Nomadic Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) allows virtual information to be overlaid on the real world. Technologies related to AR are advancing quickly, and recent developments include fully-self-contained, wearable systems such as the Microsoft Hololens. As wearable devices progress, they will become invaluable to a variety of field workers who will benefit from easy access to information. For instance, construction workers may view future building plans superimposed on a current job site and workers roaming an industrial plant can bring a virtual control room wherever they go. This PhD project will explore novel methods for Nomadic Augmented Reality, a class of systems, applications and interaction techniques designed to support field workers with visual information on the go. These explorations will involve the creation of new visualisations or interaction techniques, the development of prototype systems that encompass emerging technologies, and evaluation through user studies. Practical parts of this project may involve software development using the Unity development environment or prototyping with miniature sensors and other hardware such as Arduino. This project will provide an opportunity for the student to research develop a novel project direction though close collaboration with experienced supervisors. Project directions may include: Building and testing new wearable input devices for mobile field workers Creating novel input techniques for immersive data analytics Overlaying in-situ data visualisations in a dynamic or cluttered environment Exploration of flying drones for mobile tracking, dynamic scene capture or projection Machine learning analysis of data from smart building systems Spatio-temporal visualisation of electrical loads on smart grids using Virtual Reality In-Situ AR visualisation of data from Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems or the Internet of Things (IoT)