Application of Smart Glasses for Field Workers Performing Soil Contamination Surveys with Portable Equipment

Abstract

Currently, portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analysis is widely used as an auxiliary method for the preliminary investigation of soil heavy metal contamination. In this study, a smart glasses-based application (app) was developed to support field workers performing soil contamination surveys with a PXRF analyzer. The app was developed using the MIT App Inventor and runs on smart glasses based on an optical head-mounted display that provides both the original function of glasses to see the objects in front of the wearer, and the function of a computer at the same time. Using the app, a field worker wearing smart glasses can move to soil sampling points while checking the satellite image, survey plan, and real-time locations of other field workers through the smart glasses. At a sampling point, the worker can use both hands to collect and pretreat soil samples, and then measure the content of elements using a PXRF analyzer. The measurement results can be entered into the app using a wearable keyboard and shared in real-time with other field workers. The demonstration at the Ilgwang mine in Korea revealed that the app could effectively support field workers and shorten the working time compared to a previous study that was performed under the same conditions. The subjective workload was evaluated using the NASA task load index on ten subjects, and most of workload factors were evaluated as low.