Mixed reality environment for mission critical systems servicing and repair

Abstract

Mixed Reality (MR) technologies may play an important role in assisting on-site operators during maintenance and repair activities. Nevertheless, industrial equipment augmentation requires a high level of precision when co-registering virtual objects to the corresponding real counterparts. In this paper we describe a comprehensive proposal for a mixed reality environment aimed to improve the effectiveness of servicing and repair procedures in mission critical systems, while reducing the time required for the intervention. The tracking of the user's point of view exploits a multi-marker based solution for robust and precise augmentation of the operating field. The architecture also features a diminishing visualization strategy allowing the user to see only the fraction of real equipment that is relevant for the maintenance task. A finger color-based tracking provides powerful interaction capabilities by means of a not-instrumented interface exploiting colored fingertips caps. An evaluation study of the proposed MR environment, performed by technicians with no previous experience of MR systems, highlights the potential of the approach. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.