Explaining Building Technologies through AR

This AR demo application from the Fraunhofer Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems in North Boston uses AR to display information and data about building technologies. As Project Manager David Kokonoski explains of this demo application, the first floor building lobby acts as a mini museum that showcases the products and technologies used through-out the building, and uses AR to educate building visitors on the hidden Building Management Systems and technologies. Augmented Reality here acts as an X-ray vision tool, allowing users to 'see' the different building systems at work, and be 'immersed'in the building's physically innaccessible spaces. The AR visuals are all based on live and historic data, and can be manipulated in real-time by app users to accurately explain how these complex systems function. Rather than simply relying on VR animations that may be isolated from any real location, the use of AR here allows users to be present on-site and literally 'peel back' the walls around them, providing an immediacy to the information presented, alongside an increased spatial understanding of scale and componentry.