ITcon Vol. 12 (2007), Wang and Dunston, pg. 363 DESIGN, STRATEGIES, AND ISSUES TOWARDS AN AUGMENTED REALITY-BASED CONSTRUCTION TRAINING PLATFORM REVISED: June 2006 REVISED: March 2007 PUBLISHED: July 2007 at http://itcon.org/2007/25/ EDITOR: C. Anumba Xiangyu Wang, Lecturer Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning The University of Sydney, Australia email: x.wang@arch.usyd.edu.au http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/~xiangyu/ Phillip S. Dunston, Associate Professor School of Civil Engineering Purdue University, USA email: dunston@purdue.edu https://engineering.purdue.edu/CEM/People/Personal/Dunston/ SUMMARY: This paper provides information on Augmented Reality (AR) and their potential applications in heavy construction equipment operator training. Augmented Reality involves the use of special display and tracking technology that are capable of seamlessly merging digital (virtual) contents into real environments. Augmented Reality technology has been applied in many application domains outside construction (e.g., medical applications and surgeries, military training and warfare, manufacturing assembly and maintenance, design and modeling, precinct specific instant information, and various forms of entertainment) and the ever-increasing power of hardware rendering systems and tracking technology should motivate the creation of AR-based systems to benefit construction industry. This paper discusses the potentials of AR in construction equipment operation and operator training. A construction application for AR technology focused in this paper is an AR-based real world Training System (ARTS) that trains the novice operators in a real worksite environment populated with virtual materials and instructions. This paper focuses on the conceptual design and development of mechanisms/strategies for the ARTS in the context of certain identified application scenarios. Discussion of limitations of Augmented Reality technology for construction applications include mature of technology, data resource, technology transfer, social attitude, etc., is also presented. KEYWORDS: augmented reality, virtual reality, system design, training, virtual training. 1. INTRODUCTION Current practice for heavy equipment operator training is limited to off-site training programs that give a novice limited opportunity to experience the real working conditions. As an alternative, on-the-job operator training is not only costly but also prohibitive due to requirements for specialized equipment and an on-the-job trainer. However, only appropriate and extensive training enables operators to control large equipment safely and efficiently. Researchers in the construction community have begun to explore innovative methods to effectively train novices with low cost and minimized hazards. Virtual Reality (VR) as a training vehicle has been investigated by researchers for the last decade. Although VR generates a complete virtual environment, where unlimited training scenarios could be provided, it gives a novice no opportunity to experience the real working conditions. In addition, research has shown that the key to acquiring the necessary motor skills to control complex systems, such as a backhoe excavator, is hands-on and coached training (Cuqlock-Knopp et al., 1991). Other researchers considered the need of such hands-on experience by developing physical training systems for operating backhoes (Bernold et al., 2002) and hydraulic elevation platforms (Keskinen et al., 2000). As a promising alternative, Augmented Reality (AR) compromises between the virtual (e.g., Virtual Reality simulator) and real (e.g., physical training systems) by creating an augmented workspace where virtual entities are inserted into the physical space where we work. Such an augmented workspace is realized by integrating the power and flexibility of computing environments with the comfort and familiarity of the traditional workspace. The need for good operator training and the access to large amounts of engineering and management information in the construction industry creates conditions making the use of AR techniques most attractive.