Flexible Architecture for Multimodal Augmented Reality Engineering Applications

We present a flexible framework for multimodal engineering applications using augmented reality. Our goal is to simplify the configuration procedures and to provide a higher grade of flexibility in multimodal interfaces. The system architecture is based on an extensible plug-in approach. A specific component has been designed to manage and synchronize the different multimodal inputs. A configurable XML based layer manages user preferences in a hierarchical way. We tested two engineering applications: a structural component re-design case and an industrial plant visualization. Industrial experts were positively impressed by the augmented visualization and by the usability of the interface. Most of them agree that the multimodal interface surpasses the desktop based interface.