Patent ID: 8902254

Claim:
An apparatus for providing an augmented reality view of an object comprising: a processor unit configured to execute a data manipulation process; a sensor system configured to retrieve physical data about a physical object, the sensor system comprising a number of imaging devices configured to obtain physical data for the physical object, the physical data including an image of a surface of the physical object, the sensor system further including a positioning system, a clock, and an accelerometer; a handheld device, the sensor system associated with the handheld device, and the processor unit positioned remotely from the handheld device, the handheld device configured to transmit the physical data to the processor unit; and a user interface associated with the handheld device having data manipulation controls for the data manipulation process; wherein the processor unit is configured to generate a number of digital definitions in a metrology process using the physical data, the number of digital definitions including one or more derived geometries of sufficient quality to align with a digital definition of the object, generate an affine transformation in a data compilation process using a spatial relationship between the physical data and digital data associated with the object in the processor unit, wherein the affine transformation includes a translation and a rotation of a point cloud to be substantially coincident with a digital definition, and generate in a multi-dimensional generation process in the processor unit a multi-dimensional representation of a combined augmented reality of the object using the affine transformation, the multi-dimensional representation comprising physical data for the physical object including the image of the surface of the object and digital data for the physical object including a first overlay representing components associated with the object and positioned below the surface and a second overlay indicating a repaired area of the object, the processor unit further configured to transmit the multi-dimensional representation to the handheld device; wherein the object comprises a composite structure having a number of plies positioned under a surface of the composite structure and further comprising selecting a ply, via the user interface, in the number of plies to display in the multi-dimensional representation, and displaying the ply and a repair to the ply as a result of the selection.