Using the Smartphone as an Augmented Reality Device in ETO Industry

Abstract

Industrial Augmented Reality (IAR) has proven its potential in ETO industry by improving productivity and acting as a key technology for consistent digital information flows. In order to leverage these potentials on a significant scale, broad distribution of IAR inside a company should be aimed for. However, most applications have not yet overcome a prototype state and failed to make the step into production. Primary limiting factors are inadequate device availability and acceptance of current IAR solutions, which focus on smart glasses and tablet devices. The aim of this paper is to examine whether smartphones have the potential to serve as a platform for IAR in ETO industry. First the user interface of an existing tablet IAR prototype is adapted to a smartphone in order to later evaluate user experience. Hence a survey to assess worker preferences between tablet and smartphone devices for common IAR supported tasks is developed. The survey design is tested on a group of workers from ETO industry.