Preliminary Results of an Augmented Reality Tool for Supporting Remote Site Exploration

This brief paper describes an augmented reality tool as proof of concept of a system for increasing situational awareness during remote site exploration: the system allows the operator see an avatar of its vehicle through the obstacles, as if they were transparent, and adds nearby obstacles as seen by a Lidar sensor as 3D features to facilitate the perception of depth, a key point in making the whole concept usable. The paper presents briefly the idea, highlights the need and importance of a calibration procedure, and shows preliminary results achieved in a controlled laboratory environment using a Meta Oculus Quest 2 and an indoor motion tracking system.