Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that puts computer-generated objects on the top of the real world. And now, AR is going to be used in poultry processing plants to improve communication between computers and workers. Researchers at Georgia Tech have designed two AR systems that project graphical instructions from an automated inspection system onto birds on a processing line, telling workers which chicken are 'defective products' and have to be discarded. For example, some workers will wear see-through head-mounted displays (HMD), which will allow them to see graphical instructions about a bird and what to do with it. 'Right now, this inspection is done visually by human screeners, who communicate instructions to trimmers using gestures.' AR technology should increase the throughput of poultry plants if their owners want to pay about $3,600 per device. Read more...
Here is the introduction of this Georgia Institute of Technology Research News article.
Technology that transfers computer-generated information onto the physical world is being tested for use in poultry plants to improve communication between computers and workers.
Using augmented reality (AR) technology, researchers have designed two systems that project graphical instructions from an automated inspection system onto birds on a processing line. These symbols tell workers how to trim or whether to discard defective products.
Below is a photo of these augmented reality systems (Credit: Gary Meek, for Georgia Tech, on this page). And here is a link to a larger version (1.09 MB).
One augmented reality system developed at Georgia Tech uses a location-tracked, see-through, head-mounted display (foreground) worn by poultry workers. It directly overlays graphical instructions on a trimmer’s view of the birds. A second solution uses a laser scanner, mounted in a fixed location near the processing line, to project graphical instructions (red square on bird illustration) directly onto each bird that requires some action, such as trimming.
But what has motivated researchers to use such a sophisticated technology in poultry plants?
"It’s easy to see this technology working in a poultry plant," said Blair Macintyre, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech College of Computing and AR expert. "The question is, 'What is the best implementation of the technology to satisfy the environmental constraints?'"
Researchers have had to consider that poultry processing plants are typically wet and slippery and have to be thoroughly washed down with high-pressured water streams daily. Also, trimmers need simple, graphical instructions and must have their hands free of any object except a knife for cutting defective bird parts.
This is why they developed two independent AR solutions, without knowing which one could be chosen by the food industry..
"Each solution appears to have advantages and disadvantages," Macintyre said. One of the greatest benefits that both solutions provide is the potential for advance warning to trimmers of the workload coming down the line, he added. Current practices don’t provide this advantage.
"But our suspicion is that the laser-based system is the more practical in the near term and potentially in the long term," Macintyre said. "The real disadvantage of the head-mounted system is its cost. Heads-up displays cost about $3,600, but they are getting cheaper. Two years ago, they cost about $7,000 each."
These AR systems will not be commercially available before several years, and they might mot be even successful -- for psychological reasons.
"We think these technologies have the potential to be better than current practices," Macintyre said. "But, two humans working together over time have learned to use non-verbal cues and have developed a smooth communication system. That will be hard to beat at some level."
Anyway, these AR solutions will be described during the 2005 Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, held on July 17-20 in Tampa, Florida. The research paper, "Augmented Reality Systems Applied to Poultry Grading & Inspection," will be presented on July 18 at 11:45AM, but is not yet available online.
Finally, for slightly more information, you can visit the Augmented Reality for Poultry Inspection page at the Augmented Environment Lab (AEL).
Sources: Jane Sanders, Georgia Institute of Technology Research News, via EurekAlert!, July 14, 2005; and various web sites
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7:46:45 PM
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