Do Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Devices Affect Muscle Activity and Eye Strain of Utility Workers Who Do Procedural Work? Studies of Operators and Manhole Workers

Abstract

Objective The objective was to determine the effect of two head-mounted display (HMD) augmented reality (AR) devices on muscle activity and eye strain of electric utility workers. The AR devices were the Microsoft HoloLens and RealWear HMT-1. Background The HoloLens is an optical see-through device. The HMT-1 has a small display that is mounted to the side of one eye of the user. Method Twelve power plant operators and 13 manhole workers conducted their normal procedural tasks on-site in three conditions: HoloLens, HMT-1, and “No AR” (regular method). Duration of test trials ranged up to 30 s for operators and up to 10 min for manhole workers. Mean and peak values of surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from eight neck muscles were measured. A small eye camera measured blink rate of the right eye. Results In general, there were no differences in sEMG activity between the AR and “No AR” conditions for both groups of workers. For the manhole workers, the HoloLens blink rate was 8 to 11 blinks per min lower than the HMT-1 in two tasks and 6.5 fewer than “No AR” in one task. Subjective assessment of the two AR devices did not vary in general. Conclusion The decrease in blink rate with the HoloLens may expose utility manhole workers to risk of eye strain or dry-eye syndrome. Application HMD AR devices should be tested thoroughly with respect to risk of eye strain before deployment by manhole workers for long-duration procedural work.

New and Emerging Hazards for Health and Safety within Digitalized Manufacturing Systems

“…For instance, operators may touch plastic and metallic material with superficial body parts, which may cause skin irritation or allergic reactions [54], while inadequate device sanitation may provoke eye diseases [54]. As far as ergonomics is concerned, operators may experience discomfort deriving both from the dimension and the weight of the devices [55][56][57][58], and from the stereoscopic display vision [55], which may lead to eye fatigue [55] also caused by a decreased blink rate [56]. Additional factors may also lead to muscle fatigue, i.e., pain in the lower neck area [55,56,59], shoulder pain, upper back pain [59], and hand and arm pain [59].…”

“…As far as ergonomics is concerned, operators may experience discomfort deriving both from the dimension and the weight of the devices [55][56][57][58], and from the stereoscopic display vision [55], which may lead to eye fatigue [55] also caused by a decreased blink rate [56]. Additional factors may also lead to muscle fatigue, i.e., pain in the lower neck area [55,56,59], shoulder pain, upper back pain [59], and hand and arm pain [59]. Furthermore, AR and VR devices limit the workers' visual field, thus leading to possible damages due to their the decreased ability to control their surroundings [54,56,57,59].…”

“…Additional factors may also lead to muscle fatigue, i.e., pain in the lower neck area [55,56,59], shoulder pain, upper back pain [59], and hand and arm pain [59]. Furthermore, AR and VR devices limit the workers' visual field, thus leading to possible damages due to their the decreased ability to control their surroundings [54,56,57,59]. In addition, these technologies are also associated with organizational hazards, mainly related to the varying lighting conditions of the workplace, which may cause, for instance, eye dryness [56], glare damages [59], and visual discomfort due to the need to adjust to the different light levels [56].…”

“…Furthermore, AR and VR devices limit the workers' visual field, thus leading to possible damages due to their the decreased ability to control their surroundings [54,56,57,59]. In addition, these technologies are also associated with organizational hazards, mainly related to the varying lighting conditions of the workplace, which may cause, for instance, eye dryness [56], glare damages [59], and visual discomfort due to the need to adjust to the different light levels [56]. As far as organizational hazards are concerned, the extended use AR and VR devices may lead to discomfort [55,56,60], eye fatigue [45,55,56,[58][59][60], nausea, dizziness, disorientation, motion sickness, headache [10,25,29,30], social isolation [35,61,62], increased heartbeat and breathing rate [58], as well as gastric damage [58,63], damages caused by distraction [45,54,58,64] and unpredictable long-term musculoskeletal consequences [56,64].…”

A Novel Anatomy Education Method Using a Spatial Reality Display Capable of Stereoscopic Imaging with the Naked Eye

“…The current methods still require wearing devices, such as a head-mounted display (HMD) and smart glasses, which pose challenges in hygiene management and long-term use. Several reports have also reported eye fatigue and sickness when using HMD and AR smart glasses [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”