Bridging the gap: integrating AR and VR production line training to enhance furniture carpentry students’ understanding of production processes

Large-scale furniture production involves complex manufacturing processes and methods. However, Taiwanese schools face limitations in terms of space and equipment, restricting students from engaging in furniture prototype creation or small-batch production. As a result, students often struggle to grasp practical aspects of large-scale furniture production, leading to a partial understanding of manufacturing processes and methods. To bridge this gap, this study introduces Augmented Reality (AR) technology and miniaturized furniture production lines in a school's woodshop. AR can be used to guide students through miniaturized production stages, emphasizing semi-automated furniture production features. Additionally, Virtual Reality (VR) technology is combined to provide an immersive experience of real-world, large-scale furniture production, allowing students to understand processing scenarios and conditions in facilities of other countries. In an experiment involving 30 first-year students, an experimental group (15 participants) received mixed AR and VR instruction, while a control group (15 participants) received traditional teaching methods. Findings reveal that AR and VR integration enhanced students' comprehension of differences between the school workship and overseas large-scale furniture production facilities. This strategy improved their furniture production knowledge, and fostered adaptability to various production conditions and methods.