Through the Looking Glass(es): Impacts of Wearable Augmented Reality Displays on Operators in a Safety-Critical System

Novel information technologies such as wearable augmented reality displays (WARDs) can provide operators of safety-critical systems with crucial real-time information anywhere in the work space. The evolving capabilities and proliferation of these technologies occasion important questions about their impact on operators in safety-critical systems such as nuclear power plants, aircraft cockpits, and ships. This article describes a WARD evaluation in the safety-critical setting of marine transportation in a real-time physical simulator. A large pool (n = 211) of operators in conventional and WARD technology conditions showed mixed results: WARD use dampened operator performance variability, improved situation awareness (SA), self-efficacy, and trust, but also increased operator workload. These results suggest that WARDs show promise as a mobile information display technology in one safety-critical system where operator mobility is important, and also suggest that increased workload may be a cost accompanying the desirable outcomes of reduced performance variability and increased SA.