Application of augmented reality in aviation: improving engagement of cabin crew during emergency procedures training

The main duty of the cabin crew is to ensure the safety of all passengers onboard and are crucial during emergency situations. It is mandatory for cabin crew to attend the annual Emergency Procedures Training (EPT) to be able to operate as cabin crew regardless of the seniority. Despite the high importance, this training can be long and bulky leading to boredom and lack of engagement, hence jeopardizing the importance of in-flight safety procedures. Although Augmented Reality (AR) can potentially address this issue while enhancing engagement and learning retention, limited work has been undertaken to apply this technology to EPT. As such, this paper investigates whether augmented reality can effectively improve user engagement during emergency procedures training in the context of aviation. In this endeavor, an AR-based application was developed and is presented in this paper. The Positive Engagement Evaluation Method (PEEM) was then used to assess engagement among the 45 cabin-crew of the national carrier. From the PEEM matrix, the positive engagement score obtained was 10.58 and mean scores from the questionnaire ranged from 3 to 4.7. This highlights that Augmented Reality has the potential to enhance the motivation and engagement of users during the emergency procedures training, although a few limitations were identified.