Time is money! Evaluating Augmented Reality Instructions for Time-Critical Assembly Tasks

Manual assembly tasks require workers to precisely assemble parts in 3D space. Often additional time pressure increases the complexity of these tasks even further (e.g., adhesive bonding processes). Therefore, we investigate how Augmented Reality (AR) can improve workers’ performance in time and spatial dependent process steps. In a user study, we compare three conditions: instructions presented on (a) paper, (b) a camera-based see-through tablet, and (c) a head-mounted AR device. For instructions we used selected work steps from a standardized adhesive bonding process as a representative for common time-critical assembly tasks. We found that instructions in AR can improve the performance and understanding of time and spatial factors. The tablet instruction condition showed the best subjective results among the participants, which can increase motivation, particularly among less-experienced workers.

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