Sophisticated vehicle ergonomics are a relevant factor for the success of a new vehicle model. To support the evaluation of vehicle ergonomics we have developed a mobile Augmented Reality (AR) testing platform in cooperation with Volkswagen commercial vehicle. The mobile AR-based testing platform consists of a Volkswagen Multivan, where roof, pillars, and dashboard have been removed. The missing parts are replaced by new virtual parts. A head mounted display presents the virtual parts to the user of the mobile AR testing platform, that way, enabling visibility analyses. The user can also interact with the virtual components of the vehicle to perform reachability analyses. To support these analyses the user’s hands are recognized by the system. In this paper we introduce a method for tracking the user’s hands in a mobile AR testing platform. Using image processing the hands of the user are detected by checking for the skin color or the color of a glove the user wears. From image processing data we compute the position of the user’s real hand and potential collisions between the hand and virtual vehicle components. We also utilize results from collision detection for the interaction with the virtual objects.

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