On April 10, 2019, the EC project officer and two EU appointed independent experts reviewed the outcomes of the 50-people strong project team of the WEKIT project, concluding that it is an excellent project with outstanding results. The project set focus on experience capturing and reenactment, using Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality. Coordinated by scientific director Dr Fridolin Wild, also director of the PAL lab, the team of 12 partner organisations collaborated over a period of 39 months for this achievement. Dr Wild highlighted several unique achievements of the project, including the first comprehensive AR training methodology, the ARLEM standard, the software and hardware platform for sensor data processing and analysis, the solution for experience capturing and re-enactment, the ghost track capturing facility, the work with industry on the wearable design solutions, as well as the outstanding community outreach. Over the period of a bit over three years, validation trials were conducted in the health, space, and aviation sector, testing methodology and technology with over 500 trial participants.
At the review, the WEKIT Framework was presented by Prof Dr Roland Klemke. The framework includes an industrial instructional design methodology for training with Augmented Reality smart glasses and other wearable sensors. The standard development work for the Augmented Reality Learning Experience Models (ARLEM) is an integrated conceptual model that describes interactions between the physical world, the user, and digital information, the context for AR-assisted learning and other parameters of the environment. The work is conducted under the auspices of the IEEE standard association in working group P1589, co-chaired by Dr Fridolin Wild. Moreover, the project developed an original wearable printed circuit board, a platform for post analysis of AR-based learning and biofeedback data and a dashboard that
provides live display of sensor data, presented at the review by Mark Ransley. Experience capturing is a key component of the WEKIT.one prototype, a powerful authoring tool that uses spatial user interfaces to facilitate content creation according to the ARLEM standard by demonstrating the necessary steps, without post-processing required. The work around this was presented by Puneet Sharma. Experience re-enactment is the counter piece to the authoring facilities in the WEKIT.one prototype that allows replay of earlier created recordings of experience, stored as ARLEM files in a cloud repository. The work was presented by Kaj Helin and Daniele Di Mitri. The project developed several wearable design solutions, including two e-textile garments with embedded sensors developed using participatory design workshops with leading industry experts in aviation, medical engineering, and space. The work was presented at the review by Carl Smith, Jazz Rasool, and Brigitta Zics. Community-building and outreach activities included more than 30 events in 2017 and 2018 alone, reaching out to thousands of participants. The work on community building culminated with the final community event at the Augmented World Expo Europe 2018. The work was presented by PD Dr Ralf Klamma. The WEKIT roadmap sets out the key driving factors, actions and timeframes that will enable WEKIT to shape knowledge-intensive training practices, technologies, standards and business models in many industries. WEKIT ECS is a new startup that will continue working with experience capturing and AR-based training, based on the outcomes of the project. This work was presented by Mikhail Fominykh.
In the second evaluation cycle of industrial trials in aviation 86 participants used the WEKIT platform to create learning experience and trained themselves on a procedure for Beechcraft B200 maintenance dedicated to the replacement of the nose landing gear wheel, presented by Aleksander Simonsen. The second cycle in healthcare involved 114 participants who used the WEKIT platform to create learning experience and trained themselves to perform a carotid ultrasound examination with quality intima media thickness measurements on different types of equipment, presented by Marco Fruscione. The second cycle industrial trials in space reached 199 participants using the WEKIT platform to create learning experience and trained to perform a procedure derived from the future manned exploration activities, dedicated to the recharge of the batteries of a Mars Rover before starting an exploration mission on the planet, presented by Liliana Ravagnolo.
