Augmented reality has often seemed like a technology that has struggled to find a real purpose. Advocates argue that training is likely to be one area where it really comes to the fore, as the technology can supposedly enhance learning and comprehension among students, while also providing a more enjoyable and sometimes even safer learning environment. What’s more, they argue that training costs can be lowered and students’ path to mastery shortened.

Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that the use of AR in training could have unforeseen consequences, however, not least in terms of reducing innovation and creativity.

Seeing the bigger picture

“When faced with a new task, workers instructed by AR smart glasses use 43.8% less time to complete the task compared with a control group that relies on paper-based instructions,” the researchers explain. “However, workers that use AR glasses consistently use 23% more time than the control group when both groups repeat the task without either AR or paper-based instructions.”

In other words, while the use of AR technology appears to provide some short-term benefits, the researchers believe it could introduce greater problems down the road, such as declines in both productivity and indeed innovation.

“Although these results indicate substantially higher productivity resulting from AR devices, they also support the view that, once instructed through AR devices, workers come to rely on this new technology without fully internalizing the task,” they conclude. “This failure to internalize their task then leads workers to suggest less useful process improvements.”

The researchers hope that their findings will allow managers to take a more critical view of when to use AR, and indeed when not to, while also helping equipment manufacturers more effectively plan for the future.