Indoor Navigation Systems with Extended Reality: A Comparison of Different Approaches

Despite the significant surge in innovation and the ongoing trend of increasing automation levels in manufacturing and logistics brought along by Industry 4.0, companies continue to heavily depend on human labor to meet market demands for product customization and reduced time-to-market. Consequently, there is a pressing need for companies to enhance workforce skills within a shorter timeframe, leading to an increased demand for new training methodologies aimed at accelerating knowledge acquisition at a high-quality level. As the Industry 5.0 paradigm emerges, there is a renewed emphasis on human-centricity, encouraging collaboration between humans and machines to address new challenges in industrial environments. Extended Reality (XR) technologies offer a promising solution to bridge the gap between operators’ needs and industrial requirements, enabling operators in navigating complex indoor spaces efficiently and safely, optimizing operational workflows and enhancing overall productivity. This research explores the application of XR technologies in indoor navigation, a crucial aspect of modern industrial environments. Two distinct approaches are introduced and compared: AR-Tablet-based and MR-HoloLens-based. Through a real industrial case study focused on indoor navigation in a spare part warehouse, technical insights are gathered to inform effective implementation strategies in logistics settings.