Hands-Free Future

Munich-based startup 4tiitoo is building a smart, hands-free supply chain using eye tracking and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It’s about 6 a.m. As a truck, a major retail chain backs up the warehouse dock. The foreman of the dock is opening the back door, connecting the ramp and unloading pallets. The process and ritual that follows are as ancient as trade itself. Goods are numbered and inspected. The lading bills will be checked and signed. Goods are labelled, stored and stacked. Data on the transaction are recorded.

However, whether it is an ancient Egyptian writing in 4000 B.C. on papyrus. Or, in 2050 A.D., a modern worker entering data into an ERP system always needed two basic things: hands. Until now.

Putting mice on steroids

Workers perform these functions in a growing number of warehouses around the world without ever lifting a finger. They can enter data, process checklists, sign documents, and perform hands-free routine warehouse duties using eye tracking and control technology. This revolution is led by 4tiitoo with a system that combines eye tracking and AI to control each stage of the supply chain. NUIA (Natural User Interaction to All Applications) the 4tiitoo platform makes hands-free control as easy as language and gestures. Stephan Odörfer, 4tiitoo’sco-founder & managing director, likes “steroid mice.”

The hands-free supply chain

Eye control offers tremendous benefits for the supply chain of today. The typical user of the business and factory clicks 3,000 to 8,000 times a day on a mouse. That’s the equivalent of a few kilometers of travel. Using eye movements, users can seamlessly move windows, tabs, and data entry fields in the blink of an eye in and out of the supply chain application–and save between 15 and 60 minutes a day in the process. Eye control makes it much more flexible to run a supply chain. And because the interfaces are not dependent on any particular software system, at every point along the global chain, businesses can use the technology. For manufacturers who want to explore digital transformation and disrupt their industries, it is an attractive proposition:

Disassembling the assembling line: Workers in the assembly line are not only building cars, lawn mowers and stereos. They generate and enter data as well. Much of it. And this requires input of data. However, employees spend vast amounts of time moving between the assembly line and an ERP terminal in a point, click, and type environment. Workers can use their hands to create with eye control–and their eyes to capture valuable data.

Deconstructing the office: As we know, a hands-free work environment also promises to change the office. NUIA is now significantly reducing the use of mouse on standard SAP or CAD workplaces to make them more productive from 4 to 12 percent. Equipped with 5 G cloud-connected smart glasses, however, workers will soon be able to unchain themselves from the desk, computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse. They will soon be free to use simple eye movements to control the myriad of systems that are involved in their daily work.

A bigger vision

Within the digital supply management environment, eye control has wide potential. In fact, it is possible to adapt 4tiitoo to almost any classic ERP landscape. In the past, data entry was largely done manually for processes of inventory, warehousing, and purchasing. For example, by adding hands-free functionality to assembly line manufacturing systems, end users can enjoy a significantly improved user experience.

Eva Zauke, Vice President of the Digital Supply Chain and Head of SAP’s Digital Supply Chain Startup Accelerator Program at SAP, explains that “4tiitoo eye control technology requires very little data exchange, which means it can be quickly and easily integrated into the SAP ecosystem.”

Replacing the mouse with eye movements for Odörfer is part of a compelling vision for the future supply chain. “It’s important to replace mouse clicks. The ultimate goal is to automate things in order for a seamless, smart supply chain to understand what I want. Our NUIA Intention Prediction Technology based on our gaze is the first step on this path. “And indeed, this is a worth seeing future.