Augmented Reality Owner Manual Evaluation by NASA TLX Method

Abstract

Information is indispensable for any products and, likewise, the users expect to use all the resources offered by an artifact. In this way, the instruction manual is necessary for every product to be supplied. In turn, the building use, operation, and maintenance manual, also known as the building owner manual (BOM) is governed by rules that guide its creation, such as, items and definitions that must be followed. The building owner manual has been updated over time, but its format has not been modified. Such manuals are in most cases presented in the textual format with technical terms. A potential remedy to this situation is to enhance the traditional building owner manual format using Augmented Reality (AR) that promotes new forms of interaction between the user and the BOM. In a nutshell, AR enables the displaying of virtual (computer generated) graphics overlaid on views of the real environment. In this way, this paper is part of a Ph.D. research that aims to optimize the performance of the building owner manual through AR. Thus, the objective of this research is to evaluate the incorporation of Augmented Reality features into the BOM in order to qualify its use. The methodology adopted in this work follows the Design Science Research approach. The contribution granted presents models of insertion of the Augmented Reality technology in the building owners manual and qualifies the incorporation of the AR, through experiments with measurement method following NASA TLX protocol. This innovative study brings to the building owners manual advances in its use in terms of visualization, instruction and assembly in a qualified way, explained by the workload measured by NASA TLX method. In short, it was proved that the insertion of AR technology, regardless of the format acts favorably integrated with the BOM, optimizing its orientation role and recommending the best use of the building.