Augmented and Connected Workers

123Fab #4

1 topic, 2 key figures, 3 startups to draw inspiration from

Earlier this week we mentioned the situation of warehouse workers. While we presented a few companies specialized in autonomous robots, the market for connected workers is also booming. 

Connected workers are better connected to their work environments thanks to the digital technologies they benefit from, which enable better communication, quantification and remote support. These technologies are usually a combination of hardware, software and AI. The adoption of the latter is facilitated by the increasing demand for productivity and employee safety and well-being.

Smart wearables for Industry 4.0 are therefore spreading in factories and warehouses to support workers in all their tasks. Smart headsets (headgear and goggles), mobile devices (watches, tablets) or protective gear (textiles, hearing gear) are among the most common wearables.

2 Key Figures

600 work accidents per minute in the world

(International Labor Organization)

Market size expected to reach $9.9bn by 2026

According to Polaris, the connected worker market will be worth $9.9bn by 2026.

3 startups to draw inspiration from

This week, we identified three startups that we can draw inspiration from: Fieldbit,  Parsable and Canaria.

Fieldbit

The Israeli company is specialized in connected headsets with Augmented Reality, providing employees with extensive field information.

Parsable

The US company has raised $73M to digitize industrial processes that were previously paper-based. It covers use cases such as inspection, issue management, precision work execution or training.

Canaria

The company originally won a NASA contest before applying its cognitive fatigue tracking device to industrial workers. It monitors workers’ fatigue and predicts medical events before they happen.