Mixed Reality collaboration environment improves the efficiency of human-centered industrial system: A case study in the mining industry

The emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) promote the intelligence of industrial systems. However, humans still play an important role in industrial systems, and they are required to collaborate in many scenarios to perform complex tasks. Mixed Reality (MR) technology allows the virtual-real fusion and real-time interaction, and has unparalleled advantages in building a collaborative environment. In this study, Theoretical and technical studies have been conducted to provide a universal solution for the industrial applications of MR collaboration. In terms of theory, a framework of the intelligent industrial system is first proposed by combining the human-centered idea and cloud-edge-terminal collaborative architecture. Based on this framework, the MR collaboration environment is then designed. Finally, the MR task scheduling model is developed to illustrate how the MR collaboration environment uses the cloud-edge-terminal collaborative architecture to improve the performance. The technical study is conducted based on the theoretical foundation. The key technologies involved in both co-located and remote collaboration modes, that can be achieved by the MR collaboration environment, are studied. In addition, the human-computer interaction (HCI) technology in MR collaboration is explored. Based on this study, the proposed MR collaboration environment is developed, tested, and evaluated by considering the mining industry as an example. Moreover, user surveys from a human-centered perspective are conducted. The results show that the MR collaboration environment has high applicability in multiple links in industrial scenarios represented by longwall mining. It can improve the quality, increase the efficiency, and reduce the costs. It can also provide a human-centered collaboration experience.