Space-Division-Based Pseudo-Occlusion in 3D Trajectory Data Visualization for Indoor AR Navigation

Augmented Reality (AR) for indoor navigation enhances users' ability to locate and understand their environment by overlaying digital information onto real-world views. A key aspect of effective AR is the correct alignment of virtual and real objects, known as occlusion. Traditional occlusion methods require extensive computational resources for 3D scene data reconstruction, making them unsuitable for real-time applications on mobile devices due to the need for low latency. Particularly, traditional occlusion methods have been more impractical for indoor AR navigation in large spaces, such as entire buildings, compared to confined areas. This paper introduces a novel approach called pseudo-occlusion, which leverages space-division and geofencing techniques to simplify real-time occlusion handling without the need for depth cameras. Experiments conducted at the Mineral Industry Museum, Akita University, demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of this method. Pseudo-occlusion accurately maintains the relative positioning of objects, reducing computational load and improving user experience by providing a seamless AR trajectory visualization. The method's simplicity and real-time performance offer significant advantages over traditional occlusion techniques, making it a practical solution for indoor AR navigation applications in large spaces.