Virtual object positioning in augmented reality applications

A method comprising:

• determining a first component of a set of components under assembly in a physical environment;
• determining a first physical position of a user with respect to the first component in the physical environment;
• determining a second component of the set of components under assembly to be installed at least partially on the first component based on assembly information associated with the set of components;
• determining three-dimensional surface data of the second component;
• determining a physical relationship in which the second component is to be installed at least partially on the first component based on a model associated with the set of components;
• determining a first graphical representation of the second component based on the first physical position of the user with respect to the first component, the physical relationship, and the three-dimensional surface data of the second component;
• determining a second graphical representation of the assembly information, the second graphical representation of the assembly information including an identifier of the first component, an identifier of the second component, and an identifier of a third component to be installed at least partially on the first component;
• and
• presenting the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation to the user on an at least partially transparent display simultaneously, wherein the first component is visible to the user through the display in the physical environment while the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation are displayed simultaneously, and wherein the first graphical representation presented on the display appears to the user to be in the determined physical relationship with respect to the first component.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable program code, the program code executable by a processor to cause a system to:

• determine a first component of a set of components under assembly;
• determine a first physical position of a user with respect to the first component;
• determine a second component of the set of components under assembly to be installed at least partially on the first component based on assembly information associated with the set of components;
• determine three-dimensional surface data of the second component;
• determine a physical relationship in which the second component is to be installed at least partially on the first component based on a model associated with the set of components;
• determine a first graphical representation of the second component based on the first physical position of the user with respect to the first component, the physical relationship, and the three-dimensional surface data of the second component;
• determine a second graphical representation of the assembly information, the second graphical representation of the assembly information including an identifier of the first component, an identifier of the second component, and an identifier of a third component to be installed at least partially on the first component;
• and
• present the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation to the user on an at least partially transparent display simultaneously, wherein the first component is visible to the user through the display while the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation are displayed simultaneously, and wherein the first graphical representation presented on the display appears to the user to be in the determined physical relationship with respect to the first component.