Augmented reality applications in manufacturing and its future scope in Industry 4.0

Augmented reality technology is one of the leading technologies in the context of Industry 4.0. The promising potential application of augmented reality in industrial production systems has received much attention, which led to the concept of industrial augmented reality. On the one hand, this technology provides a suitable platform that facilitates the registration of information and access to them to help make decisions and allows concurrent training for the user while executing the production processes. This leads to increased work speed and accuracy of the user as a process operator and consequently offers economic benefits to the companies. Moreover, recent advances in the internet of things, smart sensors, and advanced algorithms have increased the possibility of widespread and more effective use of augmented reality. Currently, many research pieces are being done to expand the application of augmented reality and increase its effectiveness in industrial production processes. This research demonstrates the influence of augmented reality in Industry 4.0 while critically reviewing the industrial augmented reality history. Afterward, the paper discusses the critical role of industrial augmented reality by analysing some use cases and their prospects. With a systematic analysis, this paper discusses the main future directions for industrial augmented reality applications in industry 4.0. The article investigates various areas of application for this technology and its impact on improving production conditions. Finally, the challenges that this technology faces and its research opportunities are discussed.