A Framework for the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Multi-Variant Augmented Reality Application

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the key technologies of the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and plays an increasingly important role in many companies. However, while the demand for new AR applications is rapidly increasing, fundamental best practices and frameworks for the industrial AR sector are still scarce or in their infancy stage. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a framework for the design and efficient implementation of AR applications with multiple models and variants. The proposed framework is built around: i) a development process that describes the different steps for the design of a model-based AR application and its implementation with Unity and Vuforia model targets; and ii) a multilayer orchestration model that describes the different interactions between a user and a server layer. The proposed framework is successfully implemented, and its performance analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative evaluation based on the Brooke’s System Usability Scale.