Increased safety for manual tasks in the field of nuclear science using the technology of augmented reality

Abstract

Nuclear science implicates potentially high health risks for operators due to frequent exposure to radioactivity, in particular as manual labor is still necessary for many tasks. At present no intelligent support system is available to deal with the permanent threat of nuclear radiation and to assist the operators with their mostly demanding, stressful and even complex tasks. The paper presents the promising technology augmented reality (AR) as excellent solution for this challenging setting. It offers the possibility to superimpose important auxiliary information directly into the operator's view of the working environment, related to the aimed task and its location. This quality enables to significantly increase the safety of the work e.g. by visualizing nuclear radiation, giving warnings if required and by highlighting dangerous areas. An AR-system supplies the operators with all necessary information that helps them to cope with their assignment, ease decisions and thus reduce stress and increase comfort, advancing complete task fulfillment at once. In consequence earlier leaving of the radioactive environment is possible, reducing the time of exposure and thus improving operational safety. AR in combination with an immersive camera system as technical basis for the information visualization offers numerous additional possibilities like guidance, flexibility, documentation and protection that can significantly change the work with radioactive material.