Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.

The rapid development of Digital Twin (DT) technology has underlined challenges in resource-constrained mobile devices, especially in the application of extended realities (XR), which includes Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). These challenges lead to computational inefficiencies that...

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Main Authors: Mohammed Hlayel, Hairulnizam Mahdin, Mohammad Hayajneh, Saleh H AlDaajeh, Siti Salwani Yaacob, Mazidah Mat Rejab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314691
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author Mohammed Hlayel
Hairulnizam Mahdin
Mohammad Hayajneh
Saleh H AlDaajeh
Siti Salwani Yaacob
Mazidah Mat Rejab
author_facet Mohammed Hlayel
Hairulnizam Mahdin
Mohammad Hayajneh
Saleh H AlDaajeh
Siti Salwani Yaacob
Mazidah Mat Rejab
author_sort Mohammed Hlayel
collection DOAJ
description The rapid development of Digital Twin (DT) technology has underlined challenges in resource-constrained mobile devices, especially in the application of extended realities (XR), which includes Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). These challenges lead to computational inefficiencies that negatively impact user experience when dealing with sizeable 3D model assets. This article applies multiple lossless compression algorithms to improve the efficiency of digital twin asset delivery in Unity's AssetBundle and Addressable asset management frameworks. In this study, an optimal model will be obtained that reduces both bundle size and time required in visualization, simultaneously reducing CPU and RAM usage on mobile devices. This study has assessed compression methods, such as LZ4, LZMA, Brotli, Fast LZ, and 7-Zip, among others, for their influence on AR performance. This study also creates mathematical models for predicting resource utilization, like RAM and CPU time, required by AR mobile applications. Experimental results show a detailed comparison among these compression algorithms, which can give insights and help choose the best method according to the compression ratio, decompression speed, and resource usage. It finally leads to more efficient implementations of AR digital twins on resource-constrained mobile platforms with greater flexibility in development and a better end-user experience. Our results show that LZ4 and Fast LZ perform best in speed and resource efficiency, especially with RAM caching. At the same time, 7-Zip/LZMA achieves the highest compression ratios at the cost of slower loading. Brotli emerged as a strong option for web-based AR/VR content, striking a balance between compression efficiency and decompression speed, outperforming Gzip in WebGL contexts. The Addressable Asset system with LZ4 offers the most efficient balance for real-time AR applications. This study will deliver practical guidance on optimal compression method selection to improve user experience and scalability for AR digital twin implementations.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-32dc084bf8054ad78669751813df7b422025-01-08T05:32:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011912e031469110.1371/journal.pone.0314691Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.Mohammed HlayelHairulnizam MahdinMohammad HayajnehSaleh H AlDaajehSiti Salwani YaacobMazidah Mat RejabThe rapid development of Digital Twin (DT) technology has underlined challenges in resource-constrained mobile devices, especially in the application of extended realities (XR), which includes Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). These challenges lead to computational inefficiencies that negatively impact user experience when dealing with sizeable 3D model assets. This article applies multiple lossless compression algorithms to improve the efficiency of digital twin asset delivery in Unity's AssetBundle and Addressable asset management frameworks. In this study, an optimal model will be obtained that reduces both bundle size and time required in visualization, simultaneously reducing CPU and RAM usage on mobile devices. This study has assessed compression methods, such as LZ4, LZMA, Brotli, Fast LZ, and 7-Zip, among others, for their influence on AR performance. This study also creates mathematical models for predicting resource utilization, like RAM and CPU time, required by AR mobile applications. Experimental results show a detailed comparison among these compression algorithms, which can give insights and help choose the best method according to the compression ratio, decompression speed, and resource usage. It finally leads to more efficient implementations of AR digital twins on resource-constrained mobile platforms with greater flexibility in development and a better end-user experience. Our results show that LZ4 and Fast LZ perform best in speed and resource efficiency, especially with RAM caching. At the same time, 7-Zip/LZMA achieves the highest compression ratios at the cost of slower loading. Brotli emerged as a strong option for web-based AR/VR content, striking a balance between compression efficiency and decompression speed, outperforming Gzip in WebGL contexts. The Addressable Asset system with LZ4 offers the most efficient balance for real-time AR applications. This study will deliver practical guidance on optimal compression method selection to improve user experience and scalability for AR digital twin implementations.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314691
spellingShingle Mohammed Hlayel
Hairulnizam Mahdin
Mohammad Hayajneh
Saleh H AlDaajeh
Siti Salwani Yaacob
Mazidah Mat Rejab
Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
PLoS ONE
title Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
title_full Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
title_fullStr Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
title_short Enhancing unity-based AR with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets.
title_sort enhancing unity based ar with optimal lossless compression for digital twin assets
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314691
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AT salehhaldaajeh enhancingunitybasedarwithoptimallosslesscompressionfordigitaltwinassets
AT sitisalwaniyaacob enhancingunitybasedarwithoptimallosslesscompressionfordigitaltwinassets
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