Fast-Alignment of AR Headset From Local to Geodetic Coordinate Frame for Navigation and Mixed Reality Applications

The integration of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies into location-based services and applications necessitates precise navigation within an absolute geodetic reference frame, utilizing latitude, longitude, and altitude (LLA) coordinates. Typically, VR/AR headsets establish a local Cartesian (XYZ) world coordinate (WC) frame with an arbitrary initial origin and orientation. For accurate geodetic navigation, it is essential to align these devices to the true North (TN). This letter introduces an AR-based method for achieving the initial alignment of the WC frame relative to the geodetic frame. We developed an AR user interface to visually guide users to a known target with LLA coordinates, indirectly aligning the system to TN. Using a Magic Leap 2 AR headset, we evaluated our approach against traditional magnetometer-based methods. Our experimental results demonstrated that our method reduces the mean angular error by a factor of 4× and the standard deviation ($\sigma$) by 5× compared to traditional magnetometer methods. This improvement can eliminate the need for initial magnetometer calibration, offering a more efficient and robust solution for TN alignment in AR/VR applications.