Mixed Reality Guidance System for Motherboard Assembly Using Tangible Augmented Reality

We developed a mixed reality guidance system (MRGS) for motherboard assembly with purpose of exploring the usability and viability of using mixed reality and tangible augmented reality (TAR) for simulating hands-on manual assembly tasks. TAR was used to remove the need for real-world parts as well as to provide a natural interaction medium for our system. To evaluate our system, we conducted two usability studies involving 25 (10 experienced and 15 naive) participants. For the first study, participants were tasked to rate only the proposed interaction technique. Both experienced and naive participants gave acceptable scores, with experienced users giving significantly higher ratings. In the second study, participants were tasked to partially assemble the motherboard using the MRGS. Participants who utilized the MRGS were able to properly determine the correct orientation and location of the motherboard parts, in contrast to the control group. Observations of users while performing the tasks as well as user feedback through survey questionnaires and interviews are presented and discussed in this paper.