This thesis describes the design, development, and evaluation of an interactive Microsoft HoloLens application that projects landscape models in Augmented Reality. The application was developed using the Unity framework and 3D models created in Sketchup. Using the application, students can not only visualize the models in real space but can also interact with the models using gestures. The students can interact with the models using gaze and air-tap gestures. Application testing was conducted with 21 students from the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning department at Utah State University. To evaluate the application, students completed a usability survey after using the application. Students also participated in a focus group. Results indicate that students were excited to use the application and found it helpful for learning landscape construction concepts. Some of the students found the application and the HoloLens device cumbersome to use, and they offered suggestions for how to improve the application. The thesis concludes with recommendations for future work.

Background: Cities worldwide are growing fast, and so is solid waste production, which calls for different stakeholders to come together and find creative ways to deal with urban growth and waste. This study explores how Augmented Reality (AR) could enhance public participation in public spaces and deal with solid wastein Mozambique’s capital city, Maputo. The study draws on material semiotics, detournement theorists and study participants’ views gathered through a questionnaire on urban public spaces in the city to make a case for AR technologies to enhance public engagement. Methodology: The study received responses from 57 participants (n=57). Inspired by theparticipants’ answers, Detournement theory, and AR activism, an AR experience called the Trash Snail to symbolise the slowness of the municipalityin gathering solid waste and properly managing it and the waste’s agency in shaping life in public spaces was created. Results: Three participants placed and experienced the Trash Snail in public spaceswith poorly managed solid waste. They also responded to two surveys, one before the experience with AR and the other after experiencing AR. The results were screenshots depicting the Trash Snail co-habitating with waste from human consumption and modes of living in contemporary Maputo and residents’ opinions about public spaces in Maputo. Conclusions: Drawing on those materials, Detournement theory and AR activism, the study concluded that AR, rather than just relaying computer-generated graphics information onto the real world, is best understood as an agent that shapes the users’ relations with it. AR has the potential to enhance public engagement in public spaces and in dealing with solid waste issues in Maputo. However, structural challenges related to the digital divide and financial shortcomings are limiting factors that one needs to consider when employing AR in Maputo and similar contexts. On a more extrapolative note, the study argues waste in public spaces needs to be seen as more than an administrative and technical problem, but one that is deeply embedded in lifestyles and accelerated consumption.

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I denna artikel undersöks HoloLens 2 som verktyg för att förmedla LEGO-bygginstruktioner genom att använda Augmented Reality (AR). Traditionella instruktionsmetoder såsom text, bilder och video har börjat få konkurrens av AR-tekniken. AR har potentialen att förbättra inlärning och effektivisering av instruktions processen genom att lägga till digitalt innehåll i den fysiska verkligheten.  I artikeln diskuteras både fördelar och nackdelar med att använda sig av AR-instruktioner jämfört med traditionella medier, såsom pappersinstruktioner och framhäver AR’s potential inom områden som exempelvis utbildning, sjukvård och tillverkning. Tidigare studier har visat ökat engagemang, effektivitet och minskad ansträngning hos användare som använder sig av AR-instruktioner. Ibáñez m.fl. (2014) genomförde en undersökning där de använde sig av AR bland studenter och fick positiv feedback vad gäller användning av AR i ett lärandesammanhang.  Artikeln inriktar sig specifikt på användningen av AR Head Mounted Display (HMD), som i detta fall kommer vara en HoloLens 2 för att förmedla LEGO-bygginstruktioner. Med hjälp av HoloLens 2 får användaren en tydligare uppfattning om monteringsprocessen och visualisera de olika komponenterna i 3D. Detta blir fördelaktigt för undersökningen när det gäller att hantera små LEGO-komponenter för att placera dem på rätt plats.  Slutresultatet för undersökningen av att använda HoloLens 2 som verktyg för att förmedla LEGO-bygginstruktioner, visade sig ha både fördelar och nackdelar som kommer att diskuteras senare i artikeln.

Humans have gone through a long journey of evolution resulting in continuous improvement of living standards through innovation and creation. But in that journey, one of the factors presenting itself as a constant barrier is social differences. It creates division among the society preventing the creation of an equitable society where every human being gets equal opportunities irrespective of their gender, belief, economical standards etc. This thesis ventures into utilising Augmented Reality (AR) games to evaluate the possibility of improving human communication and reduce social and cultural differences. Public Town Art is the AR game created for this study with simple features which are then evaluated through user questionnaire to analyse the possible influence. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation is conducted revealing promising results with respect to usability of the game and possible impact of virtual art creation in the area of human communication.

In today’s world, we live in a technologically advanced environment where information access is huge and limitless. The advantage to this is that, people are able to create more information, share and communicate with each other instantly on the go regardless of where they are in the world. However on the downside, with endless information, it becomes confusing and difficult to filter which information is right for a person’s need. This goes hand-in-hand for business companies, as it requires strategic processes and tools to identify the information from the market, store and evaluate it into meaningful insights and lastly communicate it efficiently so that the value of it is not lost along the way. Therefore this study focuses on how augmented reality (AR) as an emerging digital technology is able to dissect and communicate information and bring value to those who are implementing it. What is more interesting in this study is to see the usefulness and ease of using AR from commercial and non-commercial aspects in B2B field. This study was conducted through a qualitative research approach with semi-structured interviews with five companies providing and using AR applications. In conclusion, AR brings value by transferring data faster and communicating it effectively through visualization of integrating computer-generated information with the real world as one. From commercial aspect, companies could use this technology in their marketing communication to increase customer involvement and perception of the brand. In contrast, from non-commercial perspective, companies could use AR as an internal resource to increase efficiency in operation process.

Manual assembly workers have nowadays a much higher workload than before. Not only do they have to deal with many more product variants, but as aconsequence they also receive many more information signals that they have to act upon. This study focuses on the information assembly workers receive through visual instructions. By conducting a literature review in the domains of product development with focus on design for assembly, cognition related to informationin instructions and different instruction formats like paper, tablet, and augmented reality (AR), commonalities and differences could be identified. Assembly operations are generally divided in handling a part and joining a part, and instructions should inform the assembly worker about when what should be assembled where and how. Each of these aspects has an impact on the overall complexity of the assembly process. To realise which of these aspects is most critical for an assembly worker can be of help in creating and delivering effective, tailor made instructions. The main finding is that there is not a one size fits all solution when it comes to the effectiveness of instructions, but that the type of instructions and the way they are delivered should in the first place be adjusted to the complexity of the assembly operations and secondly - if possible - also adjusted to the experience of the worker. The outcomes mentioned in this document should help laying the foundation for rules and guidelines when it comes to manual assembly instructions and its factors to consider.

Globaler Wettbewerb und kürzer werdende Innovationszyklen erfordern eine immer schnellere und exaktere Reaktion auf sich ständig ändernde Kundenwünsche. Die direkte Integration von Kunden und Anwendern in den Entwicklungsprozess im Rahmen kontinuierlicher Validierungsaktivitäten gewinnt im Zuge dieser Entwicklung zunehmend an Bedeutung (Ponn & Lindemann, 2011). Die Erfassung zielgerichteten Kundenfeedbacks erfordert in der Regel die Konfrontation mit konkreten Repräsentationen des späteren Produkts. Zumal physische Prototypen hierfür in frühen Entwicklungsphasen oft nicht zur Verfügung stehen und deren Aufbau kostenintensiv ist, kommen stattdessen virtuelle Produktmodelle wie CAD-Modelle oder digitale Produktskizzen zum Einsatz. Aufgrund der starken Verkürzungen im Vergleich zum späteren Produkt sind sie jedoch unter Umständen nicht in der Lage ein realistisches Produkterlebnis zu erzeugen. Sie eignen sich damit je nach Anwendungsfall nur bedingt als Kristallisationspunkt für zielgerichtetes Kundenfeedback. Durch die technologischen Entwicklungen im Bereich von Virtual Reality- und Augmented Reality-Anwendungen (VR und AR) besteht jedoch das Potenzial, diese Einschränkungen virtueller Produktmodelle für den Einsatz in der Produktvalidierung in frühen Entwicklungsphasen aufzuheben. Die Technologien ermöglichen dem Anwender das realitätsnahe Erleben von vollständig virtuellen (VR) oder gemischt physisch-virtuellen (AR) Umgebungen. Erreicht die virtuelle Umwelt einen hohen sogenannten Immersionsgrad (fachsprachlich für Grad des „Eintauchens“), ist der Anwender im Extremfall nicht mehr in der Lage zwischen der realen und der virtuellen Umwelt zu unterscheiden. Besonders die AR-Technologie bietet für den Einsatz in der Produktvalidierung große Potenziale, zumal bestehende, physische Referenzprodukte mit virtuellen Modellen kombiniert werden können (Reinemann, Hirschter, Mandel, Heimicke & Albers, 2018). Dieser Beitrag präsentiert die Ergebnisse eines Forschungsvorhabens, dessen Ziel es war die Potenziale der AR-Technik für die Produktvalidierung in einer vergleichenden Probandenstudie differenziert zu untersuchen. [... aus der Einleitung]

The purpose of this thesis is to identify areas where the present production process can be more effective with the help of automation solutions and how this efficiency can contribute to improved productivity, quality, safety and ergonomics. Today, Hitachi ABB Power Grids has a manual manufacturing process for customized power transformers and seeks to meet a demand that requires a more automated approach. The research problem deals with five workstations for Hitachi ABB Power Grids production process of the internal components of power transformers. These workstations are connectors (A-donet), core stacking (including core cutting), winding, active part assembly and final assembly.  The study's questions are, 1. how should Hitachi ABB Power Grids manually based production process be more effective through automation solutions? and 2. which automation solution meets the best requirements of increased productivity, quality, safety and ergonomics with acceptable profitability? To answer these questions and achieve the thesis purpose, the study was carried out in the form of a qualitative case study, which data was collected via documents, observations, interviews and literatures.  Hitachi ABB Power Grids current production process was studied and a dialogue was held with the employees. Consequently, the obstacles that have prevented Hitachi ABB Power Grids from implementing automation were identified. Together with a market description, several concept proposals have been brainstormed. Core-laying machine is a potential automation solution in Hitachi ABB Power Grids production but is not taken into account based on the company's needs. The study resulted in Augmented Reality (AR) in the production process for increased communication. A complete solution is discussed to avoid a shifting effect that can occur when automating only one workstation. If the company implements the core-laying machine, the bottleneck will disappear at this workstation where pre-cut sheet metal is waiting to be used. Consequently, a new bottleneck would arise at the winding which would not be able to maintain the same speed, thus more cores can be manufactured than to be wound. To maintain the same productivity, the total workstation area of the winding should be widened and make room for more winding stations. The workforce that was previously at the core, can be trained to become a winding worker which can be made more efficient by letting the workers be trained in a mixed reality. The conclusion is that Microsoft's AR equipment, HoloLens 2 Remote Assist, is the automation solution that best meets the requirements of increased productivity, quality, safety and ergonomics. An investment in this information technology solution would result in a payback period of 12 months. / Syftet med detta examensarbete är att identifiera områden där den nuvarande produktionsprocessen kan effektiviseras med hjälp av automationslösningar och hur denna effektivisering kan bidra till förbättrad produktivitet, kvalitet, säkerhet och ergonomi. Idag har Hitachi ABB Power Grids en manuell tillverkningsprocess avseende kundanpassade krafttransformatorer och de försöker bemöta en efterfrågan som kräver ett mer automatiserat tillvägagångssätt. Studiens problemställning behandlar fem arbetsstationer för tillverkning av de inre komponenterna av krafttransformatorer. Dessa arbetsstationer är anslutningsdon (A-don), kärnläggning (inklusive kärnklippning), lindning, aktiv delmontage och slutmontage.  Studiens frågeställningar är, 1. hur bör Hitachi ABB Power Grids manuellt baserade produktionsprocess effektiviseras genom automationslösningar? och 2. vilken automationslösning uppfyller bäst kraven på ökad produktivitet, kvalitet, säkerhet och ergonomi med godtagbar lönsamhet? För att besvara dessa frågeställningar och uppnå studiens syfte, genomfördes examensarbetet i form av en kvalitativ fallstudie, vilket medförde att data insamlades via dokument, observationer, intervjuer och litteraturer.    Hitachi ABB Power Grids nuvarande process studerades och en dialog fördes med de anställda. Följaktligen identifierades hinder som har gjort att Hitachi ABB Power Grids ännu inte har implementerat automatisering. Tillsammans med en marknadsbeskrivning, har flertal konceptförslag brainstormats fram. Kärnläggningsmaskin är en potentiell automationslösning hos Hitachi ABB Power Grids produktion, men har selekterats bort utifrån företagets behov. Studien resulterade i förstärkt verklighet (AR) i produktionsprocessen för ökad kommunikation. Det diskuteras en helhetslösning för att undvika en förskjutningseffekt som kan uppstå vid automatisering av endast en arbetsstation. Om företaget implementerar kärnläggningsmaskinen, försvinner flaskhalsen vid denna arbetsstation där färdigklippt plåt väntar på att nyttjas. Följaktligen skulle en ny flaskhals uppstå vid lindningen som inte skulle kunna upprätthålla samma hastighet, därmed kan fler kärnor tillverkas än vad som hinner lindas. För att hålla samma produktivitet bör lindningens totala arbetsstationsyta vidgas och göra plats för fler lindningsstationer. Arbetskraften som tidigare befunnit sig vid kärnläggningen, kan läras upp till att bli lindare som i sin tur kan effektiviseras genom att låta arbetstagarna läras upp i en mixad verklighet. Slutsatsen är att Microsofts AR-utrustning, HoloLens 2 Remote Assist, är den lösning som uppfyller bäst kraven på ökad produktivitet, kvalitet, säkerhet och ergonomi. En investering i denna informationstekniska lösning skulle resultera i en återbetalningsperiod på 12 månader.

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