Synchronizing 3D movements for quantitative comparison and simultaneous visualization of actions

In our poster presentation at ISMAR ´04, we proposed the idea of an AR training solution including capture and 3D replays of subtle movements. The crucial part missing for realizing such a training system was an appropriate way of synchronizing trajectories of similar movements with varying speed in order to simultaneously visualize the motion of experts and trainees, and to study trainees´ performances quantitatively. In this paper we review the research from different communities on synchronization problems of similar complexity. We give a detailed description of the two most applicable algorithms. We then present results using our AR based forceps delivery training system and therefore evaluate both methods for synchronization of experts´ and trainees´ 3D movements. We also introduce the first concepts of an online synchronization system allowing the trainee to follow movements of an expert and the experts to annotate 3D trajectories for initiation of actions such as display of timely information. A video demonstration provides an overview of the work and a visual idea of what users of the proposed system could observe through their video-see through HMD.