Switchable Glass Enabled Contextualization for a Cyber-Physical Safe and Interactive Spatial Augmented Reality PCBA Manufacturing Inspection System

Augmented reality (AR) has been demonstrated to improve efficiency by up to thrice the level of traditional methods. Specifically, the adoption of visual AR is performed widely using handheld and head-mount technologies. Despite spatial augmented reality (SAR) addressing several shortcomings of wearable AR, its potential is yet to be fully explored. To date, it enhances the cooperation of users with its wide field of view and supports hands-free mobile operation, yet it has remained a challenge to provide references without relying on restrictive static empty surfaces of the same object or nearby objects for projection. Towards this end, we propose a novel approach that contextualizes projected references in real-time and on demand, onto and through the surface across a wireless network. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, we apply the method to the safe inspection of printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) wirelessly networked to a remote automatic optical inspection (AOI) system. A defect detected and localized by the AOI system is wirelessly remitted to the proposed remote inspection system for prompt guidance to the inspector by augmenting a rectangular bracket and a reference image. The rectangular bracket transmitted through the switchable glass aids defect localization over the PCBA, whereas the image is projected over the opaque cells of the switchable glass to provide reference to a user. The developed system is evaluated in a user study for its robustness, precision and performance. Results indicate that the resulting contextualization from variability in occlusion levels not only positively affect inspection performance but also supersedes the state of the art in user preference. Furthermore, it supports a variety of complex visualization needs including varied sizes, contrast, online or offline tracking, with a simple robust integration requiring no additional calibration for registration.