Supporting tailorability in augmented reality based remote assistance in the manufacturing industry: A user study

Research on remote assistance in real-world industries is sparse, as most research is conducted in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Consequently, little is known about how users tailor remote assistance technologies at work. Therefore, we developed an augmented reality-based remote assistance prototype called Remote Assist Kit (RAK). RAK is a component-based system, allowing us to study tailoring activities and the usefulness of tailorable remote assistance technologies. We conducted a user evaluation with employees from the plastic manufacturing industry. The employees configured the RAK to solve real-world problems in three collaborative scenarios: (1) troubleshooting a running injection molding machine, (2) tool maintenance, (3) solving a trigonometry problem. Our results show that the tailorability of RAK was perceived as useful, and users were able to successfully tailor RAK to the distinct properties of the scenarios. Specific findings and their implications for the design of tailorable remote assistance technologies are presented. Among other findings, requirements specific to remote assistance in the manufacturing industry were discussed, such as the importance of sharing machine sounds between the local operator and the remote helper. • Users tailor remote assistance to problem scenarios and find it useful. • Movable scene cameras dominated the “injection”-scenario for close-up views. • Awareness of a partner’s tailoring work is crucial for remote assistance. • Sharing machine sounds aids remote troubleshooting of running machines. • Multi-camera setups may enhance awareness at manufacturing machines.