Camera-Based Visual Guidance for Procedural Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual procedures often require users to stop and restart frequently, especially when hands are dirty, and are complex to follow from documentation or instructional videos, necessitating a system that can guide users without interruption.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that captures user activity images, converts them into text representation, and compares this to procedure documentation, providing visual and auditory corrective actions in real-time to ensure accurate execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users follow procedural documentation or instructional videos, then they can learn to perform procedures, but they must stop and restart frequently when hands are dirty or occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical interaction of reading documentation with visual feedback by implementing a camera-based system that captures user actions and provides real-time visual guidance through an augmented reality interface. This substitution allows users to see instructions overlaid on the actual components, eliminating the need to stop and consult physical manuals or videos.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary augmented reality interface between the user and the procedure documentation. This intermediary processes user actions through computer vision, compares them against expected actions from procedural documentation, and presents contextualized visual feedback, thereby bridging the gap between traditional documentation and user needs.
2Loss of information
If users read procedural documentation, then they can understand the steps, but the documentation is complex to follow when hands are dirty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions documentation from a two-dimensional static format (paper or screen) to a three-dimensional dynamic format overlaid on the physical workspace. By projecting instructional information directly onto or near the components being manipulated, the system makes instructions accessible regardless of the user's hand condition or positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy of the procedural documentation that is dynamically overlaid on the physical environment. Instead of requiring users to physically handle or visually access traditional documentation, the system reproduces the essential instructional information in an augmented reality format that is always visible in the user's field of view.
3Ease of operation
If instructional videos are used, then users can see the procedure, but they must stop and restart frequently when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous visual guidance that persists throughout the entire procedure without requiring interruptions. The augmented reality interface maintains constant visibility of relevant instructional information, allowing users to perform hands-on tasks continuously while receiving ongoing visual feedback, thereby eliminating the start-stop pattern inherent in traditional video instruction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms static video instruction into a dynamic, adaptive guidance system that responds to user actions in real-time. The camera-based computer vision system continuously monitors user progress, dynamically updates the displayed information based on current context, and adjusts guidance as the procedure progresses, creating a fluid and continuous instructional experience.
4Reliability
If traditional documentation is used, then procedures can be documented, but the system cannot detect and correct user errors in real-time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a closed-loop feedback system where the camera-based computer vision technology continuously monitors user actions, compares them against expected actions from procedural documentation, and provides real-time corrective feedback through the augmented reality interface. This feedback mechanism enables automatic error detection and correction guidance without requiring complex manual verification processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system are provided for assisting a user performing a procedure. The method includes capturing, by a camera, images of user activity while the user is performing the procedure. The method further includes converting, by computer processing system, the images of user activity into a text representation of user activity. The method also includes comparing, by the computer processing system, the textual representation of user activity to procedure documentation. The method additionally includes at least one of visually and audibly indicating, by a display and a speaker, a corrective action to the user responsive to a mismatch result from said comparing step.