In industrial environments, training on complex machinery presents a persistent challenge: physical equipment is expensive, access is limited, and errors during training can have real consequences. The VOXReality project, funded under EU Horizon Europe, integrates AR with advanced AI language models to address this — enabling interactive, guided training experiences that don't require physical machines or a human instructor to be present.
Augmented Reality training can take many forms. Hololight’s XR CAD viewer application, Hololight Space, addresses the common need for practical knowledge and experience in machine assembly in industrial environments. The solution goes beyond traditional visualization, allowing users to engage with specific sub-components of machines that are critical to assembly instructions.
Powered by Hololight's proprietary XR Streaming technology, Hololight Space provides remote rendering and application streaming capabilities, ensuring powerful and high-quality AR experiences while overcoming the processing limitations of XR mobile devices. This feature integrates VOXReality’s AI models, enriching AR training experiences using Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 AR headset as the medium for visualizing virtual content and communication.
One of the main advantages of AR over VR in industrial training is the ability to overlay virtual 3D objects onto real-world environments. In assembly training, this is crucial when physical objects must align with virtual components. AR allows a user to see a virtual engine model and align it directly on top of a real physical framework, enhancing spatial understanding. Hololight Space also allows for precise alignment of CAD models with real tools or machinery, and the AR environment can scale or adjust virtual objects based on physical constraints — giving trainees a practical experience that is directly transferable to their real-world roles.
In VR, the environment is entirely digital, which means trainees may struggle to apply their knowledge when transitioning to real-life tasks. Without the ability to manipulate real objects, VR training can create a disconnect between theory and practice.
AR also keeps users aware of their surroundings — particularly important in industrial settings. Hololight Space enables trainees to interact with both virtual and physical objects while remaining aware of their immediate environment, coworkers, and potential hazards. This promotes a safer training environment, as trainees can avoid accidents that might arise when entirely isolated from their surroundings, as is common in VR.
Cybersickness is a common issue in VR training. The disconnect between the user's physical body and the virtual world can result in motion sickness and fatigue, especially during long sessions. AR presents virtual objects within the real world, eliminating the sensory mismatch that often leads to VR-induced discomfort — making it a more sustainable training tool for industrial tasks.
Users engaged in AR assembly training often benefit from the presence of an instructor to oversee the steps of the training. However, it is not always possible or operationally practical to have an instructor present. VOXReality aimed to create a novel addition to AR assembly training by integrating AI language models developed by other VOXReality consortium partners into Hololight Space.
In conjunction with these AI models, users are provided with a unique support system in the form of a virtual personal assistant. This assistant monitors the trainee's progress and has the ability to step in and offer support and guidance when needed. Interacting with this virtual personal assistant creates a personalized support system during training that enhances learning and provides immediate feedback — allowing trainees to learn at their own pace without requiring a physical instructor.
Another key advantage of AR is the ability for users to see and interact with other people in the room. In an industrial training setting, this means that instructors or fellow trainees can observe and provide real-time feedback — either physically present or via virtual presence — while still allowing the trainee to engage with the virtual objects. This collaborative aspect of AR creates a more interactive learning environment, where knowledge is shared seamlessly between physical and digital spaces.
The VOXReality project expanded the potential of AR in industrial training by incorporating XR streaming and AI models into a single guided training experience. The combination of AI and AR not only changes the way we learn and interact in industrial environments, but also lays the foundation for a safer and more efficient industrial future.
The training capabilities explored in VOXReality are part of a broader set of AR training applications Hololight supports commercially. See how AR training is being used in production environments today: