Workshop on Industrial Augmented Reality

Venue

The workshop will be held just before ISMAR 2005 in Vienna at the Siemens Campus "Erdbergerlände" on Wednesday, Oct 5, 2005. Transportation to and from the center of Vienna and the conference hotels wil be provided.

Schedule (including abstracts)

8:30 Registration

9:00 Session 1: Real-World Requirements for Industrial Augmented Reality Applications

• 9:00 Applying MR Technologies to Product Exhibition at Canon (Toshikazu Ohshima, Human Machine Perception Laboratory, Canon Inc)
  
  • We have been investigating MR technologies and developing MR solutions intended for industry use. This year an MR system has been developed, in which a semiconductor photolithography aligner and a digital single lens reflex camera can be observed by hand-held MR displays. The system is presented at Canon's private exhibition in Paris, Tokyo, and New York. It will prove that MR technologies can be effectively applied to product presentation tools.
• 9:15 AR Applications for the Car Development Process at Volkswagen – Lessons Learned (Stefan Nölle, Volkswagen AG)
  
  • One of the main application themes for AR during the car development process involves the comparison of the really built objects to their CAD engineering data. When demonstrating mixed presentations of real and virtual objects to users, we realized that "classical AR setups" using an HMD were not favoured by the users. We thus investigated various alternatives, exploring tradeoffs between several critical design parameters of AR systems. For example, we realized that the overall positional accuracy of a system (as measured for a stationary setup) is outranked by latency issues during user motions. In this talk we show examples from some of the actual applications at Volkswagen to discuss current limitations of AR setups and to suggest solutions.
• 9:30 Augmented Reality Applications in Experimental Vehicle Construction at BMW (Stephan Huber, BMW AG)
  
  • In the department “Technical Integration” at BMW, Augmented Reality is used to support the building and evaluation process of car prototypes. In the last years several AR-systems were implemented and tested. Besides the functional requirements of these single AR systems, a lot of non-functional requirements must also be considered. These are issues, like stability and maintenance, which are especially important in the industry. The acceptance of the later users is also one major point. In this talk a short introduction is given how we try to address these different issues.
• 9:45 Report on the Post-ARVIKA Industry-based AR Interest Group (Werner Schreiber, Volkswagen AG)
  
  • After finishing the German AR project ARVIKA, the industrial members of the project decided to keep in contact and to continue exchanging experiences. Therefore the "Industry-based AR Interest Group" was established to collect the needs of the industry and forward them to companies that offer solutions for AR applications. The group meets about twice a year to present current applications and discuss new inventions. This talk will present the structure and actual activities of the "Industry-based AR Interest Group".
• 10:00 Applications of AR in broadcasting (Graham Thomas, BBC)
  
  • The incorporation of 3D graphics in TV programmes in real-time has been possible for over a decade. Many early applications were concerned with creating a complete virtual background, using chroma-keying and camera tracking technologies to place a presenter in a virtual space. More recently, the focus has moved more towards the inclusion of virtual objects into a real space - more AR than VR. This presentation will show some examples from areas including sport, news and childrens' programmes, and discuss some of the technological and practical problems that had to be overcome.

10:15 Coffee

10:30 Session 2: Existing Toolkits / Solutions: Tracking

• 10:30 History and Roadmap of InterSense Tracker Development for Industrial AR and Automation (Eric Foxlin, InterSense Inc.)
  
  • This talk will trace the history of InterSense's quest to develop robust and versatile hybrid tracking technology for industrial manufacturing environments, from our early acoustic/inertial system in the Boeing wireshop, through the now commercially available IS-1200 vision/inertial mobile AR head-tracker, concluding with current programs to develop products for tracking hand-operated tools in the automotive assembly plant. Emphasis will be placed on our platform-based product family architecture, allowing customers to easily configure outside-in or inside-out solutions or choose between electro-optical or computer-vision aiding strategies.
• 10:45 AR-Browser: an Application Based on the Mixed Reality System VR-AVALON (Jens Weidenhausen, Harald Wüst and Didier Stricker, IGD)
  
  • This talk presents the tool "AR-Browser" developed within the project ARVIKA. The basic idea consists of embedding the AR-System in an Internet-Browser, and take advantage of a clear and easy-to-use interface. Further development and the merging of virtual and augmented reality at system level led to the system VR-AVALON, a component based mixed reality platform. The fundamental feature of this system is to enable development of complex applications only by connecting nodes of the scenegraph, and thus to avoid programming. The presentation of various advanced VR/AR-applications shows the major properties of the system and demonstrates its flexibility.
• 11:00 Potential of the ARToolKit for Use in Industrial AR Applications (Hirokazu Kato (Osaka University), Mark Billinghurst (HIT Lab NZ))
  
  • ARToolKit is a software package for developing AR applications based on registration technology using back square markers. ARToolKit has been used by many users since the first version was developed in 1999. Regarding the technical capability, ARToolKit is suitable for applications that are used on a desk or a table. Since ARToolKit can track multiple objects with square markers, it has been used not only for displaying information but also for interactive systems in AR environment. Regarding the software package, however, ARToolKit has several problems with documentation, usability of utilities like camera calibration, compatibility with other software etc. In this presentation, I examine the potential of the ARToolkit from the viewpoint of the development of industrial applications.
• 11:15 The Achilles´ Heels of Optical Tracking Systems: Occlusions and Optical Interferences – A.R.T.´s Solutions (Konrad Zürl, A.R.T.)
  
  • For 6 years, A.R.T. develops and sells infrared optical tracking systems. To achieve the necessary precision for AR, some specific problems of optical measurement technology must be overcome. To avoid occlusion, multi camera setups can be used. The IR flashes of the tracking cameras are time multiplexed to avoid mutual blinding. Static and dynamic reflex suppression can be used to suppress interferences with external radiation sources. Single camera tracking algorithms and hybrid tracking systems provide higher reliability. The design of targets is another important issue: the influence of merging markers, omni- and unidirectional targets, with passive and active and markers. Addressable active markers provide even more design potential.
• 11:30 Rapid Prototyping of Augmented Reality Applications with the STUDIERSTUBE Framework (Dieter Schmalstieg, TU Graz)
  
  • STUDIERSTUBE is one of the longest standing software frameworks specifically targeted at the development of Augmented Reality (AR) applications. The cross-plattform system is used by dozens of developers world-wide for a wide range of applications such as education, medical imaging, computer-aided design or mobile computing. The presentation will cover the software architecture of STUDIERSTUBE, address key innovations in the software design, and highlight some example applications.
• 11:45 Unifeye SDK - Mixed Reality. Unique Solutions. (Peter Meier, metaio Augmented Solutions)
  
  • metaio is one of the leading software companies for AR in the area of industrial and commercial applications. The Unifeye SDK features a high-end rendering engine fully compliant to VRML97 and X3D specifications. The renderer is controlled by an accurate marker-, markerless- or even a wide-area tracking system. Unifeye's markerless tracking-system is regarded by experts as one of the leading systems of its kind. It promises to make Augmented Reality based maintenance applications a reality within the near future. The Unifeye SDK combines the robustness needed for innovative product presentation systems, already deployed to thousands of consumer PCs, and the accurate high-end technology expected by its industrial users.

• 12:00 Industrial Applications of D'Fusion Software (Bruno Uzzan, Total Immersion)
  
  • Total Immersion is a software company specializing in development and sale of real time video images with abilities for interactivity offering the highest technologies available today (ex: HD ready). Total Immersion is focusing on vertical applications: Design & maintenance, entertainment, events and broadcast, in each of these markets we have introduced our innovation and convinced users of its benefits.

• 12:15 ARTag Rev2 Fiducial Marker System: Vision based Tracking for AR (Mark Fiala, National Research Council of Canada)
  • ARTag is a fiducial marker system using passive computer vision introduced recently at ISMAR 2004. It uses square markers with digitally encoded ID's specially designed to bring false positives and inter-marker confusion rates down to near zero, and utilizes an edge-based approach for immunity to lighting and occlusion. A second revision is now available providing improvements and easy usage of ARTag into an application program with single or multi-marker arrays with OpenGL rendering.

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Session 3: Current Applications

• 13:30 Future Research Directions for Markerless Augmented Reality at the Example of an Aircraft's Landing Gear (Dieter Langer, EADS)
  
  • At EADS, several demonstrators have been set up, which illustrate marker-based and marker-less augmented reality technology applied to aerospace service scenarios. Basic marker-less tracking technology is currently being developed in the ARTESAS project - a successor to ARVIKA. We will show at the example of an aircraft's landing gear that such marker-less tracking technology exhibits already a considerable robustness and stability. Therefore, future research in AR should focus mainly on authoring issues. For teaching scenarios, such authoring system has to produce photo-realistic renderings from CAD models. Similarly, the authoring system must generate small polygonal models from the CAD models for model-based, marker-less tracking algorithms. In general, the authoring system has to support the requirement to generate aerospace service content prior to the production of the aerospace product.
• 13:45 Augmented Reality Applications at Daimler Chrysler (Axel Hildebrand, Daimler Chrysler)
  
  • This talk gives an overview of AR application areas along the product development cycle within the automotive area. Based on specific scenarios, which have been implemented at Daimler Chrysler, certain requirements for AR hardware and software will be exemplified.
• 14:00 AR-based Analysis of Interfering Edges between Real and Virtual Objects (Fabian Doil, Volkswagen AG)
  
  • Recently Virtual Reality technologies have been introduced to manufacturing planning functions. As a result, planning time could be decreased and the quality of planning results could be improved. Yet, the current methods and tools are limited to a purely virtual representation of plans and require the complete modelling of the production system. The high costs reduce the possible benefits of these tools and this technology. Augmented Reality technology provides the potential for further improvements. Every factory planning project starts with a feasibility study. The planner has to reply quickly to the question “Is it possible to produce a new car model in the existing production line?” and “How much does it cost?”. In the field of conveyor techniques the interfering edge analysis is the most important appraisal tool during a feasibility study. Current solutions such as virtual simulations or trial runs with mockup car bodies have a number of disadvantages. For this reason Volkswagen has developed a photo-based Augmented Reality application to support making more informed decisions in the early planning process.
• 14:15 AMRA: Augmented Reality Assistance in Train Maintenance Tasks (Jean-Yves Didier, Laboratoire Systèmes Complexes)
  
  • The AMRA project, carried out by a consortium including industrials and research partners, aims at implementing an Augmented Reality (AR) system for mobile use in industrial applications such as train maintenance and repairs in industrial sites. The adopted solution is a video see-through system where a tablet-PC is used as an augmented window. The overall architecture of a prototype is unfolded, and its key points are detailed. For instance, a visual registration system has been developed to accurately overlay a video stream with information. A robust, real time registration, using a single camera tied to the tablet-PC, is performed. Besides, a hierarchical description of maintenance procedures is set up and enriched by new media such as photos, video and/or 3D models. These 3D models have been specially tailored to meet maintenance task requirements. The obtained multimedia contents allow easy access to technical documentation through a man machine interface managing a multimedia engine. All these features have been combined in the AMRA prototype which have been evaluated by a maintenance operator.
• 14:30 AR for Plant Service - Applications, Challenges, Future Directions (Mirko Appel, Siemens AG, Corporate Technologies)
  
  • Tasks to be carried out in plant service are often very complex and require access to a large variety of information. Augmented Reality can be used to support on-site service technicians by bringing plants' CAD models into their view and enable convenient access to all the information linked to it, such as drawings, work flow instructions or service history. In this talk we describe typical applications, point out the challenges and some lessons learned during prototyping, and sketch future directions to integrate AR meaningfully with other service technologies.
• 14:45 Augmented Reality in Rockwell Corporate Research (Reinhold Behringer, RSC)
  
  • The interest of US commercial industry in the topic "Augmented and Mixed Reality" has declined in recent years. The reason can be largely attributed to a lack of suitable hardware for head-worn displays. Instead, the trend is going away from core AR/MR applications towards systems that employ principles of ubiquitous computing. Rockwell SCientific (RSC) has worked in the past few years on a number of AR-based application prototypes. One example is an industrial device maintenance/diagnostic system, employing vision-based tracking of markers as visual anchors for showing live data from the industrial device. Another example is synthetic vision in airplane cockpits, where the view of pilots out of the cockpit is enhanced with computer-generated graphics and symbology, registered to the outside world.

• 15:00 Vehicle in the Loop - Augmented Reality Application for Collision Mitigation (Thomas Bock, TU Munich, INI.TUM (with AUDI AG))
  • Up to now the reproducible and safe test of driver assistance systems proves to be very difficult. This is true especially for collision mitigation tests. In this presentation today's state of the art of test and simulation methods for driver assistance systems is summarised at first. Then a new simulation and test environment is presented: In future the function of driver assistance systems can be tested and evaluated economically, reproducibly and most important without danger for the test person and test vehicle. To achieve this the real test vehicle is integrated into a traffic simulation by means of a vehicle in the loop (VIL) configuration. The vehicle does not move in real traffic but on open spaces of blocked off roads. It resorts to synthetic sensor data of a partly simulated environment. Methods and instruments of the augmented reality integrate the test driver into the synthetic outside traffic.

15:15 Coffee

15:30 Session 4: Existing Toolkits / Solutions: Authoring

• 15:30 Authoring the Impossible? (AMIRE toolkit) (Michael Haller, FH Hagenberg)
  
  • The implementation of industrial applications using Augmented Reality technology is a really challenging task because customers often expect different results than AR researchers are developing. In this presentation, we want to demonstrate the results of the AMIRE (Authoring Mixed Reality) project. One of the primary tasks was the development of an AR authoring tool for an oil refinery maintenance and training program by using a visual programming interface. After a short presentation of the requirements, we describe the whole authoring process and finally, we demonstrate results including a resume for further improvement.
• 15:45 The DART Project: Building Real Tools for Real People (Maribeth Gandy and Blair MacIntyre, Georgia Institute of Technology)
  
  • We will discuss The Designer’s Augmented Reality Toolkit (DART). DART is built on top of Macromedia Director, a widely used multimedia development environment. The goal of DART is to support rapid prototyping and design exploration of AR systems by designers trying to build real systems, in domains from from art and entertainment to industrial and military. We will focus here on the design decisions we made when building a toolkit for this audience, and summarize how DART addresses some significant problems faced by designers working with AR in the real world. We will also discuss our experience building and supporting an open-ended tool that tries to support both drag-and-drop experience creation and full programability and modifiability by the system author.
• 16:00 Authoring – A Key Element to Efficient Creation of VR/AR Content (Marco Schumann, IFF FHG Magdeburg)
  
  • One of the major characteristics distinguishing virtual and augmented reality from computer graphics is interactivity. This means the user is able to perform interactions in the virtual world and experiences a real-time response from the computer generated world. Depending on the purpose of using a virtual environment, possibilities for interactivity offer a broad variety. Simple interactions are user motions (so called walk-trough or fly-through motions). An example of a more complex interaction is to allow the user to assemble or disassemble parts of technical equipment. Obviously, a great variety of interactions also implies a complex model of the real system. This also increases the effort needed to create the virtual model. This effort is one of the major challenges for using virtual environments in industrial applications. Therefore, this talk introduces an approach designed to accelerate the process for creating interactive virtual training environments. It focuses on a generic training scenario that can be applied many technical domains. The elements of the scenario structure do not only allow the modelling of technical processes but also include didactic elements that specifically allow the author to develop lectures which can be used for autodidactic training of various maintenance and service tasks on complex technical equipment. Although the current authoring system is used to develop content for a virtual environment, the same approach can also be adapted to augmented reality.

16:15 Coffee, Live Demonstrations/Videos/Posters (as available) and Discussions

Note: the schedule might still undergo minor changes