ABSTRACT
The rapid growth of extended reality (XR) in military, academic, industrial, and many other settings is likely due to continued advances in simulation technology. However, the operational utility of these technologies is an increasingly important and controversial topic in Human Factors research. The present study focused on systematically evaluating trends in XR research published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's Annual Meeting from 2005 to 2020. From an initial population of 1012 articles, we manually identified 530 unique articles in this timeframe using keywords relevant to XR. Results were tabulated, analyzed, and graphed based on study design, simulation domain and cluster area, military cluster area, authorial affiliation, funding agency, country of research, XR system type and breakdown, as well as physiological measures. Our analyses indicated that research has been transitioning through phases of growth, both within and between wearable and desktop simulators. This is consistent with the notion that technological advances are only as good as their practical value. We review the current literature, point out outstanding gaps, and recommend future directions for research and critical issues related to future XR simulation contexts.
