Real-Time Kinematic Positioning and Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Display for Outdoor Tracking: Hybrid System and Preliminary Assessment

This paper presents an outdoor tracking system using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning and Optical See-Through Head Mounted Display(s) (OST-HMD(s)) in urban areas where the accurate tracking of objects is critical and where displaying occluded information is important for safety reasons. The approach presented here replaces 2D screens/tablets and offers distinct advantages, particularly in scenarios demanding hands-free operation. The integration of RTK, which provides centimeter-level accuracy of tracked objects, with OST-HMD represents a promising solution for outdoor applications. This paper provides valuable insights into leveraging the combined potential of RTK and OST-HMD for outdoor tracking tasks from the perspectives of systems integration, performance optimization, and usability. The main contributions of this paper are: \textbf{1)} a system for seamlessly merging RTK systems with OST-HMD to enable relatively precise and intuitive outdoor tracking, \textbf{2)} an approach to determine a global location to achieve the position relative to the world, \textbf{3)} an approach referred to as 'semi-dynamic' for system assessment. Moreover, we offer insights into several relevant future research topics aimed at improving the OST-HMD and RTK hybrid system for outdoor tracking.