Cognitive Assistance in the Workplace

These days, customers can choose and configure nearly every detail of a product they want to buy, making each manufactured product a unique piece rather than just another part in a large-scale production. The availability of such complex built-to-order systems is introducing a more complex manufacturing process, requiring more cognitive effort compared to the traditional built-to-stock approach. The manual-assembly workplace is thus becoming a challenging environment. To help the workers better manage such environments, the authors have built an assistive system that can be integrated directly into the workplace using in-situ projection for augmented reality. This article is part of a special issue on digitally enhanced reality.