Workplace Aspects of Knowledge and Expertise Sharing Practices Supported by Augmented Reality Systems: Findings from a Design Case Study

Abstract

In this article, we present findings concerning how environment can both impact upon and be impacted by knowledge and expertise sharing practices (KES) supported by augmented reality (AR) systems. We draw on findings from a Design Case Study (DCS) carried out for the design and evaluation of an AR system to support KES in complex production contexts. Our results suggest that the proposed system not only changes the perception of the technical environment but is itself gradually perceived as an element of it. The results also reveal changes in the employees’ focus of attention when working with the AR-aid in question and how they individually adapt to it. Moreover, our findings suggest that the proposed system facilitates a change in the proximity between experts and non-experts, bridging spatial and temporal distances, fostering cooperation between those two categories of workers, at the same time that enhance their autonomy. Overall, the results highlight how changes in the social environment of digitised production cannot be separated from changes in the technical environment.