The 3D rendering of subsurface utility pipes inside a virtual excavation is cool. But if you don’t have 3D data to support it (e.g. if you don’t know the depth of the pipes), that sort of renderings could actually be misleading.
Users told us that in spite of their limited 3D depth data, 2D pipe maps are very useful for excavation planning, and 2D renderings of those maps in the physical world would be quite…
Facility maintenance work may be repetitive: sets of instructions need to be executed on a regular basis, to ensure continued operation of the facility. As explained in my previous post, an Augmented Reality (AR) tutor could help new employees familiarize themselves and complete the task, by teaching them how to proceed, on a step by step basis. Experienced employees could also benefit from the tutor, using it as a check…
We have been using the HoloLens for 8 months now, yet I am still amazed by the quality of the tracking it provides, enabling truly stable and quite robust hologram displays. So far, many of the use cases that have been demonstrated for the device were showing holograms unrelated with their physical environment: whether they be building models, TV screens or Minecraft games, such holograms might be displayed on your coffee…
Augmented reality is a fascinating technology that could change the way we live and interact with the world that surrounds us. Unfortunately, we don’t see many good applications of AR in engineering yet, partly because achieving good visual integration of digital objects with reality is very challenging.
To display the augmented elements at the right location on a tablet display at every instant, the AR app must…
Construction is a complex process aimed at the development of physical infrastructure. Designers propose a 3D building concept, and ultimately builders create the 3D object that corresponds to the designer’s idea. However, even though designers may have produced a 3D model of their design, drawings, because of their location specific review and certification, are the only form of visual design communication that satisfies…
Complex models can be a little difficult to visualize, as element cluttering may impair easy visualization. Transparency, wireframe rendering, selective display, clipping, etc. can all be used to make that task easier, but we thought of another way: what if we created a virtual hole on the surface of the walls of a complex building model, and selectively clipped some of the elements it intersects with?
We explored the…
The term “Augmented Reality” is interpreted in various ways. But the concept of “live” augmented reality usually means that the physical world is augmented from your current location, at the moment you are viewing the world – that means here and now. That is what most of us have heard of – you take your smart phone, aim at something, its image is displayed on screen, and the augmentation…
Infrastructure is inherently 3-dimensional. Designers propose a 3D building concept, and ultimately builders create the 3D object that corresponds to the designer’s idea. Yet, the only design document that is legally approved for construction is the 2D drawing. Of course, 2D drawings are essential documents for construction, as they represent an efficient way of looking at and understanding the complex 3D model information…
Augmented reality finds new applications every week. So far, those that have been proposed for the infrastructure world are generally either related to displaying hidden data (such as underground infrastructure models), or displaying attributes related with visible elements. If implemented on portable devices, such applications could be very useful for infrastructure operation and maintenance. There is, however, another…