XR-Based Digital Twin for Industry 5.0: A Usability and User Experience Evaluation

The advent of Industry 5.0, as described by the European Commission, heralds a paradigm shift towards human-centric values, sustainability, and resilience in manufacturing, replacing the precedent Industry 4.0. In this evolving landscape, the integration of eXtended Reality (XR) technologies presents a promising avenue for enhancing human-machine interaction through industrial Digital Twins (DTs). This study introduces and validates an innovative XR-based interface for programming industrial cobots, comparing its performance to a conventional teach pendant control system. Leveraging a cohort of Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience experts, the evaluation demonstrates significant advantages of the XR-based interface in terms of usability, acceptance, and user experience. Participants were more inclined to adopt the XR-based interface, perceiving improvements in task performance, particularly in speed, while maintaining comparable accuracy to the teach pendant. Qualitative feedback highlights the simplicity, fluency, efficiency, and ergonomic interaction design of the XR interface. These results inform potential enhancements to further optimize the usability and effectiveness of XR-based DT systems in industrial settings, reaffirming the pivotal role of human-centric approaches in shaping the future of manufacturing.