A protocol for visual cues in collaborative augmented reality applications

Inspection and maintenance of complex hardware equipment can have an elevated cost, due to the sophisticated training required for the technicians responsible for those tasks. The use of collaborative Augmented Reality can solve, or at least reduce, the cost of these activities. This paper proposes a protocol for the transmission of visual cues, represented by Augmented Reality elements, in collaborative applications. The protocol focuses on a client-server communication, where the client has the role to remotely supervise the activities, possibly sending interest points or instruction to the server. A prototype application was developed in order to demonstrate the advantages of a real application usage.