An extended comparative analysis of AR/MR equipment for physical asset management applications

Despite the increasing adoption of Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR/MR) technologies in asset-intensive industries, organisations involved in Physical Asset Management (PAM) still lack domain-specific guidance for selecting appropriate AR/MR devices. Existing comparative studies largely focus on consumer, gaming, or generic enterprise contexts and fail to account for the operational, environmental, and safety constraints inherent to PAM. This study addresses this gap by conducting a qualitative, criteria-based comparative analysis of eleven commercially available AR/MR devices. The analysis evaluates lightweight AR glasses and MR headsets using parameters derived from PAM operational requirements, including processing capabilities, ergonomics, display characteristics, spatial mapping performance, interaction modalities, ruggedisation, security certifications, and software ecosystem support. Device specifications were collected from official vendor documentation and publicly available technical sources, and assessed through explicit parameter-to-use-case reasoning rather than numerical scoring. The results reveal a clear functional differentiation between device categories. AR glasses are better suited for long-duration field inspections and safety-critical environments due to their lightweight design, transparency, and ruggedisation, while MR headsets offer superior computational power, spatial mapping, and interaction capabilities, making them more appropriate for training, complex maintenance, and detailed asset visualisation in controlled settings. By aligning AR/MR devices characteristics with PAM-specific operational demands, this study provides actionable guidance for practitioners and contributes to addressing a gap in the PAM literature.