Visualization of real-time displacement time history superimposed with dynamic experiments using wireless smart sensors and augmented reality

Wireless smart sensors (WSS) process field data and inform inspectors about the infrastructure health and safety. In bridge engineering, inspectors need reliable data about changes in displacements under loads to make correct decisions about repairs and replacements. Access to displacement information in the field and in real-time remains a challenge as inspectors do not see the data in real time. Displacement data from WSS in the field undergoes additional processing and is seen at a different location. If inspectors were able to see structural displacements in real-time at the locations of interest, they could conduct additional observations, creating a new, information-based, decision-making reality in the field. This paper develops a new, human-centered interface that provides inspectors with real-time access to actionable structural data during inspection and monitoring enhanced by augmented reality (AR). It summarizes and evaluates the development and validation of the new human-infrastructure interface in laboratory experiments. The experiments demonstrate that the interface that processes all calculations in the AR device accurately estimates dynamic displacements in comparison with the laser. Using this new AR interface tool, inspectors can observe and compare displacement data, share it across space and time, visualize displacements in time history, and understand structural deflection more accurately through a displacement time history visualization.