Neurocognition and ­Action - Biomechanics

AVIKOM – A cognitive and mobile assistance system to provide individualized audiovisual action support in the modern working world

Project duration: 05/2019 – 04/2022
Project funding: 2.400.000 Euro
BMBF/ESF grant: 1.700.000 Euro

The increasing digitalization and globalization as well as rapidly changing social developments result in far-reaching changes to the modern working world. The aim of the funding line “Zukunft der Arbeit: Mittelstand – innovativ und sozial”, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is therefore to support the design and development of new concepts and tools for structuring and organizing shaping and organizing work in close cooperation with SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).

The aim of the AVIKOM project is to develop an innovative user-adaptive wearable assistance system that offers visual and auditory support for a variety of working activities. This does not only lead to a reduction in the exposure of employees, but also increases their productivity. For this purpose, existing intelligent glasses initially developed in the ADAMAAS (Adaptive and Mobile Action Assistance in Daily Living Activities) project will be enhanced by an acoustic system (HEA2R – Headset for Augmented Reality). The audiovisual system will be adopted for different fields of application of industrial partners as well as integrated into their existing working environments via specifically designed interfaces. Users’ individual task-related knowledge and expertise will be diagnosed using structural-dimensional analysis of mental representations (SDA-M; Schack 2012). This method is well-established in cognitive psychology for capturing mental representation structures. Based on these structures the system is able to identify user-specific problems in the execution of action sequences (Strenge et al. 2019). In combination with information about the current environment, the system is able to provide adequate audiovisual feedback and hints to individually support employees in carrying out their tasks in a goal-oriented and motivating manner. The technical implementation of the system is accompanied by applied methods from the field of work and organizational psychology, which ensure that the needs of the employees are met in order to improve long-term acceptance of the system. To this end, the diagnostic approach also includes the analysis of the necessary skills of the employees to work with the audiovisual assistance system and recommendations on how these skills can be developed.

Four companies and four associated partners bring in individual and clearly defined application scenarios: Together with the SME Dreckshage, a dynamically growing mechanical engineering company, we will investigate how AVIKOM can be applied to improve just-in-time chain, the announcement of orders, as well as to suppress the environmental noise. Euscher, a leading distributor of high precision deep drawn parts, strives for modern forms of educating and training new employees, as well as solutions for the location-independent remote support. The SME Fischer Panda (portable electric drive systems) and mit Systemarmaturen (custom manufacturing solutions) will use AVIKOM for paperless and controlled picking applications in their spare parts warehouse, to display different packing and hazardous material information, to connect AVIKOM to the ERP system for checking and displaying current warehouse stocks, as well as a support and training tool for the assembly of small series under enhanced safety conditions. The successful partnership with the v. Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel (affiliation of four foundations to provide humanitarian and professional aid to ill, disabled and socially disadvantaged persons) in project ADAMAAS will be continued in project AVIKOM to assure that the resulting system can be integrated into diverse fields of application. Key criteria for evaluation will be the usability, ELSI (ethical, legal, and social implications) and acceptance of AVIKOM for diverse target groups with varying requirements and expectations, e.g. as a training and support tool for elderly and employees with disabilities or migration background.

Project results will be translated into specific action recommendations for other possible SME scenarios and for transferring the gathered knowledge into further application fields. Together with our networking partners OWL Maschinenbau e.V., BOW and IHK Ostwestfalen zu Bielefeld, we strive to give fresh impetus not just for our project partners, but for the whole regional and national commerce and industry.

News

• Second project meeting of the AVIKOM project (29.04.2021)

Related Publications

Press Coverage

• Vorausschauende Datenbrille (Archiv), web & mobile DEVELOPER 10/2019.
• Die schlaue Arbeitsbrille (Archiv), das Magazin, Neue Westfälische (11.09.2010).
• The article 'Facilitating Workers' Task Proficiency with Subtle Decay of Contextual AR-Based Assistance Derived from Unconscious Memory Structures has been the cover story of the monthly issue of Information in January. The article has also been prominently featured on the homepage of the journal in February (Archive).

Web Releases

• AVIKOM in the virtual forum of the beyondwork 2020 (21.10.2020)
• Projektvorstellung AVIKOM, WissProKMU – Zukunft der Arbeit: Gestalten und Vernetzen (22.08.2019).
• Wie Datenbrillen in Montage und Logistik ankommen, Springer Professional (15.08.2019).
• Vorausschauende Datenbrille für Montage und Logistik, Virtual Dimension Center (13.08.2019).
• Audiovisuelles Assistenzsystem für Montage und Logistik, IHK Ostwestfalen zu Bielefeld (08.08.2019).
• Forschung: Datenbrillen für individuelle Unterstützung, Logistik Heute (07.08.2019).
• Vorausschauende Datenbrille für Montage und Logistik, innovations report (06.08.2019).
• Anticipatory Smart Glasses for Assembly Work and Logistics, uni.news – Bielefeld University (05.08.2019).
• Audiovisuelles Assistenzsystem für Montage und Logistik, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (05.08.2019).