Smartphone technologies have become established in the consumer market. However, they also have great potential in the areas of maintenance, repair and service. In particular if demanding tasks need handling in factory halls, on aircraft or in large building complexes. Fraunhofer IGD will present suitable applications from Virtual and Augmented Reality at Hannover Messe.
There is a lot to be done to make an office building ready for occupancy. Then, many working hours are dedicated to maintenance. In the process, the completed tasks need to be well documented and synchronized.
A development by Fraunhofer IGD, the world’s leading institute for applied research in Visual Computing, makes visible already laid wires and sockets not yet installed. For this purpose, Augmented Reality (AR) technologies are used, combining the digital building data (BIM; short for Building Information Model) and the real environment. This means that the reality recorded by the smartphone camera is supplemented by digital information on the screen.
The application is an enormous facilitation for service technicians, craftsmen and architects. With the help of the Augmented Reality technologies, the visualized data are also used to document and plan alterations of the building.
“A building and its entire infrastructure such as piping, electricity and insulation can be planned or maintained efficiently in this way”, says Dr. Ulrich Bockholt, head of the competence center “Virtual and Augmented Reality” at Fraunhofer IGD. In addition to maintenance and service, the AR technology usable for the smartphone can also be transferred to machinery and plants. The Fraunhofer technology makes handling such tasks easier and quicker.
Fraunhofer IGD will present its research results at Hannover Messe 2011 (from 4 - 8 April) in Hall 2, C24 at the booth of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
There is a lot to be done to make an office building ready for occupancy. Then, many working hours are dedicated to maintenance. In the process, the completed tasks need to be well documented and synchronized.
A development by Fraunhofer IGD, the world’s leading institute for applied research in Visual Computing, makes visible already laid wires and sockets not yet installed. For this purpose, Augmented Reality (AR) technologies are used, combining the digital building data (BIM; short for Building Information Model) and the real environment. This means that the reality recorded by the smartphone camera is supplemented by digital information on the screen.
The application is an enormous facilitation for service technicians, craftsmen and architects. With the help of the Augmented Reality technologies, the visualized data are also used to document and plan alterations of the building.
“A building and its entire infrastructure such as piping, electricity and insulation can be planned or maintained efficiently in this way”, says Dr. Ulrich Bockholt, head of the competence center “Virtual and Augmented Reality” at Fraunhofer IGD. In addition to maintenance and service, the AR technology usable for the smartphone can also be transferred to machinery and plants. The Fraunhofer technology makes handling such tasks easier and quicker.
Fraunhofer IGD will present its research results at Hannover Messe 2011 (from 4 - 8 April) in Hall 2, C24 at the booth of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
