A Waterloo Engineering research team is using augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) to better understand — and maintain — the condition of Canada's critical infrastructure.
Dr. Chul Min Yeum, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and his colleagues have developed a system called the Smart Infrastructure Metaverse that uses AR/VR to allow on-site and off-site inspectors to interact in real-time as they view the real structure and a 3D scanned replica model simultaneously.
In an experiment on a railway bridge in Kitchener, Ontario, Yeum and his team used 3-D scanners and a panorama camera to create a detailed model of the structure, enabling precise tracking of both on-site and off-site inspectors. An off-site engineer, using a VR headset, navigated the model as if in a VR game, while on-site inspectors wearing AR headsets viewed the physical bridge, the remote user, and additional information through holographic displays.
This setup allowed the off-site inspector to monitor the exact locations and activities of the on-site team, ensuring accurate data collection. Additionally, artificial intelligence analyzed the images from the AR headsets to detect structural damage
"The Smart Infrastructure Metaverse is all about making it easier for on-site and off-site inspectors to work together on structural inspections," Yeum said. "We're using AR/VR headsets to give them a shared view so they can see exactly where they are and what they're looking at during the inspection, no matter where they're located."