A comprehensive review of extended reality and its application in aerospace engineering

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) is a groundbreaking technology that is revolutionizing various industries, including aerospace engineering. As a leading field, aerospace is at the forefront of adopting XR to revolutionize its processes and maximize benefits. This comprehensive review explores the current state of XR technologies, their development and evaluation methodologies, and their diverse applications across the aerospace industry. The study begins by defining XR and its components - Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR)- detailing their input mechanisms, including haptics, eye-gaze tracking, brain-computer interfaces, gesture, and voice commands, alongside the integration of digital twin technologies and development platforms such as Unity and Unreal Engine. It then examines evaluation methods like workload assessment and situational awareness metrics to ensure usability and effectiveness. Key applications of XR in aerospace are categorized into engineering (design and optimization, assembly, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul), navigation (Head-Up Display [HUD], Head-Mounted Display [HMD], Degraded Visual Environment [DVE], vision systems, Air Traffic Control [ATC], and Urban Air Mobility [UAM]), training and simulation (aeronautical and astronautical), emerging services, and AI-driven implementations. The latter includes innovations in computer vision, recognition, pose estimation, and 3D reconstruction using cutting-edge technologies like LiDAR and Neural Radiance Fields. This review highlights the advancements and challenges of XR adoption in aerospace, providing a comprehensive resource for researchers, developers, and industry professionals aiming to harness XR's potential to enhance safety, efficiency, and innovation in this critical sector.