Taqtile develops QR code alternative for AR spatial anchoring with new ‘Touch Alignment’ feature

In Augmented Reality News 

May 3, 2023 – Taqtile, Inc., a provider of augmented reality (AR)-based work instruction solutions, has announced this week that it has developed an alternate approach to using physical QR codes with an always available option that uses reference points on physical objects instead.

The patent-pending, AR-based approach, called Touch Alignment, enables deskless workers to spatially anchor work instructions to physical equipment in Taqtile’s AR-enabled Manifest platform. The software is able to then accurately direct workers to specific areas for maintenance, repairs, inspections, or other Procedures.

Touch Alignment from Taqtile replaces the need for physical QR tags as an anchoring solution for AR overlays. QR tags can be difficult to deploy and hard to use, according to Taqtile, which added that there can be security considerations related to the use of QR codes for some of its customers. Taqtile invented Touch Alignment technology to address these issues, eliminating usability concerns caused by damaged, soiled, or difficult-to-find QR tags.

With Touch Alignment, Manifest users instead utilize physical locations on equipment as reference points to access virtual assets. A series of three customer-assigned alignment points specific to a particular piece of equipment, or an entire class of identical equipment such as a vehicle model, replaces physical QR codes. Deskless workers simply walk up to the equipment and “touch” the three virtual alignment points within the Manifest work instruction platform. These access points allow Manifest to accurately anchor AR-enabled instructions within an augmented environment.

“We’ll continue to support QR codes for companies that prefer them, but we also want to provide a more elegant way to spatially anchor AR content, facilitating easier, more consistently available paths to access Manifest work instructions,” said John Tomizuka, CTO at Taqtile. “Offering an AR-based solution within Manifest was a natural evolution that will improve the usability of our platform for many of our defense and industrial customers.”

Taqtile stated that it is also making it easier to access digitized assets for individual pieces or classes of equipment. Manifest can capture and digitize text from an existing asset ID, such as a serial number or other ruggedized identifying code, with the built-in camera of a head-mounted display. These unique IDs allow users to access equipment-specific work instructions on Manifest, such as enhanced video, video stills and other images, detailed diagrams, auto-transcribed text, dictated guidance, digitized manuals, and more.

Through the Manifest platform, deskless workers can access essential instructions in intuitive formats, such as step-by-step videos, animated 3D models, detailed holograms, and digitized manuals. For complex tasks, the Manifest platform enables access to real-time remote assistance from knowledge experts who can view “see-what-I-see” video and guide deskless users with spatially anchored content within the AR environment.

For more information on Taqtile, the Manifest platform and its new Touch Alignment functionality, please visit the company’s website.

Image / video credit: Taqtile

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.