Developing mobile remote collaboration systems for industrial use: Some design challenges

Many real-world collaboration scenarios involve a helper remotely guiding a worker performing a task requiring the manipulation of physical objects/devices. Systems currently available for remote guiding have limitations for industrial use, particularly in terms of supporting the mobile aspect of work. To meet these needs and as part of our work for the mining industry, we have developed two systems. These systems use a wearable computer and a wearable display to support the mobile aspect of the remote collaboration. In this paper, we review existing work in remote guiding and state their limitations in relation to industrial needs. We then present two mobile remote collaboration systems that we have designed and developed to support the maintenance of mining equipments. Designing for real world use is challenging, systems need to be easy to use and be able to operate in various environmental conditions. Systems also need to support the mobility aspect of work and support different roles of the collaborators.