Analyzing the potential of virtual reality-supported training for industrial assembly tasks

Virtual Reality (VR) in industry offers opportunities to decrease design and production costs, maintain product quality and reduce the time needed to go from product concept to production. Due to its interactive nature, VR is also used for simulations of training sessions to communicate knowledge on assembly and maintenance processes. So far, there are hardly any scientific findings on the effectiveness of virtual learning and training for industrial applications. It is also unclear how training can be improved in virtual environments to maximize the learning outcome. This article investigates whether VR-supported training leads to an increase in learning success compared to traditional training-on-the-job accompanied by a tutor. Two variations of a VR tool for the training of a simplified assembly processes were developed. A laboratory study with 64 participants was conducted to get an insight into the importance of virtual instructions and their effect on learning success and perceived workload. The results indicate that small modifications in a VR training application have a significant effect on learning outcome. In particular, a lower level of visual guidance can cause a higher level of mental workload during the training, forcing the user to actively deal with the learning content. Based on these findings, the opportunities and risks of current VR training simulations are discussed and recommendations to increase the learning effect are formulated.