What is cognitive load?

"Cognitive load" is a term in psychology that refers to the amount of information that working memory can hold at one time.

Let's say a new starter in a manufacturing plant is undergoing crucial health and safety training. The goal is that they'll store the information they're presented with, as much as possible, in their long-term memory. But for this to happen, it has to be absorbed and processed by working memory.

Cognitive load is the strain put on this processing power. A simple example would be our new starter being distracted by push notifications on their phone as they're watching a presentation. Their working memory is being overwhelmed by irrelevant information, lessening their chances of storing the essentials in their long-term memory. In a practical setting, this cognitive overload could interfere with the completion of a task or lead to an error.

But cognitive load refers to more than just distraction, and it doesn't apply only to learning. It's involved in every mental task, big and small.

Let's say you're working in a factory and are making a repair. Reading the instructions from a manual and then acting on them creates more of a cognitive load than receiving the instructions aurally. In the second case, your brain isn't having to translate the letters into words, and words into meanings. Both approaches create a cognitive load but to a lesser or greater degree.

What's this got to do with XR technology?

Increasingly, XR technologies are being deployed in industrial settings to help frontline workers. Headsets and glasses can provide staff with hands-free, instant access to relevant documentation, video conferencing apps, and more. But they also have the potential to lighten cognitive load and make informational processing swifter and easier.

Augmented reality has this capacity because it prioritises our most valuable information gatherer – our eyes. It's through our vision that we receive around 80-90% of information. By prioritising the visual world, AR can improve our processing power.

Let's go back to our factory repair. If the employee is wearing a headset or smart glasses, the repair procedure can be displayed on a floating screen in front of their eyes, with relevant images superimposed on the item being repaired.

This reduces cognitive load in two ways. First, it makes the instructions as visual as possible, reducing the mental strain of simultaneously reading, interpreting, and acting. Secondly, it leaves the employee's hands free to focus on the task.

In short, "AR eliminates dependence on out-of-context and hard-to-process 2-D information on pages and screens while greatly improving our ability to understand and apply information in the real world" (Harvard Business Review).

Uses for training

Let's return once more to our new starter in the manufacturing plant. What's the best way for them to absorb health and safety information with the lightest cognitive load?

Traditionally, they would be asked to consult paper documentation. This has its obvious drawbacks – it's slow, cumbersome, and insecure. But it also puts a heavy load on working memory as trainees attempt to absorb words, texts, and figures and then apply them to hypothetical real-life situations – situations in which they and their co-workers could be put at risk.

Smartphones and tablets could help here, as they allow the trainee to study this information in context. But the factory floor isn't the best place for portable tech, where it can reduce situational awareness.

This is where XR comes in. Smart glasses can direct their wearer to on-site locations overlaid with text, images, or video. The relevant health and safety information is superimposed on the real world, lightening cognitive load and freeing up brain power needed to store this potentially life-saving information in the long-term memory.

Moreover, these products often provide hands-free videoconferencing, meaning that a trainee can receive feedback in real-time from a trainer.

Deeper immersion

Smart glasses and AR headsets overlay digital objects on your real-world surroundings. But XR technologies are capable of providing deeper immersion in the form of VR (virtual reality).

If your job involves potentially dangerous scenarios – on an oil rig, for example, or in an operating theatre – VR lets you simulate them in a risk-free environment. A study by PwC shows that "V-learners completed training four times faster than classroom training".

In the healthcare sector, V-learning has the potential to reduce human error by allowing surgeons to virtually perform procedures again and again until proficient. Again, this practice takes place in an immersive, risk-free environment – and it replicates the stress and excitement of real life in a way that surgical dummies can't.

Equally valuable advances have been made with assisted reality (aR) glasses. If a paramedic is at the scene of a car crash, they're able to stream high-quality PoV video to a specialist in an instant. The doctor on the other end of the line can see what the paramedic sees and offer expert guidance.

Whether you're a new starter in a factory undergoing health and safety training, or a surgeon simulating hip replacement surgery, XR technologies provide learning opportunities with reduced cognitive load.

Product design and development

As a final example, let's say you're in a product development team. Augmented reality devices can generate 3D models so that they appear to be in the room with you.

In the context of product design and development, this has the edge over 2D diagrams. Why? Because straining to mentally transpose 2D images into a 3D object creates an unnecessarily heavy cognitive load. Moreover, how do you know that everyone is "seeing" the same thing?

Instead, your team can don AR or VR headsets and look together at a detailed 3D image that can be rotated and handled – and, because of its virtual nature, viewed by anyone, anywhere who is wearing compatible tech.

XR technologies are transforming enterprise. Want to boost safety and productivity in your business? Browse our XR store to see smart glasses and mixed reality headsets from leading brands.