RealWear has acquired the Swiss augmented reality (AR) headset developer Almer, which it believes will ‘reshape’ the AR market.
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The leading provider of enterprise AR software, TeamViewer, is providing financial backing to the acquisition.
RealWear, which offers wearable computing for industrial applications, also sees the acquisition as a major step towards providing more frontline workers around the world with the latest AR technology.
Dr. Chris Parkinson, CEO of RealWear, outlined some of the benefits that Almer will bring: “I’m extremely excited to welcome Almer and its founders, Timon Binder and Sebastian Beetschen to RealWear. Their successes in Europe are paralleled with a vision to drive AR adoption world wide.
“This impact can now be brought to the global market as part of the RealWear ecosystem.
Almer’s innovative subscription-based hardware renting model will enhance our existing portfolio to offer more flexible and scalable solutions for our partners and customers.
“And we have secured TeamViewer’s renewed commitment and backing, strengthening our longstanding collaboration with the leading software company in the enterprise AR industry.”
Growing Demand for AR
According to RealWear, the industrial sector has an increasing appetite for wearable AR devices as it looks for more digital solutions to improve safety and productivity.
By combining their expertise, RealWear and Almer are looking to satisfy demands from a burgeoning sector.
RealWear, on the one hand, sees itself as bringing market leadership, an established presence, and ‘rugged’ voice-operated solutions, while Almer can provide its sleek and user-friendly AR headsets through a monthly subscription service.
Almer has now asserted itself as a ‘disruptive force’ in enterprise AR, while also setting new industry standards, as a result of its work to create solutions that are designed to meet the needs of its customers.
Sebastian Beetschen, CEO of Almer Technologies, shared his enthusiasm to connect with RealWear: “Almer’s innovative approach for frontline workers has enabled us to deliver industrial AR solutions that are the most intuitive and most effortless to use.
“We’re excited to bring in our expertise and speed of execution to RealWear and push the boundaries of frontline worker solutions.”
TeamViewer
Meanwhile, TeamViewer has been a critical partner and strategic investor to RealWear and Almer before the acquisition, and it plans to continue in this capacity going forwards.
RealWear pointed to Coca-Cola HBC, Samsung SDS, Ford, and many other global businesses that are now enjoying improved efficiency and reduced costs by implementing a combination of TeamViewer’s software and RealWear and Almer’s wearable technology.
Oliver Steil, CEO of TeamViewer, spoke about its role as an investor in the AR companies:
RealWear and Almer together unite the brightest minds in wearable computing to shape the future of the industry.
“Investing in RealWear and supporting their growth is a strategic move for us and a stride into the future of industrial digital transformation.
“Our shared vision is to continue to integrate software and hardware innovatively, delivering world-class industrial productivity solutions for maximum customer value.”
Almer’s co-founders will move to RealWear’s executive team to ensure that the leadership remain unified throughout the transition and beyond.
