AUGMENTED REMOTE SUPPORT
When a car comes into a Mercedes Benz dealership with a problem, the cost to the dealership can spike dramatically if a solution to the problem isn’t found immediately. I worked on a project that aimed to reduce that cost through the use of the hololense. Lab 1886 ran a research project in Germany and the US at 10 Mercedes Benz dealership to explore the use of augmented reality to lower the cost to repair vehicles. I helped run the Atlanta research and usability portion.
USABILITY TESTING
At the beginning of this project, I traveled to Germany and shadowed my German coworkers to learn how to use the technology and see it in action. I then took what I learned to five dealerships in America to run interviews and usability tests with a focus on desirability and feasibility while identifying potential roll-out obstacles. Using real technicians in the dealerships and real experts located at a hub in FL we ran usability tests to get feedback from future
PROJECT FINDINGS
1. Every technician and shop manager found the technology to be useful and were willing to pay for the product once ready.
2. We identified the dealership’s wifi strength as the number one obstacle for a successful rollout.
3. We identified the vehicle’s wire harness as a great candidate for AR assistance because of its complex nature.
4. We identified screen sharing with a technician’s work stations computer as an opportunity for AR to be useful without relying on wifi.
5. Every time we projected a 3D part onto the vehicle the user reached out to try and interact with it.