Augmented reality tools for industrial applications: What are potential key performance indicators and who benefits?

Augmented reality (AR) tools are poised to have great potential for organizations when it comes to complex processes in the field of industrial applications - like construction or maintenance in the automotive industry. The human-centred technology displays context-specific 3-D information in a real environment related to a specific targeted object. Immersive experiences are expected to boost task efficiency, the quality of training and maintenance purposes. However, ready-for-market AR tools are still rarely used and benefits seldom demonstrated. This paper focuses on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are able to benchmark the impact of using ready-for-market AR tools on automotive maintenance performance. After a comprehensive literature review on the benefits of AR for several industrial applications in design, education and training, KPIs were extracted and evaluated by experts from the automotive industry. They were used in an empirical study - based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) - with users evaluating the KPIs before and after training situations. In addition, 'Perceived Usefulness' and 'Intention to Use' were investigated. Significant enhancements of all KPIs were observed and novice users were identified as a potential target group.