Enhancing building fire safety inspections with cognitive ergonomics-driven augmented reality: Impact of interaction modes

Building fire safety equipment (BFSE) management is increasingly complex and time-consuming. The objective of this paper is to develop augmented reality (AR)-enabled systems for BFSE based on cognitive ergonomics theory and explore the impacts of AR interaction modes on enhancing inspection performance. An experiment was conducted with 48 participants divided into three groups: control group with no AR assistance, visual-based AR group, and audiovisual-based AR group. Results indicate that the developed AR applications improve work efficiency, with the audiovisual-based system achieving the best task performance in BFSE inspections. The developed AR applications reduced cognitive load during inspections, although participants using the audiovisual-based AR system reported higher cognitive load regarding time pressure compared to the visual-based group. The findings contribute to developing efficient, user-friendly BFSE systems and understanding AR interaction modes, further validating the role of audiovisual-based AR interactions in improving facility management efficiency as well as building inspection and maintenance.