Making something out of wood begins with two steps: The measuring and marking, then the cutting. The critical importance of getting the first step right gives us the carpenter's expression "Measure twice, cut once."

However, researchers at EPFL (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) might say "Measure never, cut once." They're developing a new AR system whereby a screen is attached to power tools, and the craftsperson never measures nor marks the workpieces at all. Instead the plans have been uploaded to an AR system, which simply depicts overlays on the screen for where to make the cuts.

"The system visualizes cutting lines directly on a beam, for instance, showing operators exactly where to guide the saw," the researchers write. "This significantly reduces the risk of human error and improves precision during assembly."

The researchers call their system Augmented Carpentry. I have my doubts. First off, the system doesn't work by magic; each piece of wood must be scanned beforehand, then emblazoned with a long, patterned sticker that provides reference points for the system's camera. And the plans must be uploaded in advance. All of these things take time.

Secondly, I would want to hear from full-time fabricators whether they are comfortable making cuts by looking at a screen, rather than directly at the object, particularly if they are using their free hand to steady the workpiece.

Here's the researchers' rationale for developing the system:

Thanks to Augmented Carpentry, even small businesses and woodworkers can create intricate shapes and designs – a task until now reserved for costly robots. "Another benefit of our AR system is that it takes advantage of human capabilities, even when operators have little training, to quickly digitize construction processes," says Settimi. Human dexterity and cognition are enhanced by machine precision, in a good example of a hybrid approach. "By leveraging the potential of human-machine collaboration for modern carpentry and the design of timber structures, Augmented Carpentry can ensure human operators remain involved in the process, thus promoting construction methods that are digitally assisted, local and socially responsible," he says.

That all sounds good, but I think in practice, this would enable companies to jettison well-paid, experienced craftspeople who are trained to measure and mark correctly, and replace them with cheaper unskilled labor.

Furthermore, when you measure and mark a workpiece yourself, then perform your operations to those marks, there is a satisfaction to that; you're executing a tangible sequence of events whose progress, and your role in it, are plain to see. With that first step removed, the work is arguably reduced to mere drudgery, a dull videogame where you point the thing where the machine tells you to.

That said, if we are to believe the hype that experienced craftspeople are retiring and dying off faster than they can be replaced, Augmented Carpentry will probably be welcomed—by manufacturers, if not the workers—with open arms.