Server maintenance operations require vast knowledge about the functionalities of various devices and their troubleshooting procedures. Workers often have to deal with complex paper manuals. This work-in-progress paper evaluates the effectiveness of a system to bring the onsite human supervisor experience, using an AR-based avatar with pointings gestures and voice instructions to guide the technician. 11 participants were asked to perform the set of instructions both in manual and avatar-based guided settings. A statistical analysis of raw NASATLX supports that the avatar-based guided maintenance system reduces the mental workload when compared to the manual-based maintenance procedures.

The need for effective remote communication solutions is increasing, and videoconferencing tools are the top choice for many. Furthermore, the alternative of using avatars instead of video-based conferencing for enriching the communication process is gaining popularity. This work-in-progress presents an avatar-based remote communication system for studying the exerted sense of co-presence and visual behavior of the user compared to a popular business-oriented communication platform. Users reported a higher sense of co-presence in the avatar condition with an increase in whole visual fixations dedicated to the avatars in comparison to their video feed faces during the cooperative task.

This work explores the human visual exploratory activity (VEA) in a microgravity environment compared to one-G. Parabolic flights are the only way to experience microgravity without astronaut training, and the duration of each microgravity segment is less than 20 seconds. Under such special conditions, the test subject visually searches a virtual representation of the International Space Station located in his Field of Regard (FOR). The task was repeated in two different postural positions. Interestingly, the test subject reported a significant reduction of microgravity-related motion sickness while experiencing the VR simulation, in comparison to his previous parabolic flights without VR.