Towards virtualized welding: Visualization and monitoring of remote welding

We present a new hybrid reality system that supports the monitoring and visualizing of a welding system. Our system first uses 3D scanning techniques to create a digital model of objects to be welded. Based on the model, a mock-up is constructed from a set of templates or 3D printed. The welding process is captured by cameras and visualized on the 3D mock-up using projectors. The welder can therefore monitor the welding process as if the welding is on the mock-up with proper spatial and 3D cues. An initial user performance evaluation of the system demonstrated several cognitive and performance benefits of the current implementation and suggests avenues for future research.