Augmented reality is changing every aspect of the manufacturing industry. Organizations are using industrial AR solutions to ensure:

  • Service teams can fix a customer problem in the first visit
  • Training teams can support visual learners and move education closer to the activity
  • Operations can improve quality by making processes and procedures easier to comprehend.

These are real, concrete benefits that only industrial AR solutions can provide, so it’s no wonder that companies are adopting new AR platforms as quickly as possible. Choosing the right industrial AR solution for the company can be difficult, so to help with that decision we are comparing two AR leaders: Vuforia vs ARKit.

 

Vuforia vs ARKit Feature Comparison:

Industry Expertise

ARKit is an Apple product, and there is no question that Apple is a technology leader who has been at the forefront of developing and supporting games that incorporate AR. However, games are different than manufacturing. A glitch in a game is no big deal, but a glitch during a service call or on the shop floor may have real consequences in terms of added costs, excessive rework, or unhappy customers.

PTC has been a manufacturing industry powerhouse since 1985. Its products range from PLM to 3D CAD modeling to IIoT integration—the heavy-duty real-world applications you need. When it comes to manufacturing industry expertise, there is no contest. Vuforia is the only choice with the expertise needed to support your industrial operations.

Vuforia and its parent company both have long-standing leadership in the industrial and manufacturing industries.

Developer Tools

The ARKit developer kit is downloadable from the Apple Developer site and enables developers to create apps on any Apple platform. However, most IIoT is not Apple-based, so integrating AR operational processes with real-world activities will be more complex.

Vuforia interoperates seamlessly with the entire portfolio of PTC products as well as top competitors like Siemens and SolidWorks, along with many others. The PTC product suite is leading edge when it comes to IIoT and Industry 4.0, ensuring that you can develop the robust applications you need to ensure your operations stay up and running.

Industrial-Strength Apps

Both Vuforia and ARKit can help you create and deploy excellent AR-based applications, but only Vuforia has a proven history in the industrial market.

ARKit can point to some consumer-focused apps such as IKEA’s app that shows furniture placement in the consumer’s home, but most of the apps that come out of ARKit development are games. There is little or no impact if there is an error or a system failure.

But on the shop floor when you’re training new employees on real equipment using an AR-based training tool, any glitch can be dangerous as well as costly. You may waste time and materials creating products that you can’t use without expensive rework, but it would be even worse if an employee were hurt due to an AR failure.

Vuforia is the industrial AR solution you need when the stakes are high, and technology simply cannot fail.

APIs, Integration, and Connectivity

ARKit apps are consumer-oriented, designed for a single user on a personal device. They have little need to integrate with other solutions.

Vuforia does more. Vuforia apps become an integral part of your production process, guiding employees to put the right part in place at the right time in the process, or teaching them the best method to complete an operation to minimize scrap. Forrester Research analyzed the total economic impact of industrial AR using Vuforia and discovered that companies achieved a 50% reduction in new hire training, a 10% reduction in overtime spend, and a 5%-10% reduction in scrap and rework. Vuforia users achieved a 100% payback on their investment in under six months and more than $12 million in benefits over three years.

Training and Support

Apple support is known for its excellence, and ARKit support is no exception to this rule. The company offers online training and in-person support. But the people providing that training and support are not manufacturing experts. They understand Apple technology mostly in the gaming arena.

PTC offers online training and support for Vuforia. They also cover it in multiple classes at PTC University and user conferences around the world. There is a healthy user community willing to share their knowledge and expertise. And every one of the people training and supporting Vuforia is an expert on Vuforia technology—and in the manufacturing industry. You won’t have to explain your problem or use case—they simply get it because your world is the same world, they live in.

Vuforia has extensive training and support with experts who deeply understand the problems that face the manufacturing industry.

Vuforia vs ARKit: Which Is the Right Industrial AR Solution for You?

Someday ARKit may be used successfully in a manufacturing environment, but that day is not today. As of now, ARKit’s been used in simple, low-stakes applications like games and consumer-oriented apps. There is no track record in industrial operations.

And sure, you can be the test case, but in manufacturing, being the test case can be an expensive and risky proposition. If you aren’t sure you want to go there, Vuforia is the clear choice.

When it comes to Vuforia vs ARKit, there is no contest. Vuforia is a profit powerhouse. ARKit is a game development tool.

If you’d like to learn more about Vuforia’s VR capabilities and how to use them to achieve real-world results, contact us today for more information.