LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CES
– Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), the Sketch-to-Scale™
solutions provider that designs and builds Intelligent Products
for a Connected World™, has introduced an augmented reality
(AR) reference design to reduce time to market for companies making
AR devices for enterprise and consumer applications.
The Flex AR reference design is a complete product
specification, including a head-mounted display (HMD), an external
processing unit (EPU) and a gesture-based software platform to
manage interaction. By customizing the rugged, stable and
high-quality Flex AR reference design versus developing their own
AR hardware, companies can significantly reduce product development
costs and quickly scale manufacturing.
The Flex AR platform incorporates cutting edge technology from
partners including the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform from
Qualcomm, designed to deliver full-color, 1080p augmented reality
experiences. The Snapdragon 835 draws 25 percent less power than
previous models, using an advanced 10-nanometer design. Atheer
Inc., a leading provider of AR solutions, supplies the AR
interaction module and enterprise software support.
Total spending on AR/VR products and services is expected to
soar from $11.4 billion in 2017 to
nearly $215 billion in 2021,
according to research firm IDC. AR headsets are on track to account
for over $30 billion in revenue by
2021, almost twice that of VR hardware. The fastest-growing area
within the AR market is for HMDs in industrial applications,
particularly in the fields of healthcare, logistics, manufacturing
and other industries that deploy field technicians. AR innovation
in these areas can help surgeons perform complex procedures with
remote assistance, warehouse workers fulfill orders faster, and
field technicians conduct remote repairs.
"Augmented reality holds tremendous promise for companies of all
sizes," said Mike Dennison,
president of the Consumer Technologies Group at Flex. "Until now,
AR innovators have been challenged by the high costs and
cross-disciplinary expertise required to design and build robust
solutions. The new Flex AR reference design solves these challenges
with a customizable hardware and software platform that innovators
can build upon to quickly make an impact in this exciting
field."
The Flex AR platform was designed to meet the rigorous demands
of enterprise and industrial users. The device is Z87 safety rated,
splash proof and dust proof and designed to survive drops from two
meters. The peripheral vision is open, which allows users to have a
better field of view. The device can also be controlled by gesture,
voice and wearables using a Bluetooth connection. In addition, the
EPU is designed to power the system throughout the workday, and it
can be charged by plugging into a power adaptor or by swapping out
the rechargeable battery.
"Augmented reality with Head Mounted Displays offers many
potential benefits for enterprises. Flex's investment in their
reference design helps the technology to scale by removing a
barrier to entry for OEMs looking to bring a product to
market," said Hugo Swart, Senior Director, Qualcomm
Technologies Inc. "By utilizing the Snapdragon 835 VR
Platform, this offers potential customers the right balance
between performance, power and size for AR, and we look forward to
seeing OEMs take advantage of Flex's reference design."
"We know the challenge of designing a cutting-edge platform that
can be mass produced," Soulaiman Itani, Chief Executive Officer and
founder of Atheer. "Through our work with Flex, we've seen their
capabilities, and we're pleased to help provide a UI system that
supports gestures, voice, head motion and Bluetooth wearables for
hands-free operation. We are looking forward to Flex enterprise
customers being able to experience the out-of-the-box Augmented
Reality tools in Atheer's AiR™ Enterprise productivity solution for
augmented reality."
The Flex AR platform will ship with a 30-day trial of Atheer
AiR™ Enterprise, so customers can immediately start writing
workflow guidance for their needs. Flex will provide a full
software development kit (SDK) to customers who are building on
Android Nougat.
For reporters attending the CES show, please contact
paul.brunato@flex.com to schedule a meeting.
About Flex Ltd.
Flex is the Sketch-to-Scale™
solutions provider that designs and builds Intelligent Products
for a Connected World™. With approximately 200,000
professionals across 30 countries, Flex provides innovative design,
engineering, manufacturing, real-time supply chain insight and
logistics services to companies of all sizes in various industries
and end-markets. For more information, visit flex.com or follow us
on Twitter @flexintl. Flex – Live Smarter™
Paul
Brunato
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Investor
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SOURCE Flex