Considering ergonomic aspects of head-mounted displays for applications in industrial manufacturing

In this paper, we apply a comprehensive approach to evaluate and analyze potential physiological and subjective workload effects of the application of head-mounted displays (HMDs) during a typical 3.5 hrs assembly operation. The approach refers to physical as well as cognitive workload associated with HMDs. The methods for capturing and determining physiological workload include an analysis of visual acuity, of visual field, electromyography (EMG), and general posture analysis (OWAS). Subjective ratings for overall workload (BLV, RSME) and simulator sickness (SSQ) are considered and analyzed in order to complete the analysis. Their feasibility and practical implementations are discussed based on the results of a pre-test with a smaller sample size in order to give recommendations for their practical use during on-going experiments and for future industrial applications.