This study investigates the effect and permanency of a virtual reality (VR) based training method on complex assembly task performance and product quality. The correct assembly of a complex industrial product is crucial to reduce the production flaw in manufacturing. For this reason, a VR training set was developed for a hydraulically-controlled clutch complete set (HCCCS), consisting of 90 parts, to investigate the effectiveness and permanency of assembly training. A highly reliable measurement tool (KR-20 = 0.81) was developed to measure the participants’ assembly task performance for this study. Two different experimental designs were used to firmly control threats to internal validity, such as testing, subject characteristics, maturation, and regression. One hundred and twelve factory workers who had no VR and assembly experience were assigned to the randomized post-test-only control group design (n = 56) and the randomized pre-test/post-test control group design using matched subjects (n = 56). In addition, training permanency was investigated, and the HCCCS quality reports were monitored every month for 6 months. The study results revealed that the VR-based training method reduced the training time per individual by 25% and achieved a 27.9% improvement in complex industrial assembly task performance. The quality reports also showed that the HCCCS assembly flaw rate was reduced by 89% and maintained the permanency of the VR-based training in complex industrial maintenance and assembly (IMA) tasks.

本研究调查了基于虚拟现实 (VR) 的培训方法对复杂装配任务性能和产品质量的影响和持久性。复杂工业产品的正确组装对于减少制造中的生产缺陷至关重要。为此，为液压控制离合器成套装置 (HCCCS) 开发了一个 VR 训练集，由 90 个部件组成，以研究装配训练的有效性和持久性。开发了一种高度可靠的测量工具 (KR-20 = 0.81) 来测量参与者在本研究中的组装任务表现。两种不同的实验设计被用来牢牢控制对内部有效性的威胁，例如测试、主题特征、成熟度和回归。n  = 56) 和使用匹配受试者的随机前测/后测控制组设计 ( n  = 56)。此外，还调查了培训的持久性，并在 6 个月内每月监测 HCCCS 质量报告。研究结果表明，基于 VR 的训练方法将每个人的训练时间减少了 25%，并在复杂的工业装配任务性能上实现了 27.9% 的提升。质量报告还显示，HCCCS 装配缺陷率降低了 89%，并在复杂的工业维护和装配 (IMA) 任务中保持了基于 VR 的培训的永久性。