Name: Jon Arnold

Title: VP of EMEA

Company: RealWear, Inc.

LAVNCH [CODE]: We know your title, but what do you actually do at RealWear?

JON ARNOLD: In my role as VP of EMEA for RealWear, I have led and grown RealWear’s European presence by formulating a channel strategy that has seen the company attract new distributor and reseller partners globally. I also try to keep up with an amazing team of regional directors who support our wonderful partners by selling in the large enterprise market across the region. Since joining RealWear’ I have overseen business growth of over 400% in the EMEA region.

LAVNCH [CODE]: In your opinion, what is the most exciting thing about extended reality?

JA: Our work in the field of assisted reality and the effect it is having in industrial use cases really excites us.

It’s important to make and understand the distinction between all of these extended reality (XR) technologies. Unlike virtual or augmented reality, assisted reality provides the user with close to complete situational awareness and is a reality-first, digital-second experience, adding in digital content and experiences designed to only “assist” the user with their physical task. The user can consume information and collaborate with others, but these experiences are intentionally separated from the user’s physical reality to keep the user present and mindful of his/her surroundings.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Where do you see the XR market heading in the next year?

JA: Given all the buzz about the metaverse—and as companies see the ROI—we fully expect the popularity of XR technologies to continue to gain a great deal of traction over the coming year. Industrial companies will lean toward assisted reality, and scale these wearables in large quantities.

In business, customers are finding new and meaningful applications for it from retail all the way to on the top of wind turbines. Businesses are beginning to hear about its advantages for a broad spectrum of industries, ranging from training and simulation all the way to leveraging assisted reality for workers in factories. As the market leading company in actually deploying these solutions into the field and helping customers to do the previously undoable, we are, it goes without saying, very excited about this market place.

LAVNCH [CODE]: What new XR products and services are on the horizon for RealWear?

JA: The metaverse is the tech buzzword for 2022 and one of the most significant developments for XR on the horizon. We recently held a roundtable panel discussion on the vision of the industrial metaverse with some of the biggest thinkers in the XR space. By the end of the conversation, it became apparent that when the metaverse becomes more prevalent, if you’re not a connected worker, you’ll be a disadvantaged worker and you won’t have the same ability to be productive. We expect XR technologies such as assisted reality to be the gateway into the industrial metaverse.

Watch the video below to see RealWear’s Industrial Metaverse Panel Discussion.

In terms of developments, we also recently launched our latest assisted reality offering—the RealWear Navigator 500. It promises to improve safety, comfort, and productivity for frontline workers with a new modular design, processor and camera.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Anything else you’d like to add?

JA: Using the right solutions means that the XR market can, right now deliver very high levels of functionality and therefore business value. So now really is the best time to put at least a toe in the XR water. If you’re interested in learning more about assisted reality and where it sits on the XR spectrum, you can check out our blog post here.