Meet Upskill: HERMES AWARD Finalist Takes Center Stage At HANNOVER MESSE 2018

By Larry Turner, President and CEO, HANNOVER FAIRS USA

The HERMES AWARD is an industrial technology prize awarded at HANNOVER MESSE, the manufacturing technology trade show held annually in Hannover, Germany. The award is open to all companies and institutions that exhibit at HANNOVER MESSE, however, only five companies are selected for a chance to win the prestigious award. This year, Washington, D.C.-based Upskill, a provider of enterprise Augmented Reality (AR) solutions that connect industrial workers with each other and with critical information on and off the factory floor, is the only American finalist. Upskill will take center stage along with other HERMES AWARD finalists from around the world during the HANNOVER MESSE 2018 opening ceremony on April 22.

For the second year in a row, Upskill travels to HANNOVER MESSE to exhibit in the show’s Digital Factory display area focused on Integrated Processes and IT Solutions. Upskill will demonstrate and discuss the real world success of its refined version of the company’s Skylight AR platform that boosts machine operator productivity and collaboration.

Founded in 2010 as a spin out from the Department Of Defense, Upskill (formerly APX Labs) has 65 employees, $60 million in capital raised to date and a host of industry awards, including 2016 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, 2016 IDC Innovators and 2014 Gartner Cool Vendor.

The Skylight AR Platform

In 2017, Upskill unveiled a new version of its flagship enterprise AR platform, Skylight, nominated for the HERMES AWARD 2018. This release offers features designed to lower the complexity of building, supporting and scaling AR.  

The company also launched Skylight Live which offers enhanced live video streaming capabilities and enhanced interoperability with enterprise IT architectures.

Skylight is the real human connection to the Internet of Things (IoT). Unlike traditional information technology used in industrial settings that often serves as a process reference tool,  Skylight is specifically designed to empower the workforce.

To accomplish this, the technology delivers on several capabilities: 1) connecting to customer data systems such as ERP, Warehouse Management, and Manufacturing Execution Systems; 2) authoring the data-driven workflows that deliver line-of-sight instructions to workers; 3) managing the delivery of information across a multitude of AR devices in a hardware agnostic fashion with a user interface that includes voice control; 4) capturing pertinent information on task execution, time spent, errors and corrections, as well as job documentation such as photos or videos; and, 5) allowing users to collaborate with colleagues and remote experts via calls, streaming video, and collaboration tools.

By utilizing Skylight on smart glasses, workers can look up product schematics, step through complex workflows, engage experts or supervisors from wherever they are in the factory or thousands of miles away, monitor data from nearby equipment, and record their best-practices for documentation or to share with colleagues.

General Electric (GE) is using Upskill’s Skylight AR platform with smart glasses to drive performance improvement across seven businesses at 12 locations globally. These AR implementations span from topbox cabinet wiring, to warehouse picking and kitting, to field repair and maintenance.

Most recently, GE Aviation tested Skylight on Glass combined with a WiFi-enabled torque wrench to optimally tighten bolts while performing routine assembly and maintenance tasks on jet engines.

In addition to the success Upskill has had with its GE Augmented Reality deployment, the company is currently partnering  with many large multinational companies, including Boeing, Coca-Cola and Telstra to name a few.

The Road To Hannover Messe and HERMES AWARD Finals

“We decided to participate in HANNOVER MESSE for the first time in 2017 because we realized the benefits of exhibiting our Augmented Reality platform at this major global industrial technology trade show that attracts the companies we want to reach,” says Christine Bohle Boyd, Vice President of Marketing at Upskill. “There is a ton of momentum and adoption of new technology in Germany and across the world during and after the show, and we know we will be interacting with industry influencers and thought leaders on the show floor.”

Upskill’s Skylight platform met all of the HERMES AWARD’s evaluation criteria, including its technological innovativeness; the benefits it brings to industry, the environment and society.