2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Analysis of User Experience in Digital Reality: A Comparative Study of VR and MR for Manufacturing Training

Presented at Manufacturing Division (MFG) Technical Session 4

With the rise of Industry 4.0, extended reality (XR) technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), have become integral to manufacturing training and education. This enables the simulation of real-world scenarios in controlled, safe environments to address competition in the manufacturing sector. Both VR and MR technologies have shown the potential to reduce training costs by eliminating the need for physical equipment and mitigating safety risks. However, VR and MR environments present challenges related to user experience (UX), interaction, environmental functionality, and hardware/software limitations, which can impact overall performance in manufacturing training contexts. Therefore, this work explores the distinct features, capabilities, and limitations of VR and MR environments from users’ perspectives during manufacturing assembly tasks to identify the best XR environment that improves UX. A research study involving 95 undergraduate engineering students was conducted, where VR and MR settings were designed with interactive manufacturing training modules. Various sensory modalities, including auditory and visual elements, were incorporated to evaluate UX. Quantitative and qualitative assessment tools were employed to measure participants’ attitudes. The quantitative data was analyzed using statistical methods, while the qualitative data was processed through Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, specifically the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model. The results showed that the MR environment is more effective for manufacturing training than VR, offering an immersive and interactive experience. Users reported that MR settings reduced discomfort and safety risks, as its holographic features enable real-time interaction with the physical environment while maintaining spatial awareness.

Authors

Ms. Israa Azzam Purdue University at West Lafayette [biography]

Israa joined the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University as a visiting scholar in September 2021. She conducts research on the design, modeling, simulation, and control of complex fluid power and mechanical systems. Prior to her appointment as a visiting scholar at Purdue, Israa was a graduate research and teaching assistant at the American University of Beirut (AUB) Lebanon from 2019 to 2021. She conducted research on dynamic system control theory, where she designed and validated robust algorithmic controllers to tackle one of the most concerning problems: energy-performance optimization.

Israa received her B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from Beirut Arab University (BAU) Lebanon in 2019. In 2021, she received her M.S degree in Mechanical Engineering "Robust Control" from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Lebanon. She is in the process of pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University. Her primary Ph.D. research will focus on designing Interactive Mixed Reality Modules for addressing spatial visualization and understanding complex fluid power systems in Engineering Technology.
Khalid Bello University of Louisville [biography]

Khalid Bello is a graduate student at University of Louisville.
Dr. Farid Breidi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-3292 Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI) [biography]

Dr. Farid Breidi joined the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in Aug 2020. Farid received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering degree from the American University of Beirut in 2010, his M.S. in Mechanical Engine
Dr. Faisal Aqlan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-5364 University of Louisville [biography]

Dr. Faisal Aqlan is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at The University of Louisville. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering form The State University of New York at Binghamton.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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