2D and 3D Visualization to Support Fieldwork in the Area of Utility Networks

Utility network fieldworkers of today want to access more information and can benefit a lot from new technical development. Today most fieldwork is conducted using paper plans or locally stored data on laptops as a visual aid. Therefore there is a need for improvement and development of new reliable software for fieldwork. Also the abil- ity to use advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) solutions and enhanced visualization methods while out in the field could help improve fieldwork. In order to be as e↵ective as possible when carrying out di↵erent tasks in the field, di↵erent ways of visualizing the same network data are required. 2D and 3D visualization methods have di↵erent advantages and disadvantages when it comes to visualizing network data, which will be accounted for in this thesis. There are three main objectives in this thesis. The first is to evaluate how suitable di↵erent visualization methods are for fieldwork users working with utility networks. The second is to get a better understanding of what hardware and software that can be used for implementing the visualization methods. The last one is to use the first and second objectives to develop a prototype for utility network fieldwork. To address the objectives, the first step is to understand the users that work in the field. By conducting interviews, information about the current workflow for fieldworkers and their opinions about how the systems currently work is gathered. Based on this information the thesis is divided into cases and criteria which is the foundation for proposing a solution in form of mock-up sketches which is then imple- mented in form of a prototype. Finally the prototype is evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively using a web survey and presentations for potential end users. The prototype is created using web technologies and is mainly intended for tablets. Because of its mobility, screen size and adequate computational power the tablet is a good hardware choice for conducting fieldwork. The prototype presents network data in a 2D interactive map view, a 3D augmented reality (AR) view and a combined view. These choices are based on information gathered by studying related work and performing interviews with potential end users in the beginning of the study. The results of the thesis highlights large possibilities in making field work more e↵ective for fieldworkers. This in concluded partly by the results of the interviews with potential end users, but also by the response of the survey and presentation of the suggested solution. It is shown that there are new ways to improve the work process out in the field and that AR can help in visualizing the network in a new informative way for fieldwork. However, several challenges remain, but rapid techno- logical development implies possible solutions to deal with these challenges.