An Investigation of Acceptance and E-Readiness for the Application of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Technologies to Maintenance Training in the Manufacturing Industry

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies offer new ways of providing training in manufacturing maintenance. The adoption of modern maintenance training practices has the potential to create efficiencies in terms of cost and time to train, while enhancing the quality of learning and maintenance outputs. However, in order to utilise the potential improvements that VR and AR offer in a manufacturing maintenance context, it is first important to understand the specific factors associated with VR and AR readiness and user requirement. The paper will firstly describe the results from a number of interviews conducted within a range of manufacturing companies in the North East of England to establish the state of e-technology readiness and acceptance, with specific emphasis on VR and AR applications. The results will identify how VR and AR might be utilised, relative to the company’s needs. Secondly, a new ‘model’ for maintenance training utilising VR/AR technologies will be described, based upon the initial findings and analyses combining cognitive behavioural models, real world data, and learning theory