Assessing the Value of Multimodal Interfaces: A Study on Human-Machine Interaction in Weld Inspection Workstations

Multimodal user interfaces promise natural and intuitive human–machine interactions. However, is the extra effort for the development of a complex multisensor system justified, or can users also be satisfied with only one input modality? This study investigates interactions in an industrial weld inspection workstation. Three unimodal interfaces, including spatial interaction with buttons augmented on a workpiece or a worktable, and speech commands, were tested individually and in a multimodal combination. Within the unimodal conditions, users preferred the augmented worktable, but overall, the interindividual usage of all input technologies in the multimodal condition was ranked best. Our findings indicate that the implementation and the use of multiple input modalities is valuable and that it is difficult to predict the usability of individual input modalities for complex systems.