Mixed Reality or Simply Mobile? A Case Study on Enabling Less Skilled Workers to Perform Routine Maintenance Tasks
Meike Wagner, Christian Leubner, Jobin Strunk · Procedia Computer Science · 2023
The availability of skilled workers has become a severe issue for production companies in developed countries like Germany in recent years. Specialists for maintenance tasks are in strong demand and their workforce should be steered towards the most challenging tasks in maintenance. In this case study we analyze, whether less skilled or not specifically instructed workers can perform routine maintenance tasks without being directly supported by experts. In our setup ten participants try to handle a maintenance routine checklist in three different ways: paper-based printouts, on a mobile tablet, and with a Microsoft HoloLens 2 Mixed Reality (MR) device. The results show that workers fail to complete the task with a mere paper-based approach, but are able to succeed both with the mobile tablet and MR application. Quantitative time measurements and qualitative analyses indicate that the mobile tablet app was easier to learn, did not impair the worker as much as the HoloLens and worked more stable. However, the HoloLens solution showed advantages as hands-free and spatial guiding device, which could be important aspects when better MR hardware will be available and MR interaction principles become common knowledge.