Review of Extended Reality for Manual NDT Inspections

Extended reality, encompassing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, is rapidly transforming industrial workflows in line with the principles of Industry 4.0. This paper presents a focused review of extended reality technologies in the context of manual nondestructive evaluation inspections, highlighting key areas of research and industrial deployments. It surveys the current extended reality hardware landscape, emphasising the sector's drive towards more compact and lightweight form factors. Traditional inspection procedures, such as ultrasonic and eddy current testing, can be augmented with real-time data visualisation and optical tracking methods to digitise the workflow automatically. Applications including 'X-ray vision' for structural maintenance, contextual information overlays, and remote collaboration tools are examined, illustrating how extended reality can reduce operator workload and enhance inspection accuracy. Challenges related to precision tracking, ergonomics, visual clarity, and data privacy are also discussed. Despite hardware and adoption barriers, extended reality offers significant potential to modernise manual testing workflows by integrating digital twin concepts, improving human–machine interaction, and supporting traceable, standardised reporting. This review concludes that, with continued technological and regulatory development, extended reality is poised to become a key enabler of operator-centred inspection systems.