AssemblifyVR: An authoring system tool for instructional mechanical assembly animations

Mechanical assembly animations are essential for conveying complex technical procedures, especially in instructional and training contexts. With the growing adoption of immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) in education and industry, there is a critical need for tools that empower Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to create effective learning content without deep technical expertise. Existing tools for AR/VR-based animation authoring often demand scripting knowledge or tedious manual demonstrations, limiting accessibility. We present AssemblifyVR, an intuitive VR authoring system that enables SMEs to create instructional mechanical assembly animations through a streamlined workflow. By leveraging predefined interaction categories and automating key steps such as path planning and sequence generation, our system reduces the burden of manual authoring while promoting pedagogically sound animation design. AssemblifyVR supports features like step-by-step demonstration, highlighting, and synchronized narration to enhance clarity and learner engagement. A comparative user study with 24 participants (12 Unity and 12 CAD users) demonstrated a significant 80% reduction in authoring time (mean across all users) and high usability (mean SUS = 86.9). These findings highlight the system’s potential to support the scalable creation of immersive instructional content by SMEs in technical and vocational domains.