Authors:
Philipp Fleck
1
;
Fernando Reyes-Aviles
1
;
Christian Pirchheim
1
;
Clemens Arth
2
;
1
and
Dieter Schmalstieg
1
Affiliations:
1
ICG, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16/2, 8010 Graz, Austria
;
2
AR4 GmbH, Strauchergasse 13, 8020 Graz, Austria
Keyword(s):
Remote Collaboration, Telepresence, Augmented Reality.
Abstract:
In this paper, we present the maintenance assistance user interface (MAUI), a novel approach for providing tele-assistance to a worker charged with maintenance of a cyber-physical system. Such a system comprises both physical and digital interfaces, making it challenging for a worker to understand the required steps and to assess work progress. A remote expert can access the digital interfaces and provide the worker with timely information and advice in an augmented reality display. The remote expert has full control over the user interface of the worker in a manner comparable to remote desktop systems. The worker needs to perform all physical operations and retrieve physical information, such as reading physical labels or meters. Thus, worker and remote expert collaborate not only via shared audio, video or pointing, but also share control of the digital interface presented in the augmented reality space. We report results on two studies: The first study evaluates the benefits of ou
r system against a condition with the same cyber-physical interface, but without tele-assistance. Results indicate significant benefits concerning speed, cognitive load and subjective comfort of the worker. The second study explores how interface designers use our system, leading to initial design guidelines for tele-presence interfaces like ours.
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