Industrial process tomography (IPT) is a specialized imaging technique widely used in industrial scenarios for process supervision and control. Today, augmented/mixed reality (AR/MR) is increasingly being adopted in many industrial occasions, even though there is still an obvious gap when it comes to IPT. To bridge this gap, we propose the first systematic AR approach using optical see-through (OST) head mounted displays (HMDs) with comparative evaluation for domain users towards IPT visualization analysis. The proof-of-concept was demonstrated by a within-subject user study (n=20) with counterbalancing design. Both qualitative and quantitative measurements were investigated. The results showed that our AR approach outperformed conventional settings for IPT data visualization analysis in bringing higher understandability, reduced task completion time, lower error rates for domain tasks, increased usability with enhanced user experience, and a better recommendation level. We summarize the findings and suggest future research directions for benefiting IPT users with AR/MR.

翻译：工业过程层析成像（IPT）是一种专门成像技术，广泛应用于工业场景的过程监控与控制。当前，增强/混合现实（AR/MR）正越来越多地应用于众多工业领域，但在IPT领域仍存在明显缺口。为填补这一空白，我们首次提出采用光学透视（OST）头戴式显示器（HMDs）的系统化AR方法，并针对领域用户的IPT可视化分析进行对比评估。通过采用平衡设计的被试内用户研究（n=20）验证了概念可行性，并对定性与定量指标进行了分析。结果表明，相比传统设置，我们的AR方法在IPT数据可视化分析中能显著提升可理解性、缩短任务完成时间、降低领域任务错误率、增强可用性并改善用户体验，同时获得更高的推荐等级。我们总结了研究发现，并提出了利用AR/MR技术造福IPT用户的未来研究方向。