Feature Highlight: Kiosk Mode for AR Headsets, Tablets, and Phones
- November 14, 2023
- AR, How-To, News
XR can feel overwhelming or intimidating to new users. Admins and leaders of XR initiatives are often looking for ways to make XR easier to use, integrate, and adopt into their organization.
Some of the largest XR deployments in the world use a companion app on a tablet that helps control the XR experience. Many companies or schools will provide facilitators with a tablet to guide individuals, groups, or classrooms throughout training content.
And with the rise of augmented reality use cases in enterprises, companies are looking for a way to provide a simple, distractionless user experience.
But how do you ensure that your users, facilitators, or instructors can remain focused on training without getting distracted?
That’s where kiosk mode comes in. Kiosk mode keeps users focused on the AR or VR experience. It helps users navigate companion tablets and phones without the distractions of navigating complicated apps or UI. It’s all about simplifying the user experience.
Whether you’re an independent software vendor (ISV) developing content, a managed service provider (MSP), or a company— a companion tablet allows administrators or trainers to guide users in VR by facilitating the experience from the tablet.
We are excited to announce the release of new kiosk mode options for augmented reality (AR) headsets, tablets, and phones. With this latest product update, ArborXR offers flexible single-app and multi-app kiosk modes powered by Android’s lock task mode API. Now, you can remotely manage even more devices to elevate your XR training.
What is Android’s Lock Task Mode?
Lock task mode is Android’s functionality that locks a device to a single app or multiple apps. This is also commonly referred to as screen pinning or kiosk mode. Users can only access the apps you select for them when a device runs in kiosk mode. This means that users typically won’t be distracted by notifications, are locked out of the app store, cannot use an internet browser, or access disallowed apps.
Kiosk Mode for AR devices, Tablets, and Phones
ArborXR has always offered a remote kiosk mode solution designed specifically for virtual reality headsets. This involves installing the ArborXR Home app on VR devices, which is available for the most popular standalone VR headsets (i.e., Meta, PICO, VIVE, etc).
Now, companies and schools have tools to lock down AR headsets, tablets, and phones remotely from the web portal.
Key highlights include:
- Support for AR headsets like Magic Leap, including OS management
- Kiosk mode for tablets and phones
- Flexible single-app or multi-app configurations
- The system status bar remains visible so users can see connectivity, battery, etc.
- Available across all ArborXR subscription plans at no extra cost
Kiosk mode locks down devices so that they run only specified applications. When a device is in kiosk mode, users are unable to exit out of the allowed apps or access anything outside of what has been whitelisted.
Kiosk mode is valuable for enterprises who want to dedicate devices to run only approved business apps. It helps ensure a consistent and controlled experience. For example, a company might restrict their AR headsets to only using remote collaboration or architectural design tools. Or museums may run AR headsets in kiosk mode to run informational tour apps. The possibilities are endless!
Examples of Companion Tablets in VR Deployments
MyndVR
MyndVR developed what they call “care tablets.” A leader in the digital therapeutics and VR therapy space, MyndVR needed an effective way to scale senior care with VR. They developed a companion app that controls the VR content seniors experience.
This allows personalized care for each patient, where caregivers and patients can work together to select the VR experiences they want or need to use. Lock task mode for the companion tablet is absolutely essential because it takes away all the guesswork and navigation for caregivers, allowing them to focus on caregiving.
Axon
Axon also uses companion tablets as a part of their VR training for police officers. Using realistic VR simulations, Axon helps police officers develop critical tactical experience, empathy, and coping skills. A companion tablet is essential for trainers to curate experiences for officers, review progress, and guide them through some of these scenarios.
Lock task mode locks down companion tablets to their training apps, making it easy for a trainer to use VR without getting distracted by unrelated apps, internet browsers, or notifications.
How to Set Up Kiosk Mode for Android Tablets and AR Headsets in ArborXR
Whether you want to place your headset or tablet in kiosk mode, the steps are fairly simple. We’ve listed them below, and you can learn more in this help article.
- Navigate to the group or individual ungrouped device.
- Select the Device Experience tab.
- Select Kiosk Mode.
- Select apps:
- Click on Managed Apps to expand the section, then select the managed app(s) that users should have access to.
- Click on Unmanaged Apps to expand the section, then select the unmanaged app(s) that users should have access to within ArborXR Home.
- Scroll down and click, Apply Changes.
How to Set Up Kiosk Mode for Android Tablets and AR Headsets in ArborXR
Whether you want to place your headset or tablet in kiosk mode, the steps are fairly simple. We’ve listed them below, and you can learn more in this help article.
- Navigate to the group or individual ungrouped device.
- Select the Device Experience tab.
- Select Kiosk Mode.
- Select apps:
- Click on Managed Apps to expand the section, then select the managed app(s) that users should have access to.
- Click on Unmanaged Apps to expand the section, then select the unmanaged app(s) that users should have access to within ArborXR Home.
- Scroll down and click, Apply Changes.
Why This Matters
Kiosk mode for AR headsets, tablets, and phones gives further tools and control to ISVs, MSPs, and companies that want to provide a companion tablet to pair with VR or AR content.
As always, we listen closely to customer needs and find ways to make managing XR devices easy. With ArborXR, enterprises now have a robust extended reality device manager (XRDM) capable of securing and controlling all types of reality devices from AR to VR across form factors.
Check out our product roadmap for more upcoming releases, and contact our sales team today to learn more about our device management solutions.
Interested in getting started?
Experience AR & VR device management made easy. Start using ArborXR free today. If you have any questions, visit our product page or email us at [email protected].
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