Perceptions of integrating Augmented Reality into network cabling tutors

As networks become increasingly complex, professionals must familiarise themselves with the cabling rack to administer the network effectively. In line with this industry goal, we compared the usability, task load and perceptions of three similar network cabling tutoring systems: (1) a hand-held Augmented Reality (AR)-based cabling tutor (HAR); (2) a head-mounted AR-based cabling tutor (HMD) and (3) a 2-Dimensional (2D)-based cabling tutor (HH). While usability of different modalities have been compared previously, none of those comparisons used knowledge modelling approaches. So, in our comparison, each tutor uses knowledge space modelling (KSM) approaches to detect learner mistakes and show arrows on the rack to indicate the source of the mistake. While adding an AR sub-system to a network cabling tablet-based tutor may not necessarily improve usability, participants reported higher engagement over the AR hand held tablet when using the Head-Mounted Display (HMD) condition. Several potential reasons were identified to account for the side effect such as the potential for the AR sub-system to potentially influence learning perceptions; the additional physical effort of needing to point the tablet at the rack and perceived performance degradation.