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Über dieses Buch

The 2-volume set LNCS 11613 and 11614 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Computer Graphics, AVR 2019, held in Santa Maria al Bagno, Italy, in June 2019.

The 32 full papers and 35 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers discuss key issues, approaches, ideas, open problems, innovative applications and trends in virtual and augmented reality, 3D visualization and computer graphics in the areas of medicine, cultural heritage, arts, education, entertainment, military and industrial applications. They are organized in the following topical sections: virtual reality; medicine; augmented reality; cultural heritage; education; and industry.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Application of Physical Interactive Mixed Reality System Based on MLAT in the Field of Stage Performance

At present, in some real-time occasion like as stage performances, mixed reality effects are often generated by a mechanical means, or only between physical objects and virtual objects. This will lead to many uncontrollable shortcomings. in order to overcome the above disadvantage, the authors developed a mixed reality system for physical interaction. The experiment unfolds between the experiencer and the controllable Four-axis unmanned aerial vehicle with some performance props. The first step of the study is to build the stereoscopic scene through the camera calibration, the target coordinates in image are obtained by infrared sensors deployed on the experimenter and the aircraft respectively by Camshift algorithm and it can be transformed into the spatial coordinates by projection transformation. And the second step is based on different preset working modes and the coordinate relationship expressions between them that have been configured, with the action of the experimenter, Ant Colony Algorithm is used to move the Four-axis UAV to a certain position, thereby realizing this kind of precisely controllable interaction between entities. The final experiment in this paper has proven that our work provided a great mixed reality effect for occasions such as stage performances.

Yanxiang Zhang, Pengfei Ma, Ali Raja Gulfraz, Li Kong, Xuelian Sun

Application Advantages and Prospects of Web-Based AR Technology in Publishing

Web-based Augmented Reality technology (WebAR) is a new hot spot in the development of AR technology. Its lightweight, easy-to-propagate and cross-platform communication features will break through the limitations of the existing Application-based Augmented Reality (APP AR) mode. The paper first analyzes the development status and technical advantages of WebAR. Next, the publishing mode of WebAR application in publishing is compared with the current popular APP AR publishing mode to expound the characteristics of WebAR publishing mode. Then, combined with WebAR’s technical advantages and characteristics of publishing and distribution mode, this paper analyzes the advantages its application in publishing brings to publishers and readers. Finally, the application prospect of WebAR in the publishing of three-dimensional textbooks and sci-tech periodicals is briefly discussed.

YanXiang Zhang, Yaping Lu

Generation of Action Recognition Training Data Through Rotoscoping and Augmentation of Synthetic Animations

In this paper, we present a method to synthetically generate the training material needed by machine learning algorithms to perform human action recognition from 2D videos. As a baseline pipeline, we consider a 2D video stream passing through a skeleton extractor (OpenPose), whose 2D joint coordinates are analyzed by a random forest. Such a pipeline is trained and tested using real live videos. As an alternative approach, we propose to train the random forest using automatically generated 3D synthetic videos. For each action, given a single reference live video, we edit a 3D animation (in Blender) using the rotoscoping technique. This prior animation is then used to produce a full training set of synthetic videos via perturbation of the original animation curves. Our tests, performed on live videos, show that our alternative pipeline leads to comparable accuracy, with the advantage of drastically reducing both the human effort and the computing power needed to produce the live training material.

Nicola Covre, Fabrizio Nunnari, Alberto Fornaser, Mariolino De Cecco

Debugging Quadrocopter Trajectories in Mixed Reality

Debugging and monitoring robotic applications is a very intricate and error-prone task. To this end, we propose a mixed-reality approach to facilitate this process along a concrete scenario. We connected the Microsoft HoloLens smart glass to the Robot Operating System (ROS), which is used to control robots, and visualize arbitrary flight data of a quadrocopter. Hereby, we display holograms correctly in the real world based on a conversion of the internal tracking coordinates into coordinates provided by a motion capturing system. Moreover, we describe the synchronization process of the internal tracking with the motion capturing. Altogether, the combination of the HoloLens and the external tracking system shows promising preliminary results. Moreover, our approach can be extended to directly manipulate source code through its mixed-reality visualization and offers new interaction methods to debug and develop robotic applications.

Burkhard Hoppenstedt, Thomas Witte, Jona Ruof, Klaus Kammerer, Matthias Tichy, Manfred Reichert, Rüdiger Pryss

Engaging Citizens with Urban Planning Using City Blocks, a Mixed Reality Design and Visualisation Platform

This paper looks at city scale visualisation during concept generation as a method to engage citizens with city planning. A Virtual Reality based platform is proposed, prototyped and piloted. The platform, City Blocks, utilises an abstracted physical design kit and a generated, explorable digital twin to visualise and analyse concepts. It is found that through the Virtual Reality based platform, later design stage visualisation of ideas can be brought to concept development and that citizens are able to reason and refine designs via an abstracted physical twin. The paper presents an analysis of the 149 city designs, including a comparison between citizens and experienced urban planners.

Lee Kent, Chris Snider, Ben Hicks

Convolutional Neural Networks for Image Recognition in Mixed Reality Using Voice Command Labeling

In the context of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), image and object recognition has become an important factor. Camera systems provide information to realize sophisticated monitoring applications, quality control solutions, or reliable prediction approaches. During the last years, the evolution of smart glasses has enabled new technical solutions as they can be seen as mobile and ubiquitous cameras. As an important aspect in this context, the recognition of objects from images must be reliably solved to realize the previously mentioned solutions. Therefore, algorithms need to be trained with labeled input to recognize differences in input images. We simplify this labeling process using voice commands in Mixed Reality. The generated input from the mixed-reality labeling is put into a convolutional neural network. The latter is trained to classify the images with different objects. In this work, we describe the development of this mixed-reality prototype with its backend architecture. Furthermore, we test the classification robustness with image distortion filters. We validated our approach with format parts from a blister machine provided by a pharmaceutical packaging company in Germany. Our results indicate that the proposed architecture is at least suitable for small classification problems and not sensitive to distortions.

Burkhard Hoppenstedt, Klaus Kammerer, Manfred Reichert, Myra Spiliopoulou, Rüdiger Pryss

A Framework for Data-Driven Augmented Reality

This paper presents a new framework to support the creation of augmented reality (AR) applications for educational purposes in physics or engineering lab courses. These applications aim to help students to develop a better understanding of the underlying physics of observed phenomena. For each desired experiment, an AR application is automatically generated from an approximate 3D model of the experimental setup and precomputed simulation data. The applications allow for a visual augmentation of the experiment, where the involved physical quantities like vector fields, particle beams or density fields can be visually overlaid on the real-world setup. Additionally, a parameter feedback module can be used to update the visualization of the physical quantities according to actual experimental parameters in real-time. The proposed framework was evaluated on three different experiments: a Teltron tube with Helmholtz coils, an electron-beam-deflection tube and a parallel plate capacitor.

Georgia Albuquerque, Dörte Sonntag, Oliver Bodensiek, Manuel Behlen, Nils Wendorff, Marcus Magnor

Usability of Direct Manipulation Interaction Methods for Augmented Reality Environments Using Smartphones and Smartglasses

This contribution presents a study examining five different interaction methods for manipulating objects in augmented reality (AR). Three of them were implemented on a smartglass (virtual buttons, swipe pad of a smartglass, remote control via the touchscreen of a smartwatch) and two of them on a smartphone (virtual buttons, touch interaction). 32 participants were asked to scale and rotate a virtual 3D object. We studied the usability of the interaction methods by measuring effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the users. The results of the study showed that smartphone interaction is superior to any of the studied smartglass interaction methods. Of the interaction methods implemented for the smartglass, the interaction via smartwatch shows the highest usability. Our findings suggest that smartwatches offer higher grades of usability when interacting with virtual objects rather than using the swipe pad of the smartglass or virtual buttons.

Alexander Ohlei, Daniel Wessel, Michael Herczeg

An Augmented Reality Tool to Detect Design Discrepancies: A Comparison Test with Traditional Methods

Augmented Reality (AR) is an innovation accelerator for Industry 4.0 that supports the digitalization and improves the efficiency of the industrial sector by providing powerful tools able to enhance the workers’ visual perception by combining the real world view with computer-generated data.In this context, the paper presents a new AR tool and an exploratory test in order to examine how well it supports the user’s tasks for the detection of design discrepancies. In particular, the test aims to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed tool and how it compares to other instruments traditionally adopted for this end, such as technical drawings and CAD systems.The experimental findings show that the proposed AR tool presents similar results with the other instruments in term of effectiveness and very encouraging results about its efficiency.

Loris Barbieri, Emanuele Marino

A New Loose-Coupling Method for Vision-Inertial Systems Based on Retro-Correction and Inconsistency Treatment

Real time pose estimation of a mobile rigid-body in an unknown environment and without adding constraints (markers, antenna, ultrasound, Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)...) is a crucial issue for Augmented Reality (AR) applications. One of the most advanced indoor/outdoor pose estimator is the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithm (SLAM) based on monocular or binocular images. The complexity of this algorithm and his processing time present the main drawbacks of this type of pose estimator. It is difficult to use SLAM on mobile or embedded devices in real time applications, because they suffer from low computational resources. On the other hand Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) allow indoor/outdoor localization without important time processing but require signal integration which generates drifts over longer periods of time. In this paper we propose a new method for coupling SLAM with IMU. In this approach we take into account the SLAM processing time in order to avoid incoherences of timestamps in fused SLAM and IMU poses. To this end we propose a retro-correction method that synchronizes all poses with a general clock timestamping all events. In addition the quality of the poses is improved with detection and treatment of inconsistency. For this purpose an Adaptive Complementary Filter (ACF) was developed. Finally simulated and experimental results validate the efficiency of the proposed method.

Marwene Kechiche, Ioan-Alexandru Ivan, Patrick Baert, Rolnd Fortunier, Rosario Toscano

Ultra Wideband Tracking Potential for Augmented Reality Environments

The main objective of this research is to implement a solution for precise visualization of 3D virtual elements where distances from the environment’s participant to the object are up to ~200 m. The primary results of this research should ensure a dynamic and animated three-dimensional (3D) computer model depiction in augmented reality (AR) mode without the use of fiducial or image-based markers. Such technological innovation will offer ample cases of augmented reality use in various industries and have economic ramifications. Current outdoor AR solutions lack precision, stability, operational range and multiple 3D object depiction in one scenario, dynamic properties to allow a participant to move freely in an environment without the loss of immersion.

Arnis Cirulis

HoloHome: An Augmented Reality Framework to Manage the Smart Home

This paper introduces the HoloHome, an Augmented Reality framework which aims to provide new means of interaction with the Smart Home and its components. HoloHome integrates multiple technological paradigms encompassing Internet of Things, Ambient Assisted Living, and Augmented Reality to offer the ultimate tailored comfort experience for the Smart Home’s inhabitants including frail elderlies and people with mild cognitive disabilities. The main purpose of the HoloHome is to provide a Mixed Reality environment implemented on the Microsoft HoloLens, to allow the user interaction with the Smart Home devices and appliances through the Augmented objects. HoloHome tackles the issue of real world locations of the objects and alignment of the virtual objects on the real objects within the spatial environment, using Vuforia image processing engine. It also defines the modality of the interconnection between the Mixed Reality application and the distributed network of smart devices through the communication channel of WiFi-enabled microcontrollers. Two use cases depict the HoloHome interaction methods and functionalities in two typical scenarios: regulating the domestic devices – such as turning on/off light – through the Augmented Reality framework, and providing visual hints and clues to help the users with mild cognitive impairments to find the objects they need easily.

Atieh Mahroo, Luca Greci, Marco Sacco

Training Assistant for Automotive Engineering Through Augmented Reality

This article proposes the development of an augmented reality application for mobile devices with Android OS focused on the visualization and interaction of the user with the components, technical characteristics, location and the processes of disassembly and assembly of engine in a vehicle; facilitating the learning process referring to this automotive system. The application was developed in the graphic engine 3D Unity and the use of Vuforia for the recognition of objects in 3D, being a technological tool that allows vouching the learning in the internal combustion engine, guiding the user and changing the paradigms of the use of physical manuals with the new technological advances as the augmented reality.

Fernando R. Pusda, Francisco F. Valencia, Víctor H. Andaluz, Víctor D. Zambrano

Microsoft HoloLens Evaluation Under Monochromatic RGB Light Conditions

Mixed reality technologies provide more natural interaction with virtual objects integrated in physical environments. Considering global lighting conditions, the spatial mapping has limitations, which manifest when scanning under limited light intensity. This paper evaluates the impact of red, green and blue monochromatic lighting sources on the spatial map scanning and distance measurement process of the Microsoft HoloLens holographic computer and head-mounted display. The paper also compares luminous power values, measured by MS HoloLens, with the ones obtained from a professional luminous flux meter.

Marián Hudák, Štefan Korečko, Branislav Sobota

Towards the Development of a Quasi-Orthoscopic Hybrid Video/Optical See-Through HMD for Manual Tasks

Augmented Reality (AR) based on head-mounted displays (HMDs) represent the most ergonomic and efficient solution for aiding complex manual tasks performed under direct vision and it is considered an enabling technology of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). This work intends to give a harmonized and consistent overview of the workflow carried out so far in the framework of the European Project VOSTARS towards the development of a novel AR HMD specifically designed to aiding complex manual tasks within arm’s reach. First results and future developments are being presented.

Fabrizio Cutolo, Nadia Cattari, Umberto Fontana, Vincenzo Ferrari

An Empirical Evaluation of the Performance of Real-Time Illumination Approaches: Realistic Scenes in Augmented Reality

Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality (AR/VR/MR) systems have been developed in general, with many of these applications having accomplished significant results, rendering a virtual object in the appropriate illumination model of the real environment is still under investigation. The entertainment industry has presented an astounding outcome in several media form, albeit the rendering process has mostly been done offline. The physical scene contains the illumination information which can be sampled and then used to render the virtual objects in real-time for realistic scene. In this paper, we evaluate the accuracy of our previous and current developed systems that provide real-time dynamic illumination for coherent interactive augmented reality based on the virtual object’s appearance in association with the real world and related criteria. The system achieves that through three simultaneous aspects. (1) The first is to estimate the incident light angle in the real environment using a live-feed $$360^\circ$$360∘ camera instrumented on an AR device. (2) The second is to simulate the reflected light using two routes: (a) global cube map construction and (b) local sampling. (3) The third is to define the shading properties for the virtual object to depict the correct lighting assets and suitable shadowing imitation. Finally, the performance efficiency is examined in both routes of the system to reduce the general cost. Also, The results are evaluated through shadow observation and user study.

A’aeshah Alhakamy, Mihran Tuceryan

Combining Image Targets and SLAM for AR-Based Cultural Heritage Fruition

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the prominent technologies in Cultural Heritage (CH) exploitation. Taking advantage of commonly used tools as smartphones and tablets, digital contents have the potential to improve visitors’ understanding and enjoyment of historical buildings and museums. In this regard, the early stage research described in this paper aims to develop an AR app combining image target-based AR and Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM). Leading visitors’ attention, the app will enhance CH fruition turning it in an interactive learning experience. The presented case study, the “Studiolo” of the Duke in the “Palazzo Ducale” of Urbino, with its high concentration of depicted elements, is ideal to explain the advantages of combining image target and SLAM to achieve a stable and reliable AR. In addition to information superimposed to Points of Interest (POIs), SLAM can be used to anchor suggestions about different POIs into specific positions inside the “Studiolo”, guiding the users’ orientation during the visit.

Paolo Sernani, Renato Angeloni, Aldo Franco Dragoni, Ramona Quattrini, Paolo Clini

Optimization of 3D Object Placement in Augmented Reality Settings in Museum Contexts

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that can be used to provide personalized and contextualized information regarding physical objects in form of digital overlays. We use this technology in our research project Ambient Learning Spaces (ALS) to provide museum visitors with specific additional digital 3D information regarding the exhibits presented. With this technology, we enable museum curators to use a new form of transporting contextualized information without the need for additional physical space. However, the use of AR brings up new challenges for the creation and placement of digital contents into the museum space. In this context, we ran an anonymous survey on the use of AR in museums throughout Germany and studied responses of (N = 133) museum professionals. The results indicate that, although many museum professionals are interested in using AR technology, currently the integration is very costly and complex. This paper proposes a system we developed in a user-centered design process with a museum. This system provides an interface that helps museum professionals to cope with the complexity when placing and aligning digital 3D objects in their exhibition using mobile devices. Through this solution, visitors have the chance to experience the virtual objects spatially embedded in the exhibition by the curators themselves. In multiple user studies during the development phase we measured the usability of the interface. The findings show that the system provides a high degree of usability and can be applied effectively by museum professionals.

Alexander Ohlei, Lennart Bundt, David Bouck-Standen, Michael Herczeg

Transmedia Digital Storytelling for Cultural Heritage Visiting Enhanced Experience

The Italian cultural heritage is the richest in the world and its attractiveness is still far from a complete exploitation. The technological innovation is an opportunity to enhance the valorisation process and cultural institutions are willing to exploit this potential in order to attract even more visitors. New communication paradigms are needed to satisfy the emerging need for cultural knowledge and experience of citizens and tourists. This paper introduces an innovative technological and methodological framework aimed at facilitating the collaborative creation and sharing of cultural narrative experiences. The potential benefits and implication related to the framework development are described. The framework starts from the research and systematization of cultural heritage contents, which are then digitalized and virtually reconstructed in order to create interactive and immersive experiences.

Angelo Corallo, Marco Esposito, Manuela Marra, Claudio Pascarelli

Assessment of Virtual Guides’ Credibility in Virtual Museum Environments

Immersive virtual museum environments can play a crucial role for communicating cultural information in an engaging and educational way, especially when storytelling is involved. In this paper we explore and assess the impact that the status of three types of avatars (embodiments of a museum curator, a museum security guard and a museum visitor, respectively) may have on the credibility of their storytelling and the emotions they evoke to virtual visitors. Preliminary results derived from an experiment provide evidence that supports our initial hypothesis that the status of the avatar may indeed influence their credibility and the participants’ emotions of sadness/worry, distress, shame, anger, relief and admiration.

Stella Sylaiou, Vlasios Kasapakis, Elena Dzardanova, Damianos Gavalas

Immersive Virtual System for the Operation of Tourist Circuits

This article presents the results of the development of an immersive VR application that serves as a virtual guide to the tourist within the circuits programmed in a visit design. It presents the structure of programming and 3D digitization process through which virtual scenarios were built through the APP allow to enjoy the immersive experiences within the tours programmed by the user according to the attractions, services and facilities of the destination; allowing to select the type of tourism, choose the site you want to visit and the time you have to make the visit, showing the location within the destination and projecting the circuit that may travel with the points where the tourist avatar will make, generating an interactive experience to tourists in scenarios and virtual tours marketed as new products making the destination more competitive and categorizing them as spaces with facilities for the development of e-tourism.

Aldrin G. Acosta, Víctor H. Andaluz, Hugo Oswaldo Moreno, Mauricio Tamayo, Giovanny Cuzco, Mayra L. Villarroel, Jaime A. Santana

Virtual Museums as a New Type of Cyber-Physical-Social System

Museums are institutions that primarily care for cultural heritage exhibition, preservation and conservation of historical artifacts. However, simply displaying artifacts and provide complex information to describe them is simply not sufficient to effectively engage museum visitors. To improve visitors engagement and their overall museum experience, the use of technology utilized by museums, introducing the concept of Virtual Museums. This paper discusses the use of Virtual Reality through the use of smart phone devices as a mean of a Cyber-Physical-Social system to support, improve and enhance the visitors’ experience. The RoboSHU prototype, its current development stage and future work are presented, together with the future research directions of the research team.

Louis Nisiotis, Lyuba Alboul, Martin Beer

Virtual Portals for a Smart Fruition of Historical and Archaeological Contexts

The experimentation of new effective visualization techniques provides viable technological solutions for the archaeological heritage fruition and the visitors involvement within cultural places (museums, gallery, archaeological sites).This article discusses the feasibility of a project aimed at extending outdoor the fruition of archaeological sites, by exploiting mixed reality technology. In a previous work we focused on the development of a mobile application that exploits the Augmented Reality technology, limited to an indoor fruition. Therefore we decided to extend the app by introducing a strategy for an on-site outdoor exploration based on “virtual portals”. Virtual portals are the medium that allows the transition from reality (present) to virtuality (past) and vice versa. They are located outdoor at some point of interest, so that user has the perception of passing through different space-temporal dimensions: this is actually what we want to provide as user personal experience. We considered two archaeological areas as case studies, both excavations sites of the University of Salento, as an instance of a wider network we aim to create. In this paper we give some hints about a feasible design for this project.

Doriana Cisternino, Carola Gatto, Giovanni D’Errico, Valerio De Luca, Maria Cristina Barba, Giovanna Ilenia Paladini, Lucio Tommaso De Paolis

Intercultural Communication Research Based on CVR: An Empirical Study of Chinese Users of CVR About Japanese Shrine Culture

Previous studies have shown that CVR can promote users’ knowledge acquisition, meaning understanding and emotional experience. This study demonstrates the feasibility and advantages of CVR in intercultural communication through empirical research. A virtual reality video about Japanese shrine culture was produced by shooting and editing, and a Chinese user was selected for a controlled experiment. It turns out that CVR can create an immersive cultural environment for users in intercultural communication and bring a good cultural experience, but it also has some shortcomings that need to be continuously improved through technical means.

Ying Li, YanXiang Zhang, MeiTing Chin

Augmented Reality to Engage Preschool Children in Foreign Language Learning

The goal of this study is to see if Augmented Reality (AR) helps to motivate preschool kids and engage them in foreign language learning activities. The study conducts an experimental study to compare traditional approaches with an AR app for teaching a foreign language to preschool kids. Data were collected from experiments performed at three daycares on students at three age groups; 4, 5, and 6 years old. Surveys were also conducted to receive input from teachers and kids. The results show that there is significant engagement increase in learning a foreign language when AR apps utilized in the classroom.

Elif Topsakal, Oguzhan Topsakal

A Study on Female Students’ Attitude Towards the Use of Augmented Reality to Learn Atoms and Molecules Reactions in Palestinian Schools

The chemical reaction between different molecules is an important learning subject in a chemistry course. Especially for elementary school students, this can be an abstract concept and therefore difficult to understand. One way to facilitate this learning process is to use Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which is considered as an added value compared to classical learning materials such as textbooks, 2D images, video, etc. Among the different advantages of using AR technology in the context of educational domain is the fact that 3D technology is offering a safe environment especially if the students have to perform critical tasks such as simulating chemical reactions. This work investigates the students’ attitude towards the use of a mobile AR application for learning atoms and molecules reactions. In particular, we focused on female students as in general female students show less interest in science and technology than male students. We were keen to investigate whether the use of AR technology could change this attitude. The students are able to interact with the different AR components to explore the possible reactions in a 3D interface, to see the structure and shape of atoms and molecules, and to view related descriptions in their native language, i.e. the Arabic language. The mobile AR application was evaluated by a class of 12–13 years old (7th grade) students in a Palestinian primary school. The number of participants was 50, all female students. After analyzing the results, we can conclude that the female students had a positive attitude toward the use of this AR application in their learning process.

Ahmed Ewais, Olga De Troyer, Mumen Abu Arra, Mohammed Romi

Intelligent System for the Learning of Sign Language Based on Artificial Neural Networks

Sign language has become a form of communication for people who have some type of hearing impairment, in order to relate to the world around him and perform daily activities including education, work performance and personal development. In the knowledge society, the development of new Technologies for Information and Communication (TIC), they constitute a teaching tool that changes the conditions for learning and communication as the world is digitized. Therefore, the development of an Ecuadorian sign language learning system based on the use of a gesture sensor and an artificial neural network multilayer feed-forward, implementing the Backpropagation algorithm, which takes advantage of the parallel property of decreasing the time required by a processor to distinguish the existing relationship between given patterns, represents a solution for improving the teaching-learning process.The system consists of three main layers: The first is responsible for the acquisition of data through a gestural device; the second uses the library of the gesture sensor to perform the acquisition and storage of information of the hand and the position of the fingers. Finally, the output layer, once the training of the neuron is analyzed, generates the real-time recognition of sign language.

D. Rivas, Marcelo Alvarez V., J. Guanoluisa, M. Zapata, E. Garcés, M. Balseca, J. Perez, R. Granizo

Measuring and Assessing Augmented Reality Potential for Educational Purposes: SmartMarca Project

Augmented and Virtual reality proved to be valuable solutions to convey contents in a more appealing and interactive way. Their use is nearly embracing several domains like medicine, geospatial applications, industry, tourism and so on. But among the others, the one that might benefit the most by their use is the Cultural Heritage. In fact, given the improvement of mobile and smart devices in terms of both usability and computational power, contents can be easily conveyed with a realism level never reached in the past. However, despite the tremendous number of researches related with the presentation of new fascinating applications of ancient goods and artifacts augmentation, few papers are focusing on the real effect that these tools have on learning. In fact, whether a disposable use of such tools seems to have a great benefit in terms of visual impact for the users, the same cannot be said about the long-term effect they have on the users, especially for education purposes. Within the framework of SmartMarca project, that will be briefly explained in these pages, this paper focuses on assessing the potential of AR applications specifically designed for Cultural Heritage. More specifically, tests have been conducted on an Augmented Reality experience upon different paintings. For evaluating the benefits of such technology in terms of learning, we have performed our experiment on classrooms of teenagers. By testing different learning approaches, we were able to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of using these technologies for the education process. The paper will even argue on the necessity of developing new tools to enable users to become producers of contents of AR/VR experiences, since up to now there no exists a platform specifically designed for an agile creation, even for not skilled programmers.

Emanuele Frontoni, Marina Paolanti, Mariapaola Puggioni, Roberto Pierdicca, Michele Sasso

Augmented Reality in Laboratory’s Instruments, Teaching and Interaction Learning

This article presents the research carried out to develop an application of augmented reality for Android devices that allows to know and explore an Electrical and Electronic laboratory of the University of the Armed Forces ESPE, as a means of dissemination and learning of equipment as instruments with which they work in this laboratory. Such elements deploy the respective documentation, a virtualized model and in some cases a deployment in its components for the respective maintenance. The results obtained are based on the clear streamlining of the teaching method with the complementation of all the information that is appended to the application. This results in an aggregate use of the laboratory for the diversification and correct use of its elements. The use of the AR application generates an extension of the knowledge already acquired in classes.

Víctor H. Andaluz, Jorge Mora-Aguilar, Darwin S. Sarzosa, Jaime A. Santana, Aldrin Acosta, Cesar A. Naranjo

Touchless Navigation in a Multimedia Application: The Effects Perceived in an Educational Context

Natural user interfaces have been widely adopted in several application fields. In particular, they are employed in learning environments to increase the motivation and the engagement of students.In this paper we evaluate the user experience with a touchless application interface. The reference scenario is an ipermedia learning application based on the Kinect touchless interface: it describes the machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, an Italian Renaissance inventor. The user can interact with the graphical interface by means of hand gestures and poses, which allow selecting items from the menus, scrolling text areas, zooming images and so on.We employed the well-known SUS and USE questionnaires to assess the perceived usability. We prepared also some questions about users’ impressions and opinions on the application itself. In this way, we studied how the users were influenced by their experience with the Kinect device in the learning activity.

Lucio Tommaso De Paolis, Valerio De Luca, Giovanna Ilenia Paladini

Analysis of Fuel Cells Utilizing Mixed Reality and IoT Achievements

Recent advances in the development of smart glasses enable new interaction patterns in an industrial context. In the field of Mixed Reality, in which the real world and virtual objects fuse, new developments allow for advanced procedures of condition monitoring. Hereby, the smart glasses serve as a mobile display and inspection station. In this work, we focus on the applicability of Mixed Reality to monitor data of the spatially resolved current density distribution of a fuel cell. To be more specific, we implemented an IoT approach based on the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport protocol (MQTT) to enable the aforementioned monitoring. The realized solution, in turn, provides a live monitoring as well as an overview feature.

Burkhard Hoppenstedt, Michael Schmid, Klaus Kammerer, Joachim Scholta, Manfred Reichert, Rüdiger Pryss

Virtual Environment for Training Oil & Gas Industry Workers

Oil and Gas industries have grown year by year in the automation field, trying to improve their processes and productivity, and at the same time trying to ensure the safety of their workers, machinery and company. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to periodically train instrumentation technicians and field operators; however, it must be taken into account that most of industrial equipment is really expensive. Due to this it has been necessary to use tools such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), which optimize and reduce both the time and the cost of training. This research proposes the development of a virtual training system for the commissioning, calibration and mounting HART transmitters in dynamic and dangerous environments for the human being such us Oil & Gas process facilities.

Carlos A. Garcia, Jose E. Naranjo, Fabian Gallardo-Cardenas, Marcelo V. Garcia

Virtual Training for Industrial Process: Pumping System

The article presents a virtual environment of a pumping system oriented to training of users that interact with industrial processes. The application of it was performed in a graphic engine Unity 3D, where shows two training environments: (i) Electro pumps laboratory, simulates control operations of control for manipulating many configurations from centrifugal pumps in individual, serie or parallel in order to visualize by an HMI the physical parameters such as: pressure, flow and temperature; (ii) Industrial environment the user prepares in a complementary way how to know industrial processes in a practical and realistic way. In order for making the virtual application immersive and interactive, the modeling of the electrical characteristics of the pumping system was carried out.

Edison P. Yugcha, Jonathan I. Ubilluz, Víctor H. Andaluz

Virtual Training on Pumping Stations for Drinking Water Supply Systems

This article offers the development of a realistic and intuitive virtual environment for training on pumping stations for drinking water supply systems. The environment has structures and equipment found in pumping stations that simplify the user interaction with the industrial process, instrumentation, monitoring and control of the station. The environment has been created using photogrammetry techniques, CAD tools and the UNITY 3D graphic engine that combined with MATLAB exchanges information in real time to execute the simulation of the process, achieving a high degree of realistic immersion. Experimental tests allow the operator to interact with the virtual environment and achieve maximum experience in the integrated station. Through experimental tests, the immersion of the training environment system is verified.

Juan E. Romo, Gissela R. Tipantasi, Víctor H. Andaluz, Jorge S. Sanchez

Virtual Training System for an Industrial Pasteurization Process

This article presents the development of a training system in a virtual environment, a pasteurization plant, which allows interaction with the industrial process. The environment has structures, equipment and other instrumentation that is presented in a real pasteurizer plant. Thus, the proposed system manages textures and movements in a Unity 3D graphic environment, specially designed to develop monitoring and manipulation skills of this industrial process. The interface and the animation of the process are developed in Unity 3D software, together with the modeling of all the elements; in CAD design software. The experimental tests allow the operator to interact with the virtual environment and have knowledge of the different stages of pasteurization in the dairy industry.

Alex P. Porras, Carlos R. Solis, Víctor H. Andaluz, Jorge S. Sánchez, Cesar A. Naranjo

Virtual Environment for Teaching and Learning Robotics Applied to Industrial Processes

This paper presents a structured application with virtual environments that emulate industrial processes that interact with the virtualized ScorBot ER-4U robot with the help of CAD software and texturing using other software. The manipulator is controlled from Matlab in response to the established modeling, communication is generated in two ways since both the real and the virtual manipulator act at the same time. Manipulator libraries allow data to be obtained in the encoders located in each motor and set the manipulator in a desired position. The real movement is replicated in the virtual environment for which a shared memory is used that allows access to a record inside the RAM of the computer that can be accessed from any program once in dynamic-link library (dll) is loaded.

Víctor H. Andaluz, José A. Pérez, Christian P. Carvajal, Jessica S. Ortiz

StreamFlowVR: A Tool for Learning Methodologies and Measurement Instruments for River Flow Through Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality potentialities can be exploited for several types of contexts beyond the mainstream video game industry. One of the most interesting application fields concerns its use in education and teaching especially in the contexts where security and safety are essential elements. The measurement of river flow is required for river management purposes including water resources planning, pollution prevention, and, flood control. The teaching of this complex task requires to transfer well-known methodologies as well as careful attention while performing the training in situ. In this paper, we propose a virtual reality tool called StreamFlowVR to improve the learning process for the river flow instruments and measuring methodologies. The basic idea is to create a rich user experience in a secure environment where students can understand the correct methodologies. We believe that the use of virtual reality benefits the students in learning hydraulic phenomenon faster and more confident respect to the traditional approach on a real river.

Nicola Capece, Ugo Erra, Domenica Mirauda

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