PTC’s Vuforia Spatial Toolbox For Faster Robotics Interface Development, MSC Changes Business Model Due To Pandemic, Dassault Forecasts Lower Revenue – Coffee Break News

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A new month is upon us once again! But before we get too busy with the new month’s challenges, it is time for Scan2CAD’s Coffee Break News featuring the past month’s biggest news items from the worlds of CAD, design, engineering and technology.

We covered several big developments over the last few weeks, including how PTC’s Vuforia Spatial Toolbox is being used to speed up the development of robotics interface; MSC’s unique business model which lets engineers innovate remotely anytime even during the COVID-19 pandemic; and Dassault Systemes’ revenue reports and forecast.

Other stories we followed include how BIM reviews are using virtual reality nowadays; the transformation of low-cost printers into high-tech output producers; and the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the architects of the world.

There’s so much interesting things to read about in this edition of our news round-up, so let’s get things started!

PTC’s Vuforia Spatial Toolbox Designed to Speed Up Robotics Interface Development

PTC Reality Lab has released its open-source platform called Vuforia Spatial Toolbox which is intended to let developers solve various spatial computing problems in a much more efficient way.

PTC’s announcement said, “Innovators and academic researchers can explore the power of Industrial Internet of Things [IIoT] and spatial computing, accelerate prototyping for machines, and develop leading-edge spatial augmented reality (AR) and IoT use cases to support digital transformation initiatives.”

According to PTC, this spatial computing platform can assist team in improving the operation of complex manufacturing environments and also grant easier control to IoT-enabled machines as far as on-the-fly programming. Developers can utilize the Vuforia Spatial Toolbox to create intuitive user interfaces that control and operate robots, and also allow them to build interfaces that improve the interaction between humans and machines.

Mike Campbell, executive vice president and general manager of augmented reality for PTC, said, “Many developers, innovators, and researchers recognize that AR can help democratize the programming and control of connected machines. What they need are solutions that help alleviate development overhead for prototyping these innovative, next-gen AR tools. PTC is helping them develop tools and interfaces to spatially interact with and program the world of interconnected things around them.”

CAE Leader MSC Changes Business Model So Engineers Can Work Remotely During COVID-19

MSC Software Corporation (MSC), one of the world’s leaders in the Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) simulation software and services, has recently announced that it will give customers free offline licensing and remote access options to allow them to remain productive, especially while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roger Assaker, Chief Customer Engagement Officer for MSC Software, announced, “We are adapting to the needs of our customers, and are also adding a helping hand to support their business continuity so they can continue to design, engineer and perform virtual testing outside their place of work. We are facilitating the access to our software, knowledge base and support to enable the creation of even more value with our tools, helping companies to maintain productivity and innovation when many manufacturing lines are down.”

He added, “We appreciate that these are very challenging times for many of our customers, and we can guarantee that we will be supporting them to the best of our ability, every step of the way.”

Some of the offerings from MSC Software specific to this season of pandemic lockdowns include extension of licenses for work-from-home support or alternative access options for MSC Software CAE solutions, and free access to online learning resources for MSC Software products.

The manufacturing industry has always found remote work particularly challenging because many of its tools and system processes still revolve around old-fashioned workflows. As more and more companies are forced to find ways to work remotely, CAE and simulation tools are particularly useful in the migration.

Dassault Systemes Revenue Forecasts Lower Than Expected

Dassault Systemes SE announced on Wednesday that revenues for the first quarter of the year should grow 14% to 17%, based on preliminary data. This is lower than originally expected by Dassault, or about 2.5% to 5% lower than original projections because of lower new license revenue and services activity.

Still, Dassault stated that recurring software revenue, which makes up about 84% of its software revenue for the quarter, was still relatively in line with initial guidance and was the main driver of growth for this time period, mainly because of the good performance of its recent acquisition Medidata.

Other stories we followed this month:

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