Suitability of virtual prototypes to support human factors/ergonomics evaluation during the design

In recent years, the use of virtual prototyping has increased in product development processes, especially in the assessment of complex systems targeted at end-users. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of virtual prototyping to support human factors/ergonomics evaluation (HFE)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied ergonomics Vol. 56; pp. 11 - 18
Main Authors: Aromaa, Susanna, Väänänen, Kaisa
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2016
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
Adult
Augmented reality
Equipment Design
Ergonomics
Ergonomics - methods
Extraction and Processing Industry - instrumentation
Human factors
Human factors research
Human factors/ergonomics
Humans
Maintenance
Male
Middle Aged
Product design
Prototypes
User-Computer Interface
Virtual environment
Virtual prototyping
Virtual reality
Virtual prototyping
Human factors/ergonomics
Virtual environment
ISSN:0003-6870, 1872-9126
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In recent years, the use of virtual prototyping has increased in product development processes, especially in the assessment of complex systems targeted at end-users. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of virtual prototyping to support human factors/ergonomics evaluation (HFE) during the design phase. Two different virtual prototypes were used: augmented reality (AR) and virtual environment (VE) prototypes of a maintenance platform of a rock crushing machine. Nineteen designers and other stakeholders were asked to assess the suitability of the prototype for HFE evaluation. Results indicate that the system model characteristics and user interface affect the experienced suitability. The VE system was valued as being more suitable to support the assessment of visibility, reach, and the use of tools than the AR system. The findings of this study can be used as a guidance for the implementing virtual prototypes in the product development process. •Both AR and VE prototypes support the assessment of human factors/ergonomics during the design.•The VE system was more suitable to support the assessment of visibility, reach, and the use of tools than the AR system.•System model characteristics can impact the suitability of the virtual prototype for the HFE evaluation.•To assess HFE issues related to environment, force and time, more sensory modalities are required.
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ISSN:0003-6870
1872-9126
DOI:10.1016/j.apergo.2016.02.015