Abstract:

Background:
As automation and other technological influences continue to impact the field of equipment maintenance, the ability to provide real-time and just-in-time performance support via technical publications and other training interventions for those performing the maintenance activities are more business critical than ever. Without leveraging user-ambient technologies such as augmented reality, companies and military organizations that are relied upon to perform maintenance are unduly dependent on keeping traditional technical publications and training content up to date in an impractical if not totally unmanageable manner.

Problem:
Although the challenges tend to vary greatly from industry to industry and from organization to organization, some of the most common challenges with implementing augmented reality in a work-embedded environment include:
• A lack of standardization on common augmented reality hardware platforms
• A lack of standardization on common augmented reality software platforms
• No clear integration paths between augmented reality systems and other business-critical enterprise software platforms such as CSDB (common source database) systems that store electronic versions of the relevant technical publications and LMS (learning management system) platforms that store and track other training and performance support content.
• A general lack of understanding of how augmented reality works as a whole and how/where/when/why to apply it

Methods:
The most referenced business execution challenge in the field of equipment maintenance is the inability to deliver the most recent version of a technical publication at the precise moment of need. To illustrate the impact of this challenge, consider that over 60% of fatalities in current theatres of war can be tracked back to the use of outdated technical publications.

Augmented reality can be utilized to address this problem by:
• Electronically retrieving and displaying the most recent version of a needed technical publication at the moment of need
• Providing the ability for maintenance workers to add value to “static” technical publications by highlighting known issues with particular makes and models of equipment or related tools
• Providing general tips of things to consider and things to avoid when performing this task based on longitudinally collected data from prior performances

In addition to outdated technical publications, the other main area of maintenance challenges fall into the category of human factors. The twelve human factors that have the most significant impact on maintenance proficiency are.
• Lack of communication
• Lack of teamwork
• Lack of assertiveness
• Complacency
• Fatigue
• Stress
• Lack of knowledge
• Lack of resources
• Lack of awareness
• Distraction
• Pressure
• Norms

This paper will break down each of these human factors and discuss how augmented reality can be implemented to address them.

Conclusions and extensions:
The promise of augmented reality has been around for decades but the recent improvements in chip performance and the commercialization of the related hardware by major industry stalwarts such as Microsoft has made the practicality of leveraging this powerful medium in the workplace much more accessible than ever before.

By focusing on sector-specific and organization-specific business execution problems, organizations can rapidly develop and integrate augmented reality solutions into their corporate toolkit.

Keywords:

Augmented reality, performance support, maintenance, technical publications.