Interactive product browsing and configuration using remote augmented reality sales services

Real-time remote sales assistance is an underdeveloped component of online sales services. Solutions involving web page text chat, telephony and video support prove problematic when seeking to remotely guide customers in their sales processes, especially with configurations of physically complex artefacts. Recently, there has been great interest in the application of virtual worlds and augmented reality to create synthetic environments for remote sales of physical artefacts. However, there is a lack of analysis and development of appropriate software services to support these processes. We extend our previous work with the detailed design of configuration context services to support the management of an interactive sales session using augmented reality. We detail the context and configuration services required, presenting a novel data service streaming configuration information to the vendor for business analytics. We expect that a fully implemented configuration management service, based on our design, will improve the remote sales experience for both customers and vendors alike via analysis of the streamed information

Laser scanning and data integration for three-dimensional digital recording of complex historical structures: The case of mevlana museum

Terrestrial laser scanning method is widely used in three-dimensional (3-D) modeling projects. Nevertheless it usually requires measurement data from other sources for full measurement of the shapes. In this study a 3-D model of the historical Mevlana Museum (Mevlana Mausoleum) in Konya, Turkey was created using state-of-the art measurement techniques. The building was measured by terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). In addition, some shapes of the indoor area were measured by a time-of-flight camera. Thus, a 3-D model of the building was created by combining datasets of all measurements. The point cloud model was created with 2.3 cm and 2.4 cm accuracy for outdoor and indoor measurements, and then it was registered to a georeferenced system. In addition a 3-D virtual model was created by mapping the texture on a mesh derived from the point cloud

A mixed reality framework for surgical navigation: approach and preliminary results

The overarching purpose of this research is to understand whether Mixed Reality can enhance a surgeon’s manipulations skills during minimally invasive procedures. Minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) utilizes small cuts in the skin - or sometimes natural orifices - to deploy instruments inside a patient’s body, while a live video feed of the surgical site is provided by an endoscopic camera and displayed on a screen. MIS is associated with many benefits: small scars, less pain and shorter hospitalization time as compared to traditional open surgery. However, these benefits come at a cost: because surgeons have to work by looking at a monitor, and not down on their own hands, MIS disrupts their eye-hand coordination and makes even simple surgical maneuvers challenging to perform. In this study, we wish to use Mixed Reality technology to superimpose anatomical models over the surgical site and explore if it can be used to mitigate this problem

How to Build a Patient-Specific Hybrid Simulator for Orthopaedic Open Surgery: Benefits and Limits of Mixed-Reality Using the Microsoft HoloLens

Orthopaedic simulators are popular in innovative surgical training programs, where trainees gain procedural experience in a safe and controlled environment. Recent studies suggest that an ideal simulator should combine haptic, visual, and audio technology to create an immersive training environment. This article explores the potentialities of mixed-reality using the HoloLens to develop a hybrid training system for orthopaedic open surgery. Hip arthroplasty, one of the most common orthopaedic procedures, was chosen as a benchmark to evaluate the proposed system. Patient-specific anatomical 3D models were extracted from a patient computed tomography to implement the virtual content and to fabricate the physical components of the simulator. Rapid prototyping was used to create synthetic bones. The Vuforia SDK was utilized to register virtual and physical contents. The Unity3D game engine was employed to develop the software allowing interactions with the virtual content using head movements, gestures, and voice commands. Quantitative tests were performed to estimate the accuracy of the system by evaluating the perceived position of augmented reality targets. Mean and maximum errors matched the requirements of the target application. Qualitative tests were carried out to evaluate workload and usability of the HoloLens for our orthopaedic simulator, considering visual and audio perception and interaction and ergonomics issues. The perceived overall workload was low, and the self-assessed performance was considered satisfactory. Visual and audio perception and gesture and voice interactions obtained a positive feedback. Postural discomfort and visual fatigue obtained a nonnegative evaluation for a simulation session of 40 minutes. These results encourage using mixed-reality to implement a hybrid simulator for orthopaedic open surgery. An optimal design of the simulation tasks and equipment setup is required to minimize the user discomfort. Future works will include Face Validity, Content Validity, and Construct Validity to complete the assessment of the hip arthroplasty simulator