Collaborative design in 3D space

This paper presents a collaborative design environment based on Augmented Reality (AR) in supporting design activities among the members of a multi-disciplinary team. With virtual information augmented onto the real scene, an intuitive interface is provided to the distributed users. In the augmented design environment, the users wearing look-around head-mounted devices can move around to view the same spatially aligned part from different perspectives. In addition, manipulations, such as rotating, zooming and translating in one view will not interfere with the manipulations in the other views. While the users have their own personal views, the product models are kept consistent in all the views. To support accurate product design in the augmented design environment, grid-and-snap modes have been developed to facilitate the selection of 3D points and the modifications of features. The user can observe the effects of the design changes in real-time as the modifications are being made in 3D space.