A Participatory Content Authoring Workflow for Augmented Reality at Industrial Maintenance

Abstract

The adoption of augmented reality-based instructions enhances maintenance operations by shortening job completion time and reducing errors. However, scaling augmented reality in industrial settings remains costly since content authoring demands computational skills such as 3D modeling and programming. Furthermore, processes can easily become obsolete, causing maintainers to abandon written instructions. So, we propose an augmented reality-based participatory content authoring workflow for maintenance tasks. We followed the Design Science Research paradigm, which included a literature review, the conception of a workflow, and a simulation to evaluate the proposed workflow’s validity. We found that current workflows overlook participatory content authoring involving maintainers and that most research focuses on describing the technical architecture of proposed systems rather than a workflow that supports the use of technology in industrial settings. Regarding our proposed participatory workflow, most respondents stated it was simple to use, improved their capacity to develop augmented reality content and would help the industry adopt augmented reality. As a result, our participatory authoring workflow can optimize augmented reality content authoring during maintenance, encouraging the maintainers’ interaction, and provide opportunities for procedure improvement. We conclude that non-programmer-friendly augmented reality software tools save content production time while enhancing users’ perceptions of their own technological talents.