computing vision.”
The release of Vuforia Engine Area Targets marks the second Vuforia offering to deploy spatial computing in the form of area targets within the industrial setting, the first being the Vuforia Spatial Toolbox platform. Combined with the Vuforia Chalk, Vuforia Expert Capture, and Vuforia Studio AR products, the Vuforia AR Enterprise Platform provides a robust set of offerings that enables users to increase workforce safety and efficiency, improve customer experiences, and reduce costs.
