Ergonomic Analysis supported by Virtual Reality: a Systematic Literature Review

Technological advances fomented the production process automation, however, in manufacturing industries many activities require manual operations. Research has shown that ergonomic conditions have a direct influence on the safety of employees, on the cost and quality of production. This study aims to characterize the current knowledge about the use of VR for the analysis of ergonomic problems related to people's interactions with his workplace. Based on a systematic review of the literature (RSL) performed on databases ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore and SpringerLink, which identified twelve studies. The results indicate that most studies are related to automotive industry and are applied to ergonomic analysis for workstations and new process development; the methodologies used are diverse and vary according to need. Further research is needed to investigate how VR can support the analysis of ergonomics in more specific tasks, such as the force applied by the operator in assembling parts, or in the assessment of ergonomic risks already in the product development stage.