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OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS
Given advances in augmented reality head-worn display (AR HWD) technologies, “smart glasses” may become an everyday workplace tool in the foreseeable future, allowing workers to perform tasks hands-free while viewing real-time, task-relevant information within their visual field of view. Interviews with experts in several industries (e.g., chemical, medical, manufacturing, distribution) supported such future opportunities for AR HWD development, and underlined important practical concerns that should be overcome to bring smart glasses into mainstream, effective industrial use. Particularly, almost all interviewees believed that poorly designed interfaces for smart glasses may distract workers, yet saw potential in using well-designed AR HWD technology to improve workplace safety and health. This and earlier studies suggest that smart glasses can have important implications for human/task performance as well as workplace safety and health. Future research directions are discussed to promote and accelerate the safe adoption and implementation of AR HWD technologies in the workplace.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Supplemental online Appendix A (Semi-Structured Interview Questions) is available on the publisher's website at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21577323.2016.1214635.
Funding
This work was sponsored through the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi), a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center under award 0732686. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.