Study-based evaluation of accuracy and usability of wearable devices in manual assembly

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution shapes today’s private and industrial environments, implying increased digitalization, connectivity, and artificial intelligence. Wearable devices support digital communication by displaying information and monitoring health-related aspects by measuring vital signs. Even though various wearables for measuring vital signs are already used in private life, they have not yet found their way into the production environment. This could be due to poor data quality or a lack of acceptance among employees regarding the usability of wearables during work activities. This paper aims to evaluate the accuracy and usability of selected wearable devices in manual assembly. Therefore, two user studies were conducted in a rebuilt production environment. The first study focuses on the data accuracy of the heart rate measurement of different wearables during manual assembly. In the second study, the usability of the selected wearables is evaluated with the thinking-aloud method during a manual assembly task and questionnaires.