Situated visualization towards manufacturing maintenance training: Scoping review, design and user study

Abstract

Immersive technologies offer advantages for the visualization of and interaction with complex setups within manufacturing maintenance processes. The present work catalogs different applications of AR/VR in manufacturing maintenance practices as an extended version of a workshop paper presented at the International Workshop on eXtended Reality for Industrial and Occupational Supports (XRIOS). Through a scoping review in three computing and engineering digital libraries, we outline the key attributes of immersive solutions ((Formula presented) ) for industrial maintenance, categorizing functional prototypes with ten parameters related to interaction, visualization, and research methods. Moreover, we conducted a workshop with three manufacturing experts discussing the future of maintenance interfaces. By bringing forth their recommendations and insights, we targeted a key training challenge in maintenance. We designed and implemented a situated visualization prototype for a safety-critical procedure with real-time, in-depth, spatially relevant instructions. We compared the effects of 2D labels and 3D ghosts in a VR-simulated AR environment. In a preliminary between-subjects evaluation study ((Formula presented) ), we measured usability, workload, simulator sickness, completion time, and delayed recall. Although we did not find statistically significant differences between conditions, 3D ghosts showed slightly lower perceived workload and discomfort levels, along with shorter completion times. On the other hand, 2D labels produced higher usability. Overall, we contribute by a mapping out the state of the art and discovering knowledge gaps within immersive maintenance, presenting a design and preliminary user study that adheres to our recommendations.