InspectAR: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with augmented reality (AR) technology

Nowadays, many industries are researching the influences of fast-paced development of technology on using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Augmented Reality (AR) has been a research field for more than two decades [Piekarski 2006; Schmalstieg et al. 2002; Schmalstieg et al. 2011; Spohrer 1999] since AR was first demonstrated by Ivan Sutherland in 1965 [Sutherland, 1965]. AR technology directly or indirectly attaches elements augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as video, graphics or GPS data, to the real-world view for the user. For example, Google Glass allows the user to see a digital image beside or on top of their view of the world. This technology has particularly useful applications, and impacts how and when a job can be executed. The ability to access this type of information without the use of a mobile device, or a trip to the site office, could deliver increased productivity and specificity onsite. The possibilities for AR are not limited to wearable technologies like Google Glass. The same sort of information display could be built into things like windshields of onsite vehicles, for example. Much research has been conducted in order to establish guidelines for using these technologies.