Using Augmented Reality to Enhance Worker Situational Awareness In Human Robot Interaction

This study investigates the potential of augmented reality (AR) to enhance users’ ability to predict the position of a robotic tool when it enters their blind spot. Augmented reality is increasingly utilized in industrial settings to improve situational awareness and user interfaces. In this experiment, participants performed tasks involving the prediction of the tool’s position using both conventional methods and AR displays. The Situational Awareness Global Assessment Test (SAGAT) was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the AR display as a user interface and its impact on users’ awareness. Results reveal improvements in several metrics when using AR, including a reduction in average perception error and an increase in subjective confidence levels. Additionally, the AR display led to a higher percentage of correct responses in predicting the direction the tool of the robot was moving when the worker had no direct line of sight to it. These findings suggest that AR displays have the potential to enhance situational awareness and improve the current state of user interfaces in industrial environments.