When looking for an object, it can be frustrating knowing that you may be looking right at that location without realizing it. A new augmented reality system could help by showing users where certain items are.
An experimental X-AR system that builds on previous research was developed by a team at MIT.
It consists of a modified Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset and a small, inexpensive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag.
Like other RFID tags, they are temporarily powered by radio waves emitted by a handheld reader device. The tag then uses a small integrated antenna to transmit a radio signal to its reader. That signal contains information about the item the tag is attached to.
For the X-AR system, the headset acts as the reader. To that end, it is equipped with a loop antenna that sends and receives radio signals to and from RFID tagged items. These signals can pass through solid matter, so it doesn’t matter if the item (along with its tag) is hidden behind other objects.
As the user moves around, the X-AR system measures how far the headset is from the tag at different points in the room. Using this data, we can triangulate the location of items to within 9.8 cm (3.9 inches) on average. The user is guided by a transparent sphere in the display and superimposed on the position of the item.
Once the user reaches the location, the system utilizes the headset’s hand tracking capabilities to determine when the item is actually being picked up by the user. X-AR can verify that the item is actually the wanted object via the tag’s unique radio signal.
In tests run in a setting that simulated a warehouse full of bins and trash, the system correctly verified that users picked up the correct item 98.9% of the time. The system maintained her 91.9% accuracy even when the item was stored in his one of the boxes.
Scientists are now working to improve the system, including extending its range beyond its current 3 meters (9.8 feet). One way to do this is to wirelessly link multiple X-AR headsets in use within a single building so they can share data with each other.
“Our overall goal with this project was to build an augmented reality system that would allow us to see things that are unseen—things inside boxes and in corners. And it can bring you into them and allow you to really see them…you can access the physical world in ways that weren’t possible before,” Assoc said. His Professor Fadel Adib, senior author of the paper on this study.
The following video has more information.
Augmented reality with X-ray vision
Source: MIT
