The importance of information and communication design for manual skills instruction with augmented reality

Purpose - There are guidelines for information and communication technology (ICT) applications which are already established in manufacturing. These guidelines include recommendations such as: alignment of ICT applications with strategy, involvement of the full range of stakeholders, and careful planning and monitoring. A recommendation from outside of manufacturing is that information and communication design should be carried out in conjunction with ICT applications. The purpose of the research reported in this paper is to investigate the relevance of information and communication design to applications of advanced ICTs used in the instruction of manual skills. Design/methodology/approach - Literature review, interviews, and fivequasi-experimental studies are used. Findings - The design of information and its communication is relevant to the instruction of manual skills with ICTs and, in particular, important for instruction with augmented reality (AR). Research limitations/implications - There are only 92 participants in the fivequasi-experimental studies. Practical implications - This paper provides an overview of information and communication design issues. Examples are provided of how these issues manifest themselves in the application of advanced ICTs, such as virtual reality and AR, which can be used in the instruction of manual skills. Originality/value - The originality of the research reported in this paper is that it goes beyond further investigation of established guidelines for ICT applications. The value of this paper is that it draws attention to the potential of information and communication design to improve ICTs implementations. It also draws attention to the need for balanced comparisons in the assessment of all ICTs prior to their implementation.