Head-Mounted Display for Hands-Free Meter Reading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current meter reading technologies require users to frequently interrupt their route and divert attention from their surroundings to read and interpret data on handheld devices, reducing efficiency and convenience.
Innovation Solution
A data acquisition device that displays meter information directly in the user's field of vision using augmented reality, allowing for hands-free operation and intuitive visualization of meter data through wearable displays or overlays, enabling real-time monitoring of meter information while maintaining awareness of the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a handheld device is used to display meter information, then the user can read counter data, but the user must frequently interrupt the route and divert attention from surroundings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a handheld display requiring hand interaction to a head-mounted display that projects information directly into the user's field of vision. This dimensional shift from hand-held to head-mounted positioning allows simultaneous route following and data reading without diverting attention from surroundings.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an optical projection system as an intermediary between the counter information and the user's eyes. The display device projects virtual images of meter information directly into the user's visual field, serving as a mediator that delivers information without requiring the user to look at a handheld screen.
2Loss of information
If the user looks at the device display regularly, then counter information can be read, but efficiency and convenience of meter reading are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The head-mounted display enables continuous viewing of counter information throughout the meter reading route without interruption. The user maintains continuous awareness of alarm statuses and meter data while continuously moving through the route, eliminating the stop-start pattern of traditional handheld device usage.
Solution Approach 2:
By moving the display from hand level to head level and projecting information into the central field of vision, the system allows the user to perceive counter information peripherally or centrally without breaking the continuous motion of the route. This spatial repositioning maintains productivity while ensuring information is not lost.
3Loss of information
If a tablet computer is used for augmented reality display, then meter information can be overlaid on surroundings, but the device is not portable enough for hands-free operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from tablet-based augmented reality requiring hand holding to a head-mounted display system that projects images directly onto the retina or into the field of vision. This dimensional change from tablet-to-head-mounted positioning enables true hands-free operation while maintaining augmented reality visualization capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical interaction of holding and manipulating a tablet with an optical projection system that delivers images directly to the user's eyes. The display device uses optical projection or retinal imaging to substitute the mechanical tablet interface with a non-contact visual interface.
Data Source
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AI summary
The portable data acquisition device (1) has a computing device, a control unit and a communication unit, which is formed for receiving the transmitted counter information of a counter unit. The counter unit is provided for detecting the consumption or for communicating or for collecting detected consumption data. The data acquisition device has a display device (2) formed for fastening to a head of a user in the field of view. The counter information are displayed visibly on the display device controlled by the computing device.