Wearable and head-mounted displays of various types have been prototyped and tested by the military for many years. Devices range from large, heavy, full-immersion, head-mounted virtual reality displays used for specialist training, to lightweight, see-through devices used for augmented reality applications. This technology is now finally becoming a commercial reality also in consumer markets. Devices like Google Glass would offer significant opportunities to simplify common control room tasks, like continually monitoring alarm annunciators while performing other tasks, or having computer-based procedures available with a simple voice command.

Virtual reality has a long history in visualisation of, and interacting with, 3-D environments. This is not only a powerful technology for visualising and verifying designs long before they are built, but when combined with wearable devices like augmented reality headsets that superimpose virtual objects and information on the user’s view of the real world, they enable operators to perform tasks without the need for printed documentation or other support. In this way, information about the user’s surrounding real world also becomes interactive and digitally manipulable. This technology is already being used in some industries to support maintenance and assembly tasks.