VR / AR Machine Interface - Seeking Community Opinion
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So I've been toying around with the idea for a bit of creating a Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality interface for a printer. This would essentially be a more interactive, 3D version of the web interface already available. There may also be the ability to backport it to 2D devices as well similar to Microsoft's Mixed Reality viewer. Here's some possible use cases:
Immersive Printer Status:
- Essentially a 'Digital Twin' of the printer.
- Live, 3D view of the print bed and object printing status
- Live, 3D view of the tool positions with temperature / fan overlays
- Real-time view of additional temperature sensors overlaid on 3D models
- Live webcam view
- Importable 3D models to place in the 3D space. This could be a full CAD model of your printer or just outside frame, etc...
- Virtual buttons for eStop, pause, resume, etc...
Augmented Reality Printer Status:
- Same as above, but with buttons and view overlaid on the actual system.
- For enclosed printers, this could produce an 'x-ray vision' effect of the system in operations
- For non-enclosed printers, this could have temperatures and other overlays on the live tool positions
- Add Augmented Reality buttons that may not physically exist on the machine
Factory View
- Interface with multiple machines showing current status, print progress, and ability to enter full virtual view
- Live views of individual machines, live sensor / error alerts from machines
- Ability to manage multiple prints and printers, drag and drop file to upload and start on each printer
So thoughts?
Useful? Not Useful? Never Use it? I'd like some feedback and opinions if it's something worthwhile to develop. With the VR devices coming down in price ($299 for Oculus Quest 2), this might be an interesting interface in the future.
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@tlas its certainly interesting as a concept, but I personally doubt i would use it until AR was commonplace in everyday usage. So I would not put on a headset to interact with a machine, but if I was already wearing an AR headset or implant, then it might be useful.
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@t3p3tony
Agreed.What’s the ‘commonly available’ point and what’s the tipping point of working on an ‘advanced feature’? Hard questions to answer.
With Oculus Quest at $300 and pushing into the Augmented Reality / Digital Workspace sphere (See the immersed app, it’s really good), I do think it might be getting close. Scales probably won’t fully tip until Apple or Samsung puts out a mainstream device.
I can really get behind a virtual interface from a ‘Digital Workspace’ standpoint, but if you’re not already working in a digital VR environment, it’s easier to just pull up a webpage on whatever you are using.
A mainstream augmented reality device might be entirely different though - I’d totally put on a pair of glasses to access an augmented reality machine interface or have one pop up if I’m already using one.
Realistically, I think we’re 3-10 years out from mainstream AR devices at low cost. VR mainstream could be 1-3 years. Replacing PanelDue / screens / keyboards / mice from a hardware standpoint does sound appealing. It’d need to be rock solid though.
