Augmented Reality to support education in Industry 4.
0*
Antonio Cazzolla, Rosa Lanzilotti, Teresa Roselli, and Veronica Rossano
Abstract— Game-based learning is one of the most
widespread approaches in educational and training processes.
The success of the integration of the entertainment dimension in
learning has been largely documented. It is important to make
the learning process attractive not only for kids but also for
adults who need to acquire new knowledge and skills to be in line
with the new competences required by the job market. Thus, in
line with the requirements of Industry 4.0, all companies,
especially the smallest ones, should upgrade their work processes
to permit to keep up with larger and technologically advanced
companies. In this context, the Competences Lab for Industry
4.0 (C-LAB 4.0) project aims to define a participatory model for
the promotion of educational and training processes supported
by a game simulation solution. The article presents an
application for geometric solids developed as proof-of-concept of
the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in educational contexts. A
comparative study proves the learning effectiveness of the
defined AR application used as support in a traditional learning
context.
I. INTRODUCTION
Game-based learning is the use of game to support learning
and teaching activities [1]. There are many experimental
evidences confirming the validity of this approach both with
children and adults [2, 3, 4, 5]. In the latest years, the Serious
Games, i.e. videogame or simulated games used to transmit
and support knowledge and skills acquisition [6], are largely
used in different contexts, such as health care [2, 7, 8, 9],
environment sustainability [10, 11, 12], marketing [13].
Serious games can be effective in corporate training since
they can help the company to be more efficient, can improve
staff competences and allow workers to be more flexible [14].
In addition, the game improves the level of motivation and
engagement of trainees, who may be disappointed by having
to undergo training, since they can have an active role during
the course [1].
In the context of Industry 4.0, the serious games can be a
successful approach to renew the knowledge and skills of
workers. Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth industrial revolution.
It concerns the digitalization of all the processes that take
place in all aspects of business and industry. The Industry 4.0
requires that workers acquire new abilities and knowledge.
The Industry 4.0 workers should be problem solvers, critical
thinkers, innovators, and communicators [15]. They should be
more creative to adapt themselves to new working scenarios
that will be in constant evolution during the next few years.
*Research supported by C-Lab 4.0 project founded by Apulia Region.
A. Cazzolla is M.Sc. in Computer Science at the Department of Computer
Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
R. Lanzilotti is with the Department of Computer Science, University of
Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy (e-mail: rosa.lanzilotti@uniba.it).
978-1-7281-2464-3/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
Also students should understand that schools cannot give
them all the knowledge and skills required by the job market,
they should be able to learn by themselves. Future workers
will need to be highly trained in the emerging technologies
but also, as importantly, in the values associated with using
those technologies (https://restart-project.eu/industry-4-0-
impact-education/).
Following this trend, the paper presents an Augmented
Reality (AR) application to support teaching of geometry in a
primary school. The application is a proof of concept to prove
that AR could be successful in educational processes, and thus
effective in supporting professional training in Industry 4.0.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section II
introduces the Augmented Reality topic and describes some
experiences in educational settings; Section III presents the C-
Lab 4.0 project; Section IV illustrates the AR application to
support teaching of basic geometric solid figures and Section
V reports the comparative study carried out to investigate the
effectiveness, the perceived workload and the engagement of
students in using the application. Concluding remarks and
future directions are outlined in Section VI.
II. BACKGROUND
Augmented Reality (AR) [16] allows user to be completely
immerse inside a synthetic environment. It is an interactive
graphics system capable of overlapping information levels on
reality; it allows to alter a flow of video images, adding in
real-time information and artificial contents in addition to
reality. The main objective is to enrich sensory activities and
stimulate emotional factors in users in order to improve their
involvement in performing a task. Lara Jongedijk,
Researcher, Instructional Design at University of
Calgary states [17]: “Augmented reality (AR) is an
environment where a real life is enhanced by virtual elements
in real time. The purpose of AR is to enhance the information
we naturally receive through our five senses, by adding
superimposed, constructed virtual elements to bring
complementary information and meaning that may not be
possible by natural means.”
The term Augmented Reality (AR) was coined in the early
90's, but the first system able at increasing and improving
reality was created in 1962 by Morton Heiling [18], who
develops Sensorama, whose aims was to simulate a
motorcycle riding through New York. The machine was able
to stimulate the human senses, through hearing, smell,
vibration, and wind. Despite the excessive costs, from that
T. Roselli is with the Department of Computer Science, University of Bari
Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy (e-mail: teresa.roselli@uniba.it).
V. Rossano (corresponding author) is with the Department of Computer
Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy (e-mail:
veronica.rossano@uniba.it).
moment on, many ideas have been developed precursors of the
latest devices, such as eyeglasses, heads-up display, contact
lenses, and so on. From a software point of view, different
solutions have been implemented in several contexts, e.g.
visual art, architecture, commerce, and so on. The most
commonly used AR applications are those based on mobile
devices, which involve the use of smartphones or tablets, and
require hardware and software for geolocation (GPS) and
magnetism (compass), as well as the classic camera and a
connection for sending and receiving data.
AR based on mobile devices is widely used in learning because
it allows to combine the added value of the game within a
situated-learning [19] and enables learners to be involved in an
almost-real experience. Last but not least, applying AR in
learning settings using smartphones and tablets is not
expensive. EcoMOBILE project [20], for example, combines
the AR with situated learning, in order to acquire skills about
understanding and interpretation of water quality
measurements. Students using a mobile app were required to
navigate the pond environment and to observe virtual media
and information overlaid on the physical pond. They should
collect water quality measurements using the information
supplied in the system. The AR was used to support learning
of basic principles of electromagnetism [20]. The AR-lesson
in this study was compared with a web-based lesson to
measure both the effectiveness of the two approaches and the
student enjoyment. The lessons asked students to build an
electromagnetic circuit, which involved basic principles of
electromagnetism. The results confirmed that students using
the AR-based lesson had more positive moods following the
learning activities and performed significantly better than
those using the web-based lesson, confirming that AR helps to
make learning more effective. Construct3D is an AR
application to support mathematics and geometry education
[22]. The experiment pointed out that the use of AR can
enhance students understanding about the three-dimensional
geometry.
Following these experiences, the research conducted and
herein described aimed at designing and building an AR
application to support the acquisition of knowledge about
basic solid geometric figures and the spatial skills acquisition,
such as spatial perception, spatial visualization, mental
rotations, spatial relations and spatial orientation. This app was
designed and developed as a proof-of-concept, in order to
evaluate if the AR could be effective in learning contexts, and
then applied to Industry 4.0 in the project C-Lab 4.0.
III. C-LAB 4.0 PROJECT
The C-LAB 4.0 project aims to create a game-simulation
framework that is able to generate game-based learning tools
personalized to the specific business and role of users by using
recommended techniques [23]. The final objective of the
game will be the acquisition and the enhancement of skills
related to Industry 4.0.
The software to be developed will be able to exploit the
knowledge of the company's production processes, to
generate simulations of real cases within a serious training
game. The game will be customized in accordance with the
company's identified themes and specific professional figures
in training. In other words, the framework will be able to
manage business data and open data sector, to simulate game
scenarios to train employees in Industry 4.0 themes. The C-
Lab 4.0 framework will provide the infrastructure and the
algorithms to extract data and generate simulations of
proposed cases.
Intended users of the framework will be workers of small
companies, which need to convert their business processes, as
well as workers who need to relocate and retrain, and school
students who will enter into job market in the short term. For
this reason, the project provides for a broad partnership that
includes both private companies and public authorities
involved in research for the application of the most innovative
methodologies in technology and science. In particular, the
TELL laboratory of the Department of Computer Science at
the University of Bari, which conducts research in the field of
Technology-Enhanced Learning, aims at designing and
implementing virtual technological environments, or
components, that support the learning/teaching process.
Within this project, the research lab is investigating whether
AR technology can be suitable for game scenarios. As a
proof-of-concept, a game using augmented reality for
geometry was created and evaluated with primary school
students.
IV. AR APPLICATION FOR BASIC SOLID FIGURES
The main objective of this research was to develop a first
prototype of an AR application for learning. This allowed us
both to gain experience with the technology and to measure
how effective it could be in terms of learning. In particular, the
developed application supports a traditional lesson on solid
geometry, using AR technology. The aim is to allow students
to study solids and see their three dimensions. This will help
them to understand the idea of solids earlier and more easily
than using the two-dimensional method usually adopted in the
textbooks. The added value of using AR in this area is the
possibility for students to observe the solid from different
perspectives. The application enables users to visualize the
solid by capturing a specific target image with the camera of
the mobile device. The solid figures included are: the cube, the
cone, the cylinder, the sphere, the parallelepiped, and the
pyramid (Figure 1).
 Figure 1. The menu to choose the solid figure: cube, cone, cylinder,
sphere, parallelepiped, and pyramid.
During the visualization of the solid pupil can interact with
the object using zoom in and zoom out functionalities, and to
pause the rotation to observe the solid accurately (Figure 2).
Figure 2. The functionalities available on each solid figure.
To enable pupils to fully understand the concepts about the
basic geometric solids, also some microlearning lessons are
supplied. The video-lessons last about 2 minutes each, they
show all the real objects which have the shape of selected solid
and its representation on two-dimensions (Figure 3).
Figure 3. The video-lesson in which the representation on two
dimensions of the cube is shown
V. THE COMPARATIVE STUDY
The main aim of this study was to evaluate the use of AR tools
in learning and teaching contexts. The objective is to measure
the effectiveness, the engagement and the perceived workload
of students during an AR-supported lesson compared to a
traditional one.
A. Participants and Design
The study involved 96 pupils (51 boys, 45 girls) of the 3rd
grade of primary school of city near Bari. All participants had
already acquired, in previous traditional teaching activities,
knowledge and skills related to geometric solids.
A within-subject design was performed, with the learning
method as an independent variable and two within-subject
factors, i.e., AR, Traditional. The participants were randomly
organized in 2 groups.
B. Procedure
Initially, all participants underwent a pre-test consisting of 10
questions/exercises. Participants had about 30 minutes to
answer the questions independently. The tests were
anonymous. At the end of the test, the participants attended a
lesson on geometric solids (cube, cone, cylinder, sphere,
pyramid, parallelepiped). A PowerPoint presentation was
used in this phase. The lesson was held by their teachers.
Subsequently, the actual experimental phase took place. The
pupils were divided into small groups (4 or 5 children). Each
group had the target image and a tablet with the installed
application. A leader was defined for each group, who
interacted with the tablet; the expected duration of use of the
application was about 30 minutes.
At the end of the interaction with the AR game application, a
comparison phase consisting of observations and
conceptualization took place.
A few days after the experimental phase, all participants were
given a post-test structured as the pre-test. Both the tests were
revised by the teacher, who assigned a total score from 0 to
10 (1 point for each correct answer). At the end of the post-
test, questionnaire containing 18 questions aiming at
measuring cognitive load and user engagement was
administered.
The last phase was focused on observations of the pupils and
discussions between them and the observer to obtain feedback
and useful suggestions to improve the application.
C. Data Collection
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through
(1) the notes taken by the observer on significant behaviours
or externalized comments of the participants during the study,
(2) the answers to the questionnaires the participants filled in
during the study.
The pre-test and post-test filled in by the participants at the
beginning and at the end of the study, respectively, were
composed of 10 questions.
The second questionnaire was consisted of two section. The
first section is related to the NASA-TLX questionnaire, used
to rate perceived workload in using a system. It is a 6-item
survey that investigates 6 subjective dimensions, i.e., mental
demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance,
effort and frustration [24]. The second section presented the
new UES (User Engagement Scale) short form, derived from
the UES long form. It is a 12-item survey used to measure the
user engagement, a quality of user experience characterized
by the depth of a user’s investment when interacting with a
digital system [25], which typically results in positive
outcomes [24]. This tool measures the user engagement by
summarizing an index that ranges from 0 to 5. It also provides
detailed information about four dimensions of the user
engagement, i.e., focused attention (FA), perceived usability
(PU), aesthetic appeal (AE) and reward (RW).
D. Analysis and results
Before carrying out the T-Test for paired data and for
independent data related to the final application, the pre-tests
and post-tests administered to the pupils were analysed. Table
I shows the comparison of average scores obtained for each
exercise respectively in the pre-tests and in post-tests.
TABLE I. AVERAGE SCORES FOR EACH EXERCISE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST
Average scores Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3 Ex. 4 Ex. 5 Ex. 6 Ex. 7 Ex. 8 Ex. 9 Ex. 10
Pre-Test 0.96 0.70 0.67 0.98 0.91 1.00 1.00 0.67 0.56 0.81
Post-Test 0.97 0.93 0.92 1.00 0.96 0.99 0.99 0.82 0.88 0.96
From the results of these first descriptive analyses, the
average post-test score for each exercise is overall higher than
the average score obtained during the pre-test.
The T-Test was applied to the difference between the
averages. The alternative hypothesis H1 from the right
unilateral test will be accepted if the difference is >0. This
means that the use of the application is effective in this
learning setting.
• H0: μy-μx=0; no difference between the average
scores
• H1: μy-μx>0; there is a difference between the
average scores.
The α value was fixed at 0.01. Since T0>tα (11.9315>2.3662),
the null hypothesis H0 could be rejected, whereas the
alternative hypothesis H1 could be accepted. A statistically
significant difference emerged. Indeed, a difference between
the pre-test and post-test average exists, confirming that the
use of AR in this learning settings is effective in terms of
student learning gain.
Data related to the workload were evaluated. The arithmetic
mean of each question was calculated for all 96 participants.
The average scores for each of the 6 questions were used. The
answers are given on a 10-points Likert scale.
10
8 experiments and their teachers. This work was partially
6 supported by the “C-Lab 4.0 project” funded by Apulia
4 1.4.B - Bando INNOLABS.
2
0
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
Figure 4. The average scores of the students’ workload
Figure 4 shows that the value of question D4 is high. The
question was "How are you satisfied of your performance in
using the application?". This is a question to measure the self-
assessment of user’s ability in using the system. In this case,
a high value means that participants feel comfortable in using
the system and they were very satisfied of their performance.
For what concerning the user engagement, the items through
a 5-points Likert scale measure: focused attention (FA),
perceived usability (PU), aesthetic appeal (AE) and reward
(RW). Figure 5 shows the average scores registered for each
dimension, all of them obtained a positive score.
5
4
3
2
1
0
FA PU AE RW
Figure 5. User Engagement evaluation
VI. CONCLUSIONS
The application of AR technology is spreading in different
contexts, in some cases it is very useful since it allows users
to immerse themselves in a virtual world that simulates the
real one. In learning contexts, in particular AR allows learners
to be actively involved in the learning process making it more
engaging and motivating. In training contexts, tasks can be
performed in the same way as would happen in the real world.
In addition, trainees can practice activities improving their
abilities, and can make choices which have no consequences
in the real world. Thus, the AR could be effective to support
education in Industry 4.0. In the context of the C-Lab 4.0
project, the research has designed and developed an AR
application support teaching of geometry in a primary school.
The comparative study pointed out that AR is effective in
terms of both learning and student engagement. In addition,
the perceived workload is low, which means that users feel
comfortable using it. These positive findings encourage us to
apply the AR technology also in the context of C-Lab 4.0.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank all the young participants to the
Region - POR Puglia FESR FSE 2014-2020 - Sub-Azione
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