Human acceptance evaluation of AR-assisted assembly scenarios

Abstract The contribution examines the acceptance of Augmented Reality (AR) in assembly scenarios by a model-based approach for acceptance evaluation. After a critical literature research and analysis, a proprietary model for acceptance measurement is developed, which includes and synthesizes previous models and simplifies them considerably for the purpose of industrial assembly. Consequently, a structural model is derived which is based on the basic concepts of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This is built up as a path model to explain user acceptance. Following, a laboratory experiment is set up to collect data. At the final assembly workstation of the FHWS c-Factory the study participants assemble a toy truck once without and once with AR support. The c-Factory is a concept factory for smart production in an IoT environment. Afterwards, relevant data are collected by means of a survey. The evaluation shows that the acceptance of AR is given and the model is resilient. The results show also, that AR is accepted by the participants supporting their work.