Microsoft Expands Power Apps to RealWear Smart Glasses, Enhancing Frontline Worker Productivity

In Augmented Reality News 

July 4, 2024 – Microsoft has recently announced the public preview availability of Microsoft Power Apps on RealWear devices, expanding its collaboration with RealWear, a provider of smart glasses for frontline workers. Microsoft stated that the ability to build and deploy custom solutions for frontline professionals on RealWear devices is another step in its efforts to empower users. 

In an effort to ensure frontline workers have the right tools to execute their work in roles such as maintenance, inspection, and communication across industries including automotive, healthcare, and manufacturing, Microsoft stated that it aims to enable developers to create custom mobile solutions that frontline workers can use directly on their devices through its Power Apps platform.

What is Microsoft Power Apps?

Power Apps is a suite of apps, services, and connectors, as well as a data platform, that provides a rapid development environment for developers to build custom apps for different business needs. Power Apps also helps to democratize the business-app-building experience by enabling users to create feature-rich, custom business apps without writing code, according to Microsoft.

Power Apps Integration with RealWear Devices

The integration of Power Apps with RealWear devices will help to enhance the productivity and safety of frontline workers. RealWear’s industrial smart glasses, which are hands-free and voice-controlled, allow workers to access custom-built applications without the need for handheld devices. 

Once downloaded, users will be able to seamlessly navigate their apps through voice control and find the right application for their use. For example, a maintenance inspection worker can simply say “Asset Maintenance” to launch a custom-built inspection application when starting the work on a piece of equipment they are unfamiliar with.

With Microsoft apps such as Teams already available on RealWear devices for some time, the addition of Power Apps now allows developers to build and deploy custom solutions that leverage the advanced hardware features of RealWear devices, such as thermal cameras and real-time data transfer.

“We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Microsoft, utilizing Microsoft Power Apps to create innovative and efficient solutions for frontline workers,” said Rama Oruganti, Chief Product Officer of RealWear. “Integrating our hands-free, voice-controlled, industrial Smart Glasses with Microsoft’s Power Platform enhances productivity and safety for our users. This integration also ensures real-time data transfer and retrieval from the Microsoft Dataverse, further improving operational efficiency.”

Industry Adoption and Benefits of Power Apps on RealWear Devices

One company already using RealWear integration with Power Apps is Raymond West, who have built solutions for their technicians to help them execute their work in the warehouses. According to Adam Wyand, Training Development and Technology Manager at Raymond West, the integration has accelerated customer support response times and reduced escalations by providing technicians with access to multimedia resources and workflows developed using Power Apps. As such, the solution has proven to be a “critical tool” for the company’s field technicians, who need to balance safety with the need to resolve customer issues quickly.

For more information on Microsoft Power Apps, click here. To learn more about RealWear and the company’s smart glasses solutions, click here. 

Image Credit: Microsoft, RealWear