UROS to provide RealWear AR devices powered by Qualcomm to 10,000 industrial workers for Kazakhstan digitization project

April 23, 2019 – Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., RealWear and UROS, have today jointly announced a digitization project set to begin in Kazakhstan later this year. This project has the mission of supporting deployment of Smart Cities and accelerating XR global adoption to advance the development pace of Kazakhstan’s economy by improving the productivity, safety and quality of life for its citizens.

UROS plans to provide RealWear HMT-1 and HMT-1Z1 voice-controlled, head-mounted devices powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform to 10,000 front-line industrial workers.  These connected workers will be able to communicate with remote experts or connect to 5G and IoT sensor data provided by UROS and its partners.

The HMT-1 head mounted devices assist field workers who may have no connectivity by clipping to a worker’s hard hat and connecting them to experts and machines, thus reducing long delays when requiring support or retrieval of data. Operators are then able to more rapidly and safely troubleshoot issues with teams of experts, even in loud environments where heavy machinery and hazardous gas is present. RealWear states that its devices are “fully rugged”, and designed for use in extreme conditions to provide frontline workers a voice-controlled digital dashboard that appears as though it were a seven-inch tablet in front of a worker’s eye.

“Qualcomm Technologies has always been committed to transforming industries and enriching lives and we are thrilled to have our technology support the next generation of mobile computing for industrial frontline workers through the efforts of RealWear and UROS,” said Hugo Swart, Head of XR, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“We are very excited to be creating something unique and remarkable in the field of wearable solutions together with RealWear,” said Jerry Raatikainen, UROS Group CEO. “By combining a shared vision for digital transformation and the strengths of UROS and RealWear, we will deliver great customer experiences for businesses around the world operating in the manufacturing, energy and automotive industries, to name a few. The similarities in our companies’ ethos make the partnership with RealWear a strong fit, and from a technological perspective our existing relationship with Qualcomm Technologies will contribute further momentum.”

“RealWear is proud to have HMT-1s and HMT-1Z1s help accelerate digitization in Kazakhstan with the support of UROS and Qualcomm Technologies,” said Andy Lowery, Cofounder and CEO of RealWear. “Our collective efforts aim to enhance the quality of life and safety of Kazakhstan’s citizens through hands-free, XR computing. With RealWear’s long-term commitment towards revolutionizing industrial connectivity, we plan to incorporate the Snapdragon XR roadmap in our next generation of advanced products for the front-line workforce.”

In Kazakhstan, UROS is currently building out a wireless e-roaming “smart connectivity” network and plans to outfit workers with RealWear devices powered by Qualcomm Technologies. As a result, the company expects the HMT-1s powered by Snapdragon will be able to go beyond the field workers use cases and be used in many aspects of UROS’s solutions.

Image credit: Qualcomm/RealWear/UROS

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.