Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Displays (AR-HMDs) have proven effective to assist workers. However, they may degrade their Safety and Situational Awareness (SSA), particularly in complex and hazardous industrial settings. This paper analyzes, objectively and subjectively, the effects of AR-HMDs' on workers' SSA in a simulated hazardous industrial environment. Our evaluation was comprised of sixty participants performing various tasks in a simulated cargo ship room while receiving remote guidance through one of three devices: two off-the-shelf AR-HMDs (Trimble XR10 with HoloLens 2, RealWear Navigator 520), and a smartphone (Google Pixel 6). Several sensors were installed throughout the room to obtain quantitative measures of the participants' safe execution of the tasks, such as the frequency in which they hit the objects in the room or stepped over simulated holes or oil spills. The results reported that the Trimble XR10 led to statistically highest head-knockers and knee-knocker incidents compared to the Navigator 520 and the Pixel 6. Furthermore, the Trimble XR10 also led to significantly higher difficulties to cross hatch doors, lower perceived safety, comfort, perceived performance, and usability. Overall, participants wearing AR-HMDs failed to perceive more hazards, meaning that safety-preserving capabilities must be developed for AR-HMDs before introducing them into industrial hazardous settings confidently.

翻译：增强现实头戴式显示器已被证明能有效辅助作业人员。然而，在复杂危险的工业环境中，这类设备可能会降低使用者的安全与态势感知能力。本文通过主客观相结合的方式，在模拟危险工业环境中分析了增强现实头戴式显示器对作业人员安全与态势感知的影响。我们的评估包含六十名参与者在模拟货船舱室内执行多项任务，期间通过以下三种设备之一接收远程指导：两款商用增强现实头戴式显示器（搭载HoloLens 2的Trimble XR10、RealWear Navigator 520）以及一部智能手机（Google Pixel 6）。我们在舱室各处安装了多种传感器，以量化测量参与者执行任务时的安全性，例如其碰撞舱内物体的频率或踩踏模拟孔洞/油渍的次数。结果显示，与Navigator 520和Pixel 6相比，Trimble XR10导致的头部碰撞与膝部碰撞事故在统计上最为显著。此外，使用Trimble XR10穿越舱口门时难度显著更高，且被试感知的安全性、舒适度、自我效能感及可用性评分均显著更低。总体而言，佩戴增强现实头戴式显示器的参与者未能识别更多潜在危险，这表明在将其引入危险工业环境前，必须开发相应的安全防护功能。