Supporting SMEs towards adopting mixed reality A training concept to bring the reality-virtuality continuum into application

The vision of Industry 4.0 follows a human centred approach in cyber-physical production systems. For this vision, human machine interfaces are required. A promising concept is the implementation of natural user interfaces. Especially the merging of real and virtual worlds, often referred to as mixed reality, is anticipated to be a future game changer. Yet manufacturing companies, especially small and medium sized companies, are facing the challenge to embrace the potential of these technologies early on and turn them into productive applications. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a training concept, putting the reality-virtuality continuum in focus. The modular, holistic training concept is presented based on mixed reality and technology adoption strategies. Finally, an evaluation of the first trainings is presented.