Can the Field Service and Maintenance Industry Save the Google Glass?

While Google's announcement that it was stopping the production of its latest wearable technology product-the Google Glass-came as a shock to many due to Google's success track record, other tech observers had long since predicted its fall due to the simple fact that not everyone was keen to enhance their natural abilities for sight by integrating a wearable computer interface to aid its 'search' abilities. This oversight by Google led to the manufacturing of the Google glass for mass consumption, instead of picking out specific industries that would require such technology and then market its uses to them.

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So on January 15, 2015, the tech giant announced its plans to temporarily halt the production of smart glasses in other to carry out a comprehensive restructuring of the Google X project. This restructuring would include giving the Google X production team the autonomy it desperately needs to chart its course differently from Google's other search related programs. And for lovers of the Glass, this decision should be viewed as the fresh start needed to define the product's consumer base and bring it to those who really need them.

Field Service, Maintenance and the Glass

Field services are one of the departments set to benefit from this boom and according to Gartner-a research firm-organization in the field service industry who welcomed the use of smart glasses is set to increase from 1 percent to a whopping 10 percent in the next 5 years. This exponential increase is in part due to how the available features on the Glass can improve working conditions and also cut service costs by a billion dollars.

The research showed that the use of smart glasses in this instruction-based field would definitely be welcome because employees and service men can now easily refresh their memories by simply watching 'how to' illustrations, while working on any project irrespective of the location.

Creating a Virtual Building Information Modeling System

The video recording and communication features available on the Google glass also makes collaboration between engineers and instructors working on similar projects possible. Therefore, the need to fly in consultants to remote locations during a maintenance project would be drastically reduced as every party involved can share information via a virtual space. The collaboration the Google Glass aids would save firms thousands of dollars as well as increase productivity and time management on the field for consultants can now keep tabs on multiple projects and deliver timely instructions in real time.

A research firm--Metso Corp--took the navigation and time management opportunities smart glasses can provide a step further by using the Google glass as a project management tool which has the ability to introduce service engineers to new facilities and projects. According to this video, a technician simply needs to put on the Glass and the information on how to navigate through a facility as well as information on spoilt equipment will immediately be provided. The technician can also receive a live feed of information or instructions on how to proceed with the repairs.

The possibilities are indeed many and if Google truly cleans up their act by integrating the right app into the Google glass, the field of maintenance and servicing will definitely provide them with the needed avenue for expansion.