AR-based configuration and information retrieval of household appliances on mobile devices

Abstract

This paper describes the usage of mobile devices like PDAs, organizers or 3rd generation mobile phones for the configuration and information retrieval of household appliances for the consumer market. The mobile devices act like personal digital assistants and use the technology of augmented reality for the following tasks: The user can obtain additional information about household appliances in a shop (special features, technical data, etc.) represented by 3D-objects, videos or texts in a very straightforward way. Furthermore the user is able to configure his planned kitchen in the shop using the technology of augmented reality. Looking at real household appliances he can change materials, select and add additional virtual domestic appliances and components on his mobile device. Therefore the mobile device enhances real camera images by virtual objects (3D-animations, 2D-graphics or text) and allows personalized user interactions with the augmented scene. For this purpose a dedicated user interface has been developed to support an easy and intuitive interaction of the user with the augmented scene.