Odds are the average technician at a Ford dealership has already seen a lot and can confidently diagnose what’s wrong with your car. But in case they need a little extra help, the automaker now has an augmented reality solution.
The company’s new AR headset is called See What I See (or SWIS). When a technician puts it on, they can speak directly with the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) team and show them precisely what they’re looking at through a live video feed.
The remote assistance software not only shows the TAC member the vehicle a technician is working on, it allows them to display graphics and other information in the service technician’s field of view to help with repairs.
A Ford representative brought up one instance in which a technician could not convince a vehicle to acknowledge the sensor that measures tire pressure. But when the technician turned on their camera, the TAC member was able to see they had the wrong tool. Once that was corrected, the technician was able to properly program the vehicle.
Ford has approximately 150 technicians who receive approximately 5,000 weekly calls from technicians at dealerships across the country. Approximately 200 of those calls can’t be diagnosed over the phone and in those cases, a field agent would need to head out to diagnose the problem in person.
Ford has already turned on 1,200 headsets and more than 350 See What I See sessions have been logged by the TAC in the past three months. The company said all dealerships in the U.S. should have the AR goggles by November of 2022. While the technology is right now only used for diagnostic help, designers imagine it could work for H-VAC problems or for sending pictures to get prior approval before repairs are done.
See What I See could also someday help with on-site electric vehicle repairs, help technicians providing service at customers’ homes, or function as part of a training program.
