Adaptive Augmented Reality User Interfaces for Real-Time Defect Visualization and On-the-Fly Reconfiguration for...

Zero-defect manufacturing is one of the most promising strategies to mitigate failures within manufacturing processes, allowing industries to increase product quality efficiently and effectively. One of the challenges faced in the practical adoption of zero-defect manufacturing is that the most important aspect of manufacturing, people, is often neglected. Aiming to support shop floor operators, this work introduces a human-centric approach assisting them to become aware of defects in the production line and imminently reconfigure it. Our system comprises an Augmented Reality application that encompasses interfaces that dynamically adapt to different contexts of use and enable operators to interact naturally and effectively and reconfigure the manufacturing process. The system leverages the efficiency of the shop floor operators in monitoring and controling the production line they are working on, according to the task they are performing, and their level of expertise, to produce appropriate visual components. To demonstrate the versatility and generality of the proposed system we evaluated it in three different production lines, conducting cognitive walkthroughs with experts and user-based evaluations with thirty shop floor operators. The results demonstrate that the system is intuitive and user-friendly, facilitating operator engagement and situational awareness, enhancing operator attentiveness, and achieving improved operational outcomes.