February 18, 2025 • 33 mins
The Tech Chef Podcast dives deep into the world of augmented reality with Brian Hamilton, the VP of Sales and Marketing at Digilens. He introduces Argo, their innovative smart glasses designed specifically for the hospitality industry. The conversation highlights how Argo stands out with its unique waveguide technology that minimizes light leakage, allowing for better human interaction while using the glasses. The episode details the real-world applications of AR in hospitality, from enhancing customer service to improving logistics and training. Brian emphasizes the importance of human connection in hospitality, showcasing how Argo facilitates this by allowing users to maintain eye contact while accessing information. This episode serves as a crucial resource for hospitality leaders looking to embrace technology to enhance guest experiences and operational efficiency, making it clear that the future of hospitality is intertwined with advancements in AR technology.
Takeaways:
- In the podcast, they discuss how augmented reality is changing the hospitality industry in many exciting ways.
- Brian shares insights on how Digilens' Argo smart glasses are leading in AR technology for business applications.
- The conversation emphasizes the importance of human interaction while using augmented reality in customer service roles.
- They touch on the future of AR and its potential to enhance training and operational efficiency in various sectors.
- Skip and Brian explore the unique features of the Argo glasses that set them apart from competitors in the market.
- The podcast highlights the strategic partnership between Digilens and Magicgate, focusing on innovations for the hospitality industry.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You are listening to the TechChef Podcast.
This is episode number 89,February 18, 2025.
This show is powered by GrowthAdvisors International Network where
travel and hospitalitycompanies come to grow.
For more information pleasevisit gainadvisors.com hi.
(00:20):
This is Brian Hamilton, theVice President of Sales and Marketing
for Digilens and you'relistening to Skip on the Tech Chef
Podcast.
Honored to be here today.
Off premise strategy, business continuity.
How about a taste test ofrestaurant technology?
Drive thru or curbside?
(00:41):
Mobile apps or AI?
It's all on the menu.
Cook it up for the date.
It's a recipe for success.
You're in good hands with theTech Chef.
Make a plan to be your best strategize.
(01:03):
Welcome to the Tech Chef Podcast.
This is the show whereinnovation meets hospitality.
We encourage you to join useach week as we explore the cutting
edge of technology in thehospitality industry, diving into
the latest trends, tools andstrategies that are revolutionizing
restaurants, hotels, resortsand entertainment venues.
(01:25):
This is your host, Skip Kimpleand every week we feature insightful
conversations with techpioneers, operators and thought leaders.
The Tech Chef Podcast servesup actionable insights to help you
stay ahead in a fast evolvingdigital landscape.
Whether you're a techenthusiast, hospitality leader or
entrepreneur, get ready todiscover how emerging technologies,
(01:48):
AI, XR automation and datadriven solutions are reshaping guest
experiences and operational efficiency.
Stay hungry for innovation,Stay ahead of the curve.
This is the Tech Chef Podcast.
We might need to start callingthis show Partner Tuesday because
each week leading up toMirtech we're unveiling new strategic
(02:11):
partnerships designed to bringyou game changing technology solutions
you probably didn't even know existed.
Last week we introduced WEARTHaptics, a breakthrough in haptic
technology that's redefiningimmersive training and simulation.
This week we're excited toannounce our latest partner Digilens,
a leader in enterprise gradeaugmented reality smart glasses that
(02:34):
are poised to transform thehospitality industry.
Joining us today is BrianHamilton, VP of Sales and Marketing
at Digilens.
Brian was brought on tospearhead the launch of their Argo
Smart glasses and expand theirwaveguide licensing business, accelerating
market growth following asuccessful fundraising round with
(02:55):
Samsung Mobile.
A recognized pioneer in deeptech, Brian has founded three groundbreaking
companies and played a keyrole in scaling the first commercial
deployments of XR and spatial computing.
His work spans 50 countriesand 20 industries, making him one
of the top experts in indriving market adoption for emerging
(03:19):
technologies.
This is a conversation youreally don't want to miss.
We are diving into the cuttingedge technology behind Argo, smart
glasses and exploring realworld applications already making
an impact in hospitality.
Get ready to see the future ofhospitality through a whole new lens.
(03:42):
We have a special guest on theshow today, we have Brian Hamilton
from Digilens.
Brian, thank you so much forjoining us.
Thank you Skip.
It's an honor to be here.
Digilens.
Most of our listeners have noidea what Digilens is, who they are.
Give us a little bit about thebackground of Digilens, some of your
background as well.
(04:03):
Great.
So Digilens is a veryinteresting company.
The company's been around for15 years trying to solve some of
the most hard physics andchemistry problems in waveguides.
For those of you that knowwhat, don't know what waveguides
are.
Waveguides are sheets of glassor plastic that basically enable
an image to come to your eyewhen it's powered by a light engine.
(04:26):
So we take a nanomaterialsapproach to creating waveguides so
that we can create thebrightest and the most efficient,
the most transparent and theleast iglow, what we call a light
side leakage in the world.
For our displays, which Ihappen to be powering many of the
top companies in the world forthe future of their AR and AR delivery
(04:49):
systems and heads up displays.
We have three lines of our business.
We teach others to be able tomanufacture these wave guides and
projectors and boards andproducts like Argo, which we'll talk
about in a minute.
All over the world.
We also are able to supportcustom NRA or non recurring engineering
programs where we can supportanyone out there with a vision to
(05:14):
be able to create theirversion and their specification for
the future heads up displaysand wearables.
And then last but not least,we have Argo, which is our flagship
product that came out in 2023that is a true all in one AR device.
I happen to lead sales andmarketing for Digilens and have a
pretty eclectic background inthis space and we've been studying
(05:36):
the space for many years.
So there's many things to doas well as what not to do.
And I think when everybodyembarks on this journey, looking
at the past and learning fromit is really important for the future
utilization.
I've been a repeat founder andbeen very excited to participate
in the journey to the futureof the next evolution of mobility.
(05:56):
So what's fascinating is mypath to digitalens and Argo more
specifically had a magic leapdevice played around with Hololens,
dealt in the enterprise,Arkansas world for a while with those
devices.
Believe it or not, they'vedried up and they are no longer around.
So through talking to some ofmy colleagues in the enterprise market
(06:18):
space, Argo came up.
As a matter of fact, I sawArgo back at AWE last year.
Very intrigued by the device.
But once I started to hear itmore positively endorsed by some
of the enterprise players, Ireally took a keen interest in it
because I was looking for thatAR solution for hospitality.
And unfortunately some of thesolutions that we're banking on,
we're no longer there.
(06:39):
So let's go into the Argo device.
What makes Digilens Argounique compared to some of the other
AR smart glasses out there onthe marketplace?
Now, what's out there isprobably just commercial at this
point, but let's dig into thata little bit.
Absolutely.
So Argo is our flagship product.
It's an all in one devicethat's a complete heads up display.
(07:02):
Utilizing our wave guides,it's controlled four different ways.
One is by voice.
There's a scroll wheel fortactical use.
You can use head gestures andalso hand tracking.
What makes our device reallyunique versus the rest of the industry,
by the way, much respect tothe rest of the industry, each one
of these evolutions withMicrosoft and Magic Leap and all
(07:24):
these other great productsthat have been in the market has
been a stepping stone and hasactually facilitated the successful
next evolution of these typesof products.
But what makes our devicereally special is number one on the
wave guide side, we're able tohave what we call the least eye glow
or light side leakage.
If you take a look and you puton most devices, you'll see light
(07:45):
coming out from the eyes.
And not only can this be asecurity risk, but also it also can,
if you're doing things likemilitary and government applications,
it actually can put you inharm's way.
And it also, from ahospitality and QSR perspective,
it also allows you to havemore of a human to human interaction.
Rather than staring atsomebody who's in a pair of glasses
(08:07):
with light coming out andhitting them in the face, we're able
to control that light betterthan any other product in the market.
The other thing that makes itvery unique is the transparency.
It's the ability to actuallysee the eye while you're engaging
with the human.
We all look at human to human interactions.
We've worked with somecompanies that have dealt with hearing
impairments and in medical anddifferent environments where that
(08:32):
human touch and that humaninteraction is so important.
So being able to have somebodybehave in their natural state in
a pair of glasses is really,really critical.
And I think that is a keyelement to what sets us apart.
Also what sets us apart is ourpartnership with Qualcomm.
We have access to the chipsetswhich allows us to extend the source
(08:53):
code so we can maximize andcustomize on applications.
We also have complete controlof our supply chain.
We look at the projectors.
If projectors in this spaceare very difficult, there's a lot
of different projectors out there.
But you have to deal with endof life and other companies and and
other products that may or maynot be fully optimized for the display
(09:15):
world.
So we've actually created theworld's smallest L cost projector
the size of a U.S.
quarter that actually gives usthe ability to have a very micro
true glasses approach form factor.
So it truly looks like a pairof glasses.
It's maybe it's not meant tobe a, you know, it's made to be a
true industrial tool that'sreally focused on the enterprise
(09:38):
and industrial.
We also have all manycertifications to this device, IP65
mil spec, ANSI rating.
These devices are actuallymade out of magnesium so you can
actually drop them on the ground.
There's no issue.
You can wear them in differentforms of ppe.
You could wear them just undera baseball cap or just regularly
(09:58):
right there on your head.
So the ergonomics, the 48megapixel camera we have in the front
is, allows you to have thebest, you know, one to one experience
with the types of use casesyou may be engaging in and the ability
to have an all in one device,no tethers, everything's completely
in the device and it allowsyou to be able to scale into the
(10:20):
enterprise and work with theexisting platforms and infrastructure
that's in the Enterprise as itsits in the Android frameworks.
Yeah, that's one thing thatpeople complain about with the magic
leap device is the puck thatyou had to either hang from your
shoulder or you know, put inyour pocket or do something with
it.
But this, I was so impressedthe first time I opened up my pelican
case with the Argo glass.
(10:41):
First of all, very good presentation.
But pulling that thing out, Igotta tell you, it's almost over
engineered.
It's got so many featuresbuilt into it.
Some of that being, you know,AI, the wireless, maybe talk about
some of those aspects as well.
That's a great, great point there.
Skip the main focus for whatwe're doing on the AI side.
(11:03):
I'll start on the AI side iswe have a great Partnership with
Google, which is published andpublic now and will be more coming
on that soon.
We've been able to port overGemini natively to the device.
So just if you're used totalking to Siri or your phones or
you know, hey Argo, tell mewhat I'm looking at.
You know, hey, you're lookingat a water bottle or when we were
(11:23):
in Las Vegas at CES this year,hey, we're looking out into the desert
or we're looking out to thestrip of Las Vegas.
It's being able to use,basically be able to use the displays
and the whole processing to beable to identify and look at a true
spatial computing kind ofplatform utilizing AI and those functions.
(11:43):
So there's a lot, like yousaid, there's a lot of a power built
into Argo.
It's got the top processors,top cameras, it's got onboard memory,
it's very flexible in terms ofconnectivity, whether it be WI fi
and Bluetooth enabled, as wellas being able to plug into 5G modems
and dongles, as well asworking on a 5G head strap and extended
(12:05):
battery pack around the back.
So we also are planning futurederivative devices as well to support
all different types of use cases.
This is the industrial toolthat is the high end version of this
type of modular based productsand it's here now.
We're live with thecertifications and we're getting
tremendous traction in the market.
(12:26):
And one of the other thingsthat's really important about our
company is we're very hands on.
So we like to go as deep as wecan with our partners, learn about
their use cases, make surewe're holding their hands through
the first proof of concept work.
So we invest heavily at theoffset to make sure that the partner
is successful, that theirquestions are answered, supported
(12:47):
and the product is a very highend product for the, for the, for
this category that I think wewanted to start there and kind of
work backwards and reduce thesensors and reduce the amount of
things in it as we go forward.
It also has a rail bar on thetop and the rail bar is really unique
because if you have any usecases that require say thermal or
(13:09):
if you want to put a time offlight sensor sensor on it to be
able to do hand track, dospatial computing, you've got a platform
now where you can reallycustomize at the sensory level.
So what that means is based onyour use case there may be a different
configuration for thehospitality industry that would be
in say oil and gas or anotherindustry or defense.
(13:32):
So it's very flexible, it'sdesigned for flexibility and maximum
value for the user.
User.
It's interesting when you talkabout the rail system.
You had mentioned that to mein Vegas when we met up and I had
to come back home and look tosee if my Argo had a rail system
on.
Sure enough, it did.
That made me realize theexpandability and the capabilities
that this thing could take andthe applications like you said, based
(13:54):
upon the industry you can makeput on other attachments that make
more sense.
Now back to you, yourenterprise introduction of this product
and the difference between aconsumer based product.
Perfect example once again inVegas when you mentioned with Gemini
overlooking the desert andhaving to identify options, we were
looking in full brightsunlight into the sun almost out
(14:16):
in the desert and this devicewas able to distinguish and discern
the, the objects that we werelooking at despite all of the other
noise from the, from thelight, which you would not find in
a consumer product at all.
Yeah, I mean that's a great point.
We set that demo up in Vegaslooking out into the brightest sun
(14:36):
we could find for that veryreason, because seeing is believing.
It's very difficult for peoplethat don't experience to be able
to see what a true device willwork in all different type of environments.
We're getting over 3500 nitsto the eye through each eye, through
the wave guides.
Our waveguide technology, thedisplay technology actually has gone
(14:57):
up over 6,000 nits.
So again, we have thebrightest devices.
So just on translation onnets, basically what that means is
it's super, super bright.
And it's so bright that wetell people sometimes when you're
indoors to turn it down, notbecause you're going to hurt, but
because what we want to do isgive them the best possible experience.
But that brightness and theway that we've been able to set this
(15:19):
up allows you to be able towork in all different environments.
Hot, cold, sunny, rainy,inside, outside.
And we've actually worked inpitch black dark as well on some
use cases where, where peopleare doing things in defense.
We started our conversation agood six, maybe eight months ago
(15:40):
when I first started to dig ina little deeper about the Argo device
because my use case scenariois very different.
The hospitality industry QSR.
I see a massive opportunityfor QSRs and I happen to know a few
players out there that arealready using AR in the QSR market
space.
So let's talk about AR and hospitality.
First of all, why shouldhospitality leaders be paying attention
(16:03):
to augmented reality?
That's A great question.
I think it's more than justaugmented reality too.
I think it's augmentedreality, it's AI, it's all the different
elements of future mobility.
If you think about QSR and youthink about hospitality, it's actually
some of the more advancedsupply chain, it's more at some of
the most advanced customerservice loyalty programs.
(16:28):
If you think about hospitalityin particular, you know you book
your hotels based on where youusually book your hotels because
of the perks you, you havethat interface on a customer success
level and service level.
I think hospitality is, isactually an amazing set of use cases
because you're dealing withlogistics, customer success, maintenance
and repair, being able tomanage buildings and locations, inspections,
(16:53):
looking at use cases aroundthings like doordash integration,
making sure orders arecompletely handled the right way
and actually put together theright way and validated training,
another big one, being able towork with people that are servicing
their customers in QSR andalso in hospitality training, getting
(17:14):
them in all different types ofscenarios, giving them the opportunity
to have an on demandopportunity for knowledge base.
So imagine walking up to yourconcierge and saying hey, you know,
let you know what, what am Ilooking at to go to for dinner tonight?
And somebody's got a pair ofglasses on, they're like hey, you
know there's this greatrestaurant down the street that is
(17:35):
unique and just started and beable to start giving recommendations
on that or being able to alsolook at the infrastructure and supply
chain.
I think the infrastructure andsupply chain, it's all about maximization
of operations and margin andactually being able to service more
customers.
And the other big one we'veseen in quick, quick serve restaurants
(17:55):
has also been how do weadvance the loyalty programs that
are in place.
Like if you ever go through adrive thru or you show up at a quick
serve restaurant diningfacility, you know, one of the first
questions are often asked ishey, are you in the loyalty program?
Would you like to use yourloyalty card today or identify yourself?
And most times you're in asuper rush and you say no because
you're just in a hurry.
(18:15):
So imagine if there was anoptionality scenario where you could
opt in rather than having topunch in for identification and be
able to start now reallyfocusing on the loyalty, the residual
customers, the upsells andalso look at the maximization of
offers and marketing around,around the customer.
(18:37):
So there's a tremendous amountof use cases here, especially in
logistics and supply chainwhere you can look to change the,
change the operations to be more.
Efficient Brian, great placeto take a little pause because the
quick interruption that wehave here and the message coming
right your way.
Right now folks, a littlesneak peek regarding what you can
experience in Las Vegas atMirtech 25.
(18:59):
And yes, we will have theDigilens Argo lens and smart glasses
with us.
Hold on, we'll be right back.
Hey, since I have you here, ifyou're headed to Murtech in Vegas
this year, March 10th through12th, you gotta swing by Magic Gate's
experience zone.
We're talking next levelrestaurant tech, VR training that
(19:20):
actually works, AR remotesupport that makes troubleshooting
a breeze and some seriouslycool data tools to keep your ops
running smooth.
Plus you can mess around withfuturistic stuff like augmented reality,
virtual reality and haptic devices.
It's all hands on, no boringdemos, just straight up cool tech
that you need to see.
Come check it out.
(19:44):
Okay, now we're going to getsuper interesting.
We got really technical in thebeginning and now we're working our
way back.
We talked about use casescenarios within hospitality.
Now people are probablysitting out there.
You mentioned something abouttraining before.
In ar, most people areconsidering VR for their training
modules.
Let's talk about AR versus VR.
Why augmented reality?
(20:05):
That's a great question.
I'm a firm believer that notall technology fits as all use cases.
I actually believe thatsometimes tablets are great, sometimes
a VR headset gives you a deepimmersive experience.
But the reality for augmentedreality, if you think about the difference
between AR and VR, VR is likesitting in the movie theater where
(20:26):
you're in the dark theater andyou're looking and you've got your
screen in front of you andyou're not aware of your surroundings.
Some people feel maybe alittle bit nauseous when they're
engaged.
I don't know if there's aspecific demo out there that, where
you ride a roller coaster.
And I never get sick on anything.
But on that one I was thinkingabout it.
(20:46):
There's an opportunity toactually interface with the real
world versus being in aspecific environment where you can
interface.
And when you're talking aboutsafety and people moving around and
also contextual basis here,context is really, really important.
So if you're out in the realworld and you're, and you're interfacing
(21:07):
with customers or you're doingtraining, oftentimes that training
is not one dimensional whereyou go into your cave and you go
into your VR headset and youdo your, you know, you do your immersive
experience which is for yourMind because it's you engaged in
that experience.
What augmented reality allowsyou to do is be able to bring in
all the different peoplearound you, the environment, the
(21:27):
contextuality of, of your setting.
And we all know that nothing's absolute.
And there's going to bedifferent scenario outcomes based
on different trainingscenarios based on different questions.
It's going to be kind of, ifyou think about it, a workflow.
It's a different type of workflow.
So being able to be able tohave this opportunity to be able
to interface with the realworld in the real environment and
(21:52):
actually be present whileyou're engaging and be able to make
it a one to many experiencesversus more of a one to one experience.
So we talk training.
Do you think that AR is agreat use case for frontline hospitality
roles.
On the training side?
I think there could be.
I think you could.
The other thing that you canget is real time training and upskilling
(22:12):
of workers.
So it doesn't have to be justa course based scenario.
I think the opportunity isalso to have remote experts being
able to go quickly talk tosomebody on your glasses and say
it may not be right in frontof the customer, but to get that
information in real time.
So excuse me, I'll go talk tothe manager or I'll get, I'll get
some information for you andyou step away, you know, and then
(22:35):
have somebody be able to comeinto your situation and upskill you
in real time, you know, andthat goes for every customer service
kind of example.
I remember calling one of theairlines a couple days ago to change
a flight and I had to do thesame process twice.
One time it took me oneminute, the next time it took me
17 minutes to get it done.
Same exact process.
And so that standardizationprocess is very, very important.
(22:59):
And I think you can use thereal world as a training ground in
ar.
And again, if you're doing itin an environment, in a training
center, under controlledscenarios, that's a different type
of use case.
But also there's anopportunity for actually learning
while working and knowing thatyou have an angel on your shoulder
at times to help.
(23:20):
Or maybe it's a workflow, atraining kind of situation where
if we had a process or alogistics process and you go through
a step by step set of instructions.
If you just do the step bystep set of instructions, you may
not realize that there needsto be a training change that needs
to happen until maybe 10employees go through it 100 times
(23:40):
and they realize that stepthree is causing an extra amount
of time or an inefficiency.
And the only way to correctthat and to be able to understand,
even diagnose that isoftentimes going through a digital
experience where you'reactually documenting it in real time.
So I think it's a verypowerful tool for training and I
think it also allows you to domore just in time training, not just
(24:04):
in the classroom, with nopressure when you're not sitting
in front of the customer andbe able to start providing another
level of upskilling so thatevery worker can start to do more
and have more access to theknowledge bases and things in real
time.
Well, also it's a one hand device.
You put it on your face.
It's not the distinction isbetween that and a VR headset where
(24:24):
you're, you know, you're usingtwo hands to put it on and once again
you're immersive.
It's a one hand device.
So throwing that on, doing aquick session, quick training session
is pretty impactful.
All right, so lots of good usecase scenarios for hospitality.
Obviously I was drawn to yourproduct because of this and the capabilities
it had.
(24:45):
So let's talk about the futureof ar.
Where do you see AR landing inthe next five years?
I mean it's made such greatadvancements up until now and in
a very rapid form.
Curious your thoughts of whereit's headed.
I appreciate that question, Skip.
It's.
I think AR has expanded whenpeople talk about augmented reality.
(25:06):
It used to mean one thing andnow it means many things.
I think people are throwing alot of different terminologies.
You probably hear acronyms allthe time.
AR XR, Mr.
All these Rs, right.
And people kind of I glazeover and it's like throwing a big
bowl of spaghetti together.
What I think is going tohappen and what we're starting to
see the trends on right now isnumber one, you're going to see you
(25:27):
take a look at OpenXR from Google.
You're going to start to see alot more open platforms for the development
and the advancement to the waythat applications are being built
in augmented reality.
And I think you'll start tosee that in the next couple years
where it's a lot more applications.
Instead of building yourapplication just for that one specific
(25:47):
headset or use case, you cannow make your application more open
to be able to be interfacedwith the core systems.
I also see it going moredeeper with deeper integrations and
utilization.
You've got to embrace thingslike AR really needs to cross the
chasm in the IT world.
So when you deploy these typesof devices, it's like deploying a
phone or a tablet.
(26:08):
You've got to have a mobiledevice management platform, you've
got to have the rightcybersecurity in place, oftentimes
compliance.
So I think we're going to getwork over the next couple of years
we're going to see a lot moresophistication in the total AR solution
rather than this fragmentedapproach of here's my device, here's
my platform, we got to putthis together and do all this work.
(26:30):
So I really start, I'mstarting to see a trend towards streamlining.
I also see the opportunity forAI to really become the next level
embedded here with being ableto actually collect data from the
real world that can now beinterfaced in real time with the
human brain through thesetypes of deliveries and be able to
start mapping and doing thingsaround the world where we're getting
(26:53):
a different view of the worldand we're starting to leave behind
digital messages, digital objects.
Imagine showing up at yourStarbucks and your friend left you
a note and you pop yourglasses on, you see the note.
Being able to leave things inthe real world almost like breadcrumbs
of data and breadcrumbs of interaction.
So I see a bright future forar, but I do believe that there's
(27:16):
going to be a lot of changecoming and I believe there's going
to be a lot more in depth integrations.
But I also think thedefinition of what we think AR is,
is going to change, is goingto continue to change as we go step
forward into the next, thefuture of mobility.
I can't wait to ride this pathwith you.
So on that point, just thismorning, we recently announced our
(27:37):
strategic partnership betweenMagic8 and Digilens.
I know, I'm excited.
But what excites you the mostabout partnering with us and how
do you see that benefiting thehospital hospitality segment?
Wonderful question, Skip.
And I gotta tell you, the dayI met you, I'm like, all right, not
only is there a successfulcompany that understands the depths
of QSR and hospitality, thatwas the first thing you, you got,
(27:58):
your team gets it, youunderstand the challenges that exist,
you understand how to addvalue to the equation.
My biggest excitement pointwas we weren't really looking at
the QSR and hospitalityindustries till we met you.
Frankly, we were focused onindustrial and manufacturing and
all these things.
And the one thing that MagicGate did for us is you helped us
(28:20):
open our eyes that the sameuse cases or Similar flavors of the
same use cases are extremely valuable.
We find this all the time.
There's all these reallyinteresting different types of verticals
that come to us and we'relike, how can that be relevant?
But then you find this massivesupply chain thing that needs to
be fixed, or you find atraining challenge, or you find a
(28:42):
standardization challenge.
We were really excited topartner with you.
Your group has a very longtrack record selling successfully
the Magic Leap devices, theHololens devices.
So you also have a lot ofexperience in understanding how to
interface these types ofdevices with customers.
So to me, Magic 8 is a onestop shop opportunity for us in these
(29:05):
industries because we haveindustry subject matter expertise
now with the teams.
We also have device expertiseand technology expertise and we bundle
that up and now we have awhole new vertical at Digilance we
can explore that we weren'tplanning to explore.
So this is fabulous.
And I can't wait to divedeeper into the QSR and hospitality
space because I see a lot ofopportunity and we also know many
(29:29):
great people in common in the industry.
It is a customer service,customer centric industry and I think
that people will take noticeof these technologies by the simple
fact that they're starting tosee new interfaces and new opportunities
in these types of environments.
Well, I'm gonna let you dropthe mic at that point because I can't
top that.
Thank you for those, thosekind words.
(29:50):
Once again, it is a, it is arelationship that goes both ways.
Obviously you have theexpertise, the knowledge, the product,
most importantly, and you havewonderful people that I've met, I've
dealt with from onboardingperspective to just tech technical
support and getting us up andrunning and in a quick manner.
So thank you to you and yourteam, especially you, because you've
(30:11):
been driving it the entire time.
Super excited, can't wait tosee where this is headed.
And I can't wait to show it tomore and more of our industry colleagues
and really show them what ARcan do from an operations perspective
to make their operations moreefficient, more effective, more relevant
and really the functionalitybehind some of this technology that
(30:34):
they've never considered before.
I'll tell you what, the worldof hospitality is changing and augmented
reality is poised to be amajor part of that transformation.
Whether it's trainingemployees, improving logistics or
enhancing guest experiences,the future is bright.
(30:54):
And with Digilens Argo, thatfuture is already here.
Stay tuned for more insights.
And if you're heading toMirtech, don't miss the chance to
experience the Argo Smartglasses firsthand.
If you have any furtherquestions for Brian or me and would
like to connect with us, youcan do so via social media.
Skip Kimple or MagicGateTechon X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn,
(31:20):
you can go to thewebsite@SkipKimple.com for all the
archived episodes and shownotes and also the Magic 8 website
where you can hear all ofthese new episodes.
And of course you can emailme@Skipagic8.com the countdown to
Murtek is officially on.
Only 20 days to go.
If you're not planning to be there.
(31:41):
Seriously, why not?
This year is going to be huge.
Huge, I tell you.
It's the 30th anniversary ofthe show and you know they're pulling
out all the stops.
We dropped a big press releasethis morning for this show, but heads
up, another one is cominglater this week and it's all about
the conference.
And then next Tuesday.
(32:02):
Yep, another major announcement.
This one's a biggie.
Introducing a new partner tothe hospitality marketplace.
Who is it?
I'm not telling you.
Gotta keep a little suspenseon our end.
The Magic 8 team is in full onprep mode, packing, shipping and
making sure everything islocked and loaded for the show.
(32:23):
So much to do and so little time.
Alright, back to the grind.
And until next Tuesday, staysafe, stay healthy and stay hungry.
My friends, are you ready tolevel up your tech game and understand
the world of xrp?
(32:43):
Dive into the world ofextended reality with Magic Gate's
XR Bootcamp.
Master the concepts of virtualreality, augmented reality and mixed
reality in just weeks.
No special equipment orprevious knowledge is required.
Limited seats are available tosign up now@bootcamp.magicgate.com
that's bootcamp.magicgate.comyour future in XR starts there.
You are listening to the TechChef Podcast.
This is episode number 89,February 18, 2025.
This show is powered by GrowthAdvisors International Network where
travel and hospitalitycompanies come to grow.
For more information pleasevisit gainadvisors.com hi.
(00:20):
This is Brian Hamilton, theVice President of Sales and Marketing
for Digilens and you'relistening to Skip on the Tech Chef
Podcast.
Honored to be here today.
Off premise strategy, business continuity.
How about a taste test ofrestaurant technology?
Drive thru or curbside?
(00:41):
Mobile apps or AI?
It's all on the menu.
Cook it up for the date.
It's a recipe for success.
You're in good hands with theTech Chef.
Make a plan to be your best strategize.
(01:03):
Welcome to the Tech Chef Podcast.
This is the show whereinnovation meets hospitality.
We encourage you to join useach week as we explore the cutting
edge of technology in thehospitality industry, diving into
the latest trends, tools andstrategies that are revolutionizing
restaurants, hotels, resortsand entertainment venues.
(01:25):
This is your host, Skip Kimpleand every week we feature insightful
conversations with techpioneers, operators and thought leaders.
The Tech Chef Podcast servesup actionable insights to help you
stay ahead in a fast evolvingdigital landscape.
Whether you're a techenthusiast, hospitality leader or
entrepreneur, get ready todiscover how emerging technologies,
(01:48):
AI, XR automation and datadriven solutions are reshaping guest
experiences and operational efficiency.
Stay hungry for innovation,Stay ahead of the curve.
This is the Tech Chef Podcast.
We might need to start callingthis show Partner Tuesday because
each week leading up toMirtech we're unveiling new strategic
(02:11):
partnerships designed to bringyou game changing technology solutions
you probably didn't even know existed.
Last week we introduced WEARTHaptics, a breakthrough in haptic
technology that's redefiningimmersive training and simulation.
This week we're excited toannounce our latest partner Digilens,
a leader in enterprise gradeaugmented reality smart glasses that
(02:34):
are poised to transform thehospitality industry.
Joining us today is BrianHamilton, VP of Sales and Marketing
at Digilens.
Brian was brought on tospearhead the launch of their Argo
Smart glasses and expand theirwaveguide licensing business, accelerating
market growth following asuccessful fundraising round with
(02:55):
Samsung Mobile.
A recognized pioneer in deeptech, Brian has founded three groundbreaking
companies and played a keyrole in scaling the first commercial
deployments of XR and spatial computing.
His work spans 50 countriesand 20 industries, making him one
of the top experts in indriving market adoption for emerging
(03:19):
technologies.
This is a conversation youreally don't want to miss.
We are diving into the cuttingedge technology behind Argo, smart
glasses and exploring realworld applications already making
an impact in hospitality.
Get ready to see the future ofhospitality through a whole new lens.
(03:42):
We have a special guest on theshow today, we have Brian Hamilton
from Digilens.
Brian, thank you so much forjoining us.
Thank you Skip.
It's an honor to be here.
Digilens.
Most of our listeners have noidea what Digilens is, who they are.
Give us a little bit about thebackground of Digilens, some of your
background as well.
(04:03):
Great.
So Digilens is a veryinteresting company.
The company's been around for15 years trying to solve some of
the most hard physics andchemistry problems in waveguides.
For those of you that knowwhat, don't know what waveguides
are.
Waveguides are sheets of glassor plastic that basically enable
an image to come to your eyewhen it's powered by a light engine.
(04:26):
So we take a nanomaterialsapproach to creating waveguides so
that we can create thebrightest and the most efficient,
the most transparent and theleast iglow, what we call a light
side leakage in the world.
For our displays, which Ihappen to be powering many of the
top companies in the world forthe future of their AR and AR delivery
(04:49):
systems and heads up displays.
We have three lines of our business.
We teach others to be able tomanufacture these wave guides and
projectors and boards andproducts like Argo, which we'll talk
about in a minute.
All over the world.
We also are able to supportcustom NRA or non recurring engineering
programs where we can supportanyone out there with a vision to
(05:14):
be able to create theirversion and their specification for
the future heads up displaysand wearables.
And then last but not least,we have Argo, which is our flagship
product that came out in 2023that is a true all in one AR device.
I happen to lead sales andmarketing for Digilens and have a
pretty eclectic background inthis space and we've been studying
(05:36):
the space for many years.
So there's many things to doas well as what not to do.
And I think when everybodyembarks on this journey, looking
at the past and learning fromit is really important for the future
utilization.
I've been a repeat founder andbeen very excited to participate
in the journey to the futureof the next evolution of mobility.
(05:56):
So what's fascinating is mypath to digitalens and Argo more
specifically had a magic leapdevice played around with Hololens,
dealt in the enterprise,Arkansas world for a while with those
devices.
Believe it or not, they'vedried up and they are no longer around.
So through talking to some ofmy colleagues in the enterprise market
(06:18):
space, Argo came up.
As a matter of fact, I sawArgo back at AWE last year.
Very intrigued by the device.
But once I started to hear itmore positively endorsed by some
of the enterprise players, Ireally took a keen interest in it
because I was looking for thatAR solution for hospitality.
And unfortunately some of thesolutions that we're banking on,
we're no longer there.
(06:39):
So let's go into the Argo device.
What makes Digilens Argounique compared to some of the other
AR smart glasses out there onthe marketplace?
Now, what's out there isprobably just commercial at this
point, but let's dig into thata little bit.
Absolutely.
So Argo is our flagship product.
It's an all in one devicethat's a complete heads up display.
(07:02):
Utilizing our wave guides,it's controlled four different ways.
One is by voice.
There's a scroll wheel fortactical use.
You can use head gestures andalso hand tracking.
What makes our device reallyunique versus the rest of the industry,
by the way, much respect tothe rest of the industry, each one
of these evolutions withMicrosoft and Magic Leap and all
(07:24):
these other great productsthat have been in the market has
been a stepping stone and hasactually facilitated the successful
next evolution of these typesof products.
But what makes our devicereally special is number one on the
wave guide side, we're able tohave what we call the least eye glow
or light side leakage.
If you take a look and you puton most devices, you'll see light
(07:45):
coming out from the eyes.
And not only can this be asecurity risk, but also it also can,
if you're doing things likemilitary and government applications,
it actually can put you inharm's way.
And it also, from ahospitality and QSR perspective,
it also allows you to havemore of a human to human interaction.
Rather than staring atsomebody who's in a pair of glasses
(08:07):
with light coming out andhitting them in the face, we're able
to control that light betterthan any other product in the market.
The other thing that makes itvery unique is the transparency.
It's the ability to actuallysee the eye while you're engaging
with the human.
We all look at human to human interactions.
We've worked with somecompanies that have dealt with hearing
impairments and in medical anddifferent environments where that
(08:32):
human touch and that humaninteraction is so important.
So being able to have somebodybehave in their natural state in
a pair of glasses is really,really critical.
And I think that is a keyelement to what sets us apart.
Also what sets us apart is ourpartnership with Qualcomm.
We have access to the chipsetswhich allows us to extend the source
(08:53):
code so we can maximize andcustomize on applications.
We also have complete controlof our supply chain.
We look at the projectors.
If projectors in this spaceare very difficult, there's a lot
of different projectors out there.
But you have to deal with endof life and other companies and and
other products that may or maynot be fully optimized for the display
(09:15):
world.
So we've actually created theworld's smallest L cost projector
the size of a U.S.
quarter that actually gives usthe ability to have a very micro
true glasses approach form factor.
So it truly looks like a pairof glasses.
It's maybe it's not meant tobe a, you know, it's made to be a
true industrial tool that'sreally focused on the enterprise
(09:38):
and industrial.
We also have all manycertifications to this device, IP65
mil spec, ANSI rating.
These devices are actuallymade out of magnesium so you can
actually drop them on the ground.
There's no issue.
You can wear them in differentforms of ppe.
You could wear them just undera baseball cap or just regularly
(09:58):
right there on your head.
So the ergonomics, the 48megapixel camera we have in the front
is, allows you to have thebest, you know, one to one experience
with the types of use casesyou may be engaging in and the ability
to have an all in one device,no tethers, everything's completely
in the device and it allowsyou to be able to scale into the
(10:20):
enterprise and work with theexisting platforms and infrastructure
that's in the Enterprise as itsits in the Android frameworks.
Yeah, that's one thing thatpeople complain about with the magic
leap device is the puck thatyou had to either hang from your
shoulder or you know, put inyour pocket or do something with
it.
But this, I was so impressedthe first time I opened up my pelican
case with the Argo glass.
(10:41):
First of all, very good presentation.
But pulling that thing out, Igotta tell you, it's almost over
engineered.
It's got so many featuresbuilt into it.
Some of that being, you know,AI, the wireless, maybe talk about
some of those aspects as well.
That's a great, great point there.
Skip the main focus for whatwe're doing on the AI side.
(11:03):
I'll start on the AI side iswe have a great Partnership with
Google, which is published andpublic now and will be more coming
on that soon.
We've been able to port overGemini natively to the device.
So just if you're used totalking to Siri or your phones or
you know, hey Argo, tell mewhat I'm looking at.
You know, hey, you're lookingat a water bottle or when we were
(11:23):
in Las Vegas at CES this year,hey, we're looking out into the desert
or we're looking out to thestrip of Las Vegas.
It's being able to use,basically be able to use the displays
and the whole processing to beable to identify and look at a true
spatial computing kind ofplatform utilizing AI and those functions.
(11:43):
So there's a lot, like yousaid, there's a lot of a power built
into Argo.
It's got the top processors,top cameras, it's got onboard memory,
it's very flexible in terms ofconnectivity, whether it be WI fi
and Bluetooth enabled, as wellas being able to plug into 5G modems
and dongles, as well asworking on a 5G head strap and extended
(12:05):
battery pack around the back.
So we also are planning futurederivative devices as well to support
all different types of use cases.
This is the industrial toolthat is the high end version of this
type of modular based productsand it's here now.
We're live with thecertifications and we're getting
tremendous traction in the market.
(12:26):
And one of the other thingsthat's really important about our
company is we're very hands on.
So we like to go as deep as wecan with our partners, learn about
their use cases, make surewe're holding their hands through
the first proof of concept work.
So we invest heavily at theoffset to make sure that the partner
is successful, that theirquestions are answered, supported
(12:47):
and the product is a very highend product for the, for the, for
this category that I think wewanted to start there and kind of
work backwards and reduce thesensors and reduce the amount of
things in it as we go forward.
It also has a rail bar on thetop and the rail bar is really unique
because if you have any usecases that require say thermal or
(13:09):
if you want to put a time offlight sensor sensor on it to be
able to do hand track, dospatial computing, you've got a platform
now where you can reallycustomize at the sensory level.
So what that means is based onyour use case there may be a different
configuration for thehospitality industry that would be
in say oil and gas or anotherindustry or defense.
(13:32):
So it's very flexible, it'sdesigned for flexibility and maximum
value for the user.
User.
It's interesting when you talkabout the rail system.
You had mentioned that to mein Vegas when we met up and I had
to come back home and look tosee if my Argo had a rail system
on.
Sure enough, it did.
That made me realize theexpandability and the capabilities
that this thing could take andthe applications like you said, based
(13:54):
upon the industry you can makeput on other attachments that make
more sense.
Now back to you, yourenterprise introduction of this product
and the difference between aconsumer based product.
Perfect example once again inVegas when you mentioned with Gemini
overlooking the desert andhaving to identify options, we were
looking in full brightsunlight into the sun almost out
(14:16):
in the desert and this devicewas able to distinguish and discern
the, the objects that we werelooking at despite all of the other
noise from the, from thelight, which you would not find in
a consumer product at all.
Yeah, I mean that's a great point.
We set that demo up in Vegaslooking out into the brightest sun
(14:36):
we could find for that veryreason, because seeing is believing.
It's very difficult for peoplethat don't experience to be able
to see what a true device willwork in all different type of environments.
We're getting over 3500 nitsto the eye through each eye, through
the wave guides.
Our waveguide technology, thedisplay technology actually has gone
(14:57):
up over 6,000 nits.
So again, we have thebrightest devices.
So just on translation onnets, basically what that means is
it's super, super bright.
And it's so bright that wetell people sometimes when you're
indoors to turn it down, notbecause you're going to hurt, but
because what we want to do isgive them the best possible experience.
But that brightness and theway that we've been able to set this
(15:19):
up allows you to be able towork in all different environments.
Hot, cold, sunny, rainy,inside, outside.
And we've actually worked inpitch black dark as well on some
use cases where, where peopleare doing things in defense.
We started our conversation agood six, maybe eight months ago
(15:40):
when I first started to dig ina little deeper about the Argo device
because my use case scenariois very different.
The hospitality industry QSR.
I see a massive opportunityfor QSRs and I happen to know a few
players out there that arealready using AR in the QSR market
space.
So let's talk about AR and hospitality.
First of all, why shouldhospitality leaders be paying attention
(16:03):
to augmented reality?
That's A great question.
I think it's more than justaugmented reality too.
I think it's augmentedreality, it's AI, it's all the different
elements of future mobility.
If you think about QSR and youthink about hospitality, it's actually
some of the more advancedsupply chain, it's more at some of
the most advanced customerservice loyalty programs.
(16:28):
If you think about hospitalityin particular, you know you book
your hotels based on where youusually book your hotels because
of the perks you, you havethat interface on a customer success
level and service level.
I think hospitality is, isactually an amazing set of use cases
because you're dealing withlogistics, customer success, maintenance
and repair, being able tomanage buildings and locations, inspections,
(16:53):
looking at use cases aroundthings like doordash integration,
making sure orders arecompletely handled the right way
and actually put together theright way and validated training,
another big one, being able towork with people that are servicing
their customers in QSR andalso in hospitality training, getting
(17:14):
them in all different types ofscenarios, giving them the opportunity
to have an on demandopportunity for knowledge base.
So imagine walking up to yourconcierge and saying hey, you know,
let you know what, what am Ilooking at to go to for dinner tonight?
And somebody's got a pair ofglasses on, they're like hey, you
know there's this greatrestaurant down the street that is
(17:35):
unique and just started and beable to start giving recommendations
on that or being able to alsolook at the infrastructure and supply
chain.
I think the infrastructure andsupply chain, it's all about maximization
of operations and margin andactually being able to service more
customers.
And the other big one we'veseen in quick, quick serve restaurants
(17:55):
has also been how do weadvance the loyalty programs that
are in place.
Like if you ever go through adrive thru or you show up at a quick
serve restaurant diningfacility, you know, one of the first
questions are often asked ishey, are you in the loyalty program?
Would you like to use yourloyalty card today or identify yourself?
And most times you're in asuper rush and you say no because
you're just in a hurry.
(18:15):
So imagine if there was anoptionality scenario where you could
opt in rather than having topunch in for identification and be
able to start now reallyfocusing on the loyalty, the residual
customers, the upsells andalso look at the maximization of
offers and marketing around,around the customer.
(18:37):
So there's a tremendous amountof use cases here, especially in
logistics and supply chainwhere you can look to change the,
change the operations to be more.
Efficient Brian, great placeto take a little pause because the
quick interruption that wehave here and the message coming
right your way.
Right now folks, a littlesneak peek regarding what you can
experience in Las Vegas atMirtech 25.
(18:59):
And yes, we will have theDigilens Argo lens and smart glasses
with us.
Hold on, we'll be right back.
Hey, since I have you here, ifyou're headed to Murtech in Vegas
this year, March 10th through12th, you gotta swing by Magic Gate's
experience zone.
We're talking next levelrestaurant tech, VR training that
(19:20):
actually works, AR remotesupport that makes troubleshooting
a breeze and some seriouslycool data tools to keep your ops
running smooth.
Plus you can mess around withfuturistic stuff like augmented reality,
virtual reality and haptic devices.
It's all hands on, no boringdemos, just straight up cool tech
that you need to see.
Come check it out.
(19:44):
Okay, now we're going to getsuper interesting.
We got really technical in thebeginning and now we're working our
way back.
We talked about use casescenarios within hospitality.
Now people are probablysitting out there.
You mentioned something abouttraining before.
In ar, most people areconsidering VR for their training
modules.
Let's talk about AR versus VR.
Why augmented reality?
(20:05):
That's a great question.
I'm a firm believer that notall technology fits as all use cases.
I actually believe thatsometimes tablets are great, sometimes
a VR headset gives you a deepimmersive experience.
But the reality for augmentedreality, if you think about the difference
between AR and VR, VR is likesitting in the movie theater where
(20:26):
you're in the dark theater andyou're looking and you've got your
screen in front of you andyou're not aware of your surroundings.
Some people feel maybe alittle bit nauseous when they're
engaged.
I don't know if there's aspecific demo out there that, where
you ride a roller coaster.
And I never get sick on anything.
But on that one I was thinkingabout it.
(20:46):
There's an opportunity toactually interface with the real
world versus being in aspecific environment where you can
interface.
And when you're talking aboutsafety and people moving around and
also contextual basis here,context is really, really important.
So if you're out in the realworld and you're, and you're interfacing
(21:07):
with customers or you're doingtraining, oftentimes that training
is not one dimensional whereyou go into your cave and you go
into your VR headset and youdo your, you know, you do your immersive
experience which is for yourMind because it's you engaged in
that experience.
What augmented reality allowsyou to do is be able to bring in
all the different peoplearound you, the environment, the
(21:27):
contextuality of, of your setting.
And we all know that nothing's absolute.
And there's going to bedifferent scenario outcomes based
on different trainingscenarios based on different questions.
It's going to be kind of, ifyou think about it, a workflow.
It's a different type of workflow.
So being able to be able tohave this opportunity to be able
to interface with the realworld in the real environment and
(21:52):
actually be present whileyou're engaging and be able to make
it a one to many experiencesversus more of a one to one experience.
So we talk training.
Do you think that AR is agreat use case for frontline hospitality
roles.
On the training side?
I think there could be.
I think you could.
The other thing that you canget is real time training and upskilling
(22:12):
of workers.
So it doesn't have to be justa course based scenario.
I think the opportunity isalso to have remote experts being
able to go quickly talk tosomebody on your glasses and say
it may not be right in frontof the customer, but to get that
information in real time.
So excuse me, I'll go talk tothe manager or I'll get, I'll get
some information for you andyou step away, you know, and then
(22:35):
have somebody be able to comeinto your situation and upskill you
in real time, you know, andthat goes for every customer service
kind of example.
I remember calling one of theairlines a couple days ago to change
a flight and I had to do thesame process twice.
One time it took me oneminute, the next time it took me
17 minutes to get it done.
Same exact process.
And so that standardizationprocess is very, very important.
(22:59):
And I think you can use thereal world as a training ground in
ar.
And again, if you're doing itin an environment, in a training
center, under controlledscenarios, that's a different type
of use case.
But also there's anopportunity for actually learning
while working and knowing thatyou have an angel on your shoulder
at times to help.
(23:20):
Or maybe it's a workflow, atraining kind of situation where
if we had a process or alogistics process and you go through
a step by step set of instructions.
If you just do the step bystep set of instructions, you may
not realize that there needsto be a training change that needs
to happen until maybe 10employees go through it 100 times
(23:40):
and they realize that stepthree is causing an extra amount
of time or an inefficiency.
And the only way to correctthat and to be able to understand,
even diagnose that isoftentimes going through a digital
experience where you'reactually documenting it in real time.
So I think it's a verypowerful tool for training and I
think it also allows you to domore just in time training, not just
(24:04):
in the classroom, with nopressure when you're not sitting
in front of the customer andbe able to start providing another
level of upskilling so thatevery worker can start to do more
and have more access to theknowledge bases and things in real
time.
Well, also it's a one hand device.
You put it on your face.
It's not the distinction isbetween that and a VR headset where
(24:24):
you're, you know, you're usingtwo hands to put it on and once again
you're immersive.
It's a one hand device.
So throwing that on, doing aquick session, quick training session
is pretty impactful.
All right, so lots of good usecase scenarios for hospitality.
Obviously I was drawn to yourproduct because of this and the capabilities
it had.
(24:45):
So let's talk about the futureof ar.
Where do you see AR landing inthe next five years?
I mean it's made such greatadvancements up until now and in
a very rapid form.
Curious your thoughts of whereit's headed.
I appreciate that question, Skip.
It's.
I think AR has expanded whenpeople talk about augmented reality.
(25:06):
It used to mean one thing andnow it means many things.
I think people are throwing alot of different terminologies.
You probably hear acronyms allthe time.
AR XR, Mr.
All these Rs, right.
And people kind of I glazeover and it's like throwing a big
bowl of spaghetti together.
What I think is going tohappen and what we're starting to
see the trends on right now isnumber one, you're going to see you
(25:27):
take a look at OpenXR from Google.
You're going to start to see alot more open platforms for the development
and the advancement to the waythat applications are being built
in augmented reality.
And I think you'll start tosee that in the next couple years
where it's a lot more applications.
Instead of building yourapplication just for that one specific
(25:47):
headset or use case, you cannow make your application more open
to be able to be interfacedwith the core systems.
I also see it going moredeeper with deeper integrations and
utilization.
You've got to embrace thingslike AR really needs to cross the
chasm in the IT world.
So when you deploy these typesof devices, it's like deploying a
phone or a tablet.
(26:08):
You've got to have a mobiledevice management platform, you've
got to have the rightcybersecurity in place, oftentimes
compliance.
So I think we're going to getwork over the next couple of years
we're going to see a lot moresophistication in the total AR solution
rather than this fragmentedapproach of here's my device, here's
my platform, we got to putthis together and do all this work.
(26:30):
So I really start, I'mstarting to see a trend towards streamlining.
I also see the opportunity forAI to really become the next level
embedded here with being ableto actually collect data from the
real world that can now beinterfaced in real time with the
human brain through thesetypes of deliveries and be able to
start mapping and doing thingsaround the world where we're getting
(26:53):
a different view of the worldand we're starting to leave behind
digital messages, digital objects.
Imagine showing up at yourStarbucks and your friend left you
a note and you pop yourglasses on, you see the note.
Being able to leave things inthe real world almost like breadcrumbs
of data and breadcrumbs of interaction.
So I see a bright future forar, but I do believe that there's
(27:16):
going to be a lot of changecoming and I believe there's going
to be a lot more in depth integrations.
But I also think thedefinition of what we think AR is,
is going to change, is goingto continue to change as we go step
forward into the next, thefuture of mobility.
I can't wait to ride this pathwith you.
So on that point, just thismorning, we recently announced our
(27:37):
strategic partnership betweenMagic8 and Digilens.
I know, I'm excited.
But what excites you the mostabout partnering with us and how
do you see that benefiting thehospital hospitality segment?
Wonderful question, Skip.
And I gotta tell you, the dayI met you, I'm like, all right, not
only is there a successfulcompany that understands the depths
of QSR and hospitality, thatwas the first thing you, you got,
(27:58):
your team gets it, youunderstand the challenges that exist,
you understand how to addvalue to the equation.
My biggest excitement pointwas we weren't really looking at
the QSR and hospitalityindustries till we met you.
Frankly, we were focused onindustrial and manufacturing and
all these things.
And the one thing that MagicGate did for us is you helped us
(28:20):
open our eyes that the sameuse cases or Similar flavors of the
same use cases are extremely valuable.
We find this all the time.
There's all these reallyinteresting different types of verticals
that come to us and we'relike, how can that be relevant?
But then you find this massivesupply chain thing that needs to
be fixed, or you find atraining challenge, or you find a
(28:42):
standardization challenge.
We were really excited topartner with you.
Your group has a very longtrack record selling successfully
the Magic Leap devices, theHololens devices.
So you also have a lot ofexperience in understanding how to
interface these types ofdevices with customers.
So to me, Magic 8 is a onestop shop opportunity for us in these
(29:05):
industries because we haveindustry subject matter expertise
now with the teams.
We also have device expertiseand technology expertise and we bundle
that up and now we have awhole new vertical at Digilance we
can explore that we weren'tplanning to explore.
So this is fabulous.
And I can't wait to divedeeper into the QSR and hospitality
space because I see a lot ofopportunity and we also know many
(29:29):
great people in common in the industry.
It is a customer service,customer centric industry and I think
that people will take noticeof these technologies by the simple
fact that they're starting tosee new interfaces and new opportunities
in these types of environments.
Well, I'm gonna let you dropthe mic at that point because I can't
top that.
Thank you for those, thosekind words.
(29:50):
Once again, it is a, it is arelationship that goes both ways.
Obviously you have theexpertise, the knowledge, the product,
most importantly, and you havewonderful people that I've met, I've
dealt with from onboardingperspective to just tech technical
support and getting us up andrunning and in a quick manner.
So thank you to you and yourteam, especially you, because you've
(30:11):
been driving it the entire time.
Super excited, can't wait tosee where this is headed.
And I can't wait to show it tomore and more of our industry colleagues
and really show them what ARcan do from an operations perspective
to make their operations moreefficient, more effective, more relevant
and really the functionalitybehind some of this technology that
(30:34):
they've never considered before.
I'll tell you what, the worldof hospitality is changing and augmented
reality is poised to be amajor part of that transformation.
Whether it's trainingemployees, improving logistics or
enhancing guest experiences,the future is bright.
(30:54):
And with Digilens Argo, thatfuture is already here.
Stay tuned for more insights.
And if you're heading toMirtech, don't miss the chance to
experience the Argo Smartglasses firsthand.
If you have any furtherquestions for Brian or me and would
like to connect with us, youcan do so via social media.
Skip Kimple or MagicGateTechon X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn,
(31:20):
you can go to thewebsite@SkipKimple.com for all the
archived episodes and shownotes and also the Magic 8 website
where you can hear all ofthese new episodes.
And of course you can emailme@Skipagic8.com the countdown to
Murtek is officially on.
Only 20 days to go.
If you're not planning to be there.
(31:41):
Seriously, why not?
This year is going to be huge.
Huge, I tell you.
It's the 30th anniversary ofthe show and you know they're pulling
out all the stops.
We dropped a big press releasethis morning for this show, but heads
up, another one is cominglater this week and it's all about
the conference.
And then next Tuesday.
(32:02):
Yep, another major announcement.
This one's a biggie.
Introducing a new partner tothe hospitality marketplace.
Who is it?
I'm not telling you.
Gotta keep a little suspenseon our end.
The Magic 8 team is in full onprep mode, packing, shipping and
making sure everything islocked and loaded for the show.
(32:23):
So much to do and so little time.
Alright, back to the grind.
And until next Tuesday, staysafe, stay healthy and stay hungry.
My friends, are you ready tolevel up your tech game and understand
the world of xrp?
(32:43):
Dive into the world ofextended reality with Magic Gate's
XR Bootcamp.
Master the concepts of virtualreality, augmented reality and mixed
reality in just weeks.
No special equipment orprevious knowledge is required.
Limited seats are available tosign up now@bootcamp.magicgate.com
that's bootcamp.magicgate.comyour future in XR starts there.
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