FEATURE Extended reality
XR PLAYS ITS ROLE IN THE MASTER PLAN
An EU-funded MASTER project aims to show how extended reality (XR) tools can help workers learn to use robots in a
W
hen an open call was published looking for companies interested in developing extended reality
(XR) tools for training in manufacturing environments, applications came in from across Europe, demonstrating widespread enthusiasm for digitising workspaces. Although the technology has yet to be widely deployed, proponents hope it can help protect workers and slash costs. “In the real world with real robots, something could go wrong and someone can really get hurt during training due to lack of experience,” said Panagiotis Karagiannis, project manager at the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation at the University of Patras, Greece. Karagiannis is the coordinator of the EU-funded MASTER project, which published the open call. “In order to train humans to work with
robotics, you need to have space, the machines, the sensors – you need to replicate the industrial environment,” said Karagiannis. “This has a high level of cost, but in the virtual world it’s cheaper.” Aside from cost and safety, another measure learning outcomes. By tracking eye movement, for example, researchers can move important bits of information to areas where eyes spend more time to improve the user experience and the impact of the training. In early 2023, the EU adopted its Web 4.0 Strategy to help boost the integration between digital and real objects in industrial environments. The same year, a study found that 98% of professionals interviewed believed respective sectors in the coming years. One of the applicants to the open call is looking at factory layouts and how machines can be better arranged to reduce risks and increase productivity. The MASTER project is also taking accessibility into account. When a wheelchair user tested one of the XR scenarios in the project, it turned out they had less range of motion in their arm and so the environment had to be adjusted so they could properly interact with it.
10 May 2025 | Automation
XR PLAYS ITS ROLE IN THE MASTER PLAN
Jenny Leivadarou, business advisor at
Teaching Factory Competence Center, one of the partners in the MASTER project, is helping validate the technology for commercial use. Testing involves getting people to try out the XR environments and determining whether there are any issues. Alongside giving users a questionnaire, system data is also collected and analysed to see how quickly people react or complete tasks, among other insights. Motion sickness – or virtual reality XR technologies. Symptoms include eye fatigue, disorientation and nausea. Despite much research into virtual reality sickness, researchers still aren’t sure how to completely deal with it, as there are contribute. Researchers are concerned about the physical impacts of virtual reality too. Some suspect that long-term exposure could lead to more cases of near-sightedness, and falling or having an accident is a common issue. The only certain way to avoid all these spends in XR. There are still a lot of open questions on how XR environments should be tested and contributing to the standards through this process,” said Leivadarou. “It would be nice, given that we’re doing a lot of work here, to be heard at a policy level and be able to use our experience to help with the formation of standards.”
Companies are mostly interested in XR technologies and doing pilots, she said, but getting them to actually change their processes that already work can be a bit
more challenging. “It’s hard to persuade companies to move to a new model or try a new model, related to sales,” said Karagiannis. The MASTER project still has a long way to go until any of the work is commercialised. A second open call is looking for applicants who want to build educational scenarios based on the tools Jesús Rosel, consultant and project manager at MLAKOOP, said that after a scenario has been built in an XR environment, it’s essentially just a simulation without educational merit.
like prompts, videos or infographics, a structured learning experience is created in the virtual environment that can drive users towards the intended outcomes. Typically, users start with basic elements that become more complex as the scenario progresses. Rosel believes that these technologies are best suited for people in vocational schools and other places where there is less money to buy expensive robots. “I think engineers and other professionals have better access to real robots for research and for mastering complex processes,” said Rosel. “The real challenge is helping the blue-collar operators.”
Karagiannis thinks that it’s important to make the XR environments as appealing as possible to people who are inexperienced with them.
MASTER project
www.master-xr.eu/project
automationmagazine.co.uk
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