Copelia: Wearable Augmented Reality Application for Training and Maintenance of Reclosers

This short paper describes the study case of Copelia, an on-going project for a major Brazilian electricity company. The application employs augmented reality for training and maintenance. It runs on an HMT-1 smart glass and features automatic detection of reclosers and guided instructions for maintenance operations. This allows generalist electricians to perform tasks that would otherwise be performed exclusively by other skilled professionals. Preliminary results show that Copelia’s features are desirable for this kind of application and they can indeed be useful for both maintenance and training. However, users are not familiar with the technology and resisted the voice control interaction paradigm. The team identified problems related to functionality and user experience which may apply to similar applications. Future works include user testing to assess whether the improvements to the user interface reflect in a broader acceptance of the application.