In the course of the advancing digitization of industry, the innovative visualization technology augmented reality (AR) offers versatile potentials along the entire life cycle of a technical system, from efficiency increases through AR-based product validation in development to productivity increases through context-specific information provision in production to quality increases through remote connection of experts in service. However, due to the complexity of the technology and other factors, the planning, development and implementation of individual AR solutions in business processes present companies with challenges. The overall objective of the EMERGE project is therefore to develop a systematic approach for the introduction of individual AR solutions in industry. The system is intended to support the entire process from planning to development to the application of AR solutions in the company as well as the dialog between the affected stakeholders.

In the course of the advancing digitization of industry, the innovative visualization technology augmented reality (AR) offers versatile potentials along the entire life cycle of a technical system, from increasing efficiency through AR-based product validation in development, to increasing productivity through context-specific information provision in production, to increasing quality through remote connection of experts in service. In the development and integration of individual AR solutions in business processes, a superordinate process must be gone through, in which companies are confronted with various challenges and barriers. Many companies find it difficult to identify and evaluate the individual potentials as well as the associated benefits and costs. The subsequent development process of use-case specific solutions requires technology know-how and experience. AR devices must be selected in a targeted manner and application software tailored. In addition, the effects and necessary changes on corporate processes, workflows and employees must be considered and addressed at an early stage when introducing new AR solutions. In view of this multitude of aspects and challenges to be considered, expertise and technology know-how in the field of AR is a basic prerequisite for using the technology in a targeted and successful manner. However, both medium-sized and larger companies and corporations often have insufficient resources and a lack of experience. In particular, the still high development costs make it difficult for SMEs to participate in the potential of AR. For sustainable development and establishment in the company, support is needed for the low-effort and sustainable development and introduction of AR solutions.

The overall objective of the EMERGE project is therefore to develop a system for introducing individual AR solutions in industry. The system is intended to support the entire process from the development to the application of AR solutions in the company as well as the dialog between the stakeholders involved. The project pursues four sub-goals: 1) Support of systematic potential identification, 2) Low-effort development of individual AR solutions, 3) Participative design of the introduction in the company, 4) Result transfer and empowerment of companies. To achieve the overall goal, the development of solution modules, guidelines and methods is carried out in close cooperation between R&D partners and user companies. Through an iterative application of the results in pilot projects, a project-accompanying empowerment of the companies and the simultaneous evaluation of the results in practical use takes place. This ensures a high degree of practical applicability and maturity of the results.

As part of the project, user companies will be put in a position to independently develop individual AR solutions, introduce them in the company through co-design by the stakeholders involved, and thus participate in the potential of the technology in the long term. The system will also be used after the end of the project to enable other companies (not involved in the project), for example via it's OWL transfer vouchers or transfer pilots. Prototypical solutions developed in four pilot projects serve as demonstrators to illustrate potentials in the four superordinate phases of the product life cycle (engineering, production, retail, operation). Together with the publication of the project results in scientific publications and lectures, the demonstrators serve the broad transfer and exploitation of the project results. The key technology AR is thus made accessible to a broader user group of medium-sized companies in order to gain innovation advantages in competition through the use of AR.