Application of Augmented Reality for Distance Learning to Teach Manufacturing Engineering during COVID-19 Social Distancing

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a shift in all our lives, turning in-class traditional educational systems into distance learning systems. Since distance learning is inevitable nowadays, the hands-on experience from in-class, particularly in practical sessions, is lacking. While there is a wide range of tools and technologies to enrich the student learning experience, the application of Augmented Reality (AR) is remarkable. This paper proposes a mobile app assisted with AR technology aimed to support the engineering faculty students to enhance their knowledge regarding the lathe machine and lathe operations during this pandemic period. The application consists of the augmented content of the separate parts of the lathe machine, exploded view and augmented animated content of the operations. The objective of this AR app is to guide the students regarding machineries and operations, and to introduce AR technologies to the local universities as a step of enhancing digital education. The adaptability of the AR app was experienced and verified by 72 students and the responses and feedback revealed their interest towards this educational approach. Conclusively, this study shows the effectiveness and importance of AR application specially for Manufacturing Engineering field during this distance learning period.