AR Work Instructions vs Wearable Capture: What Each One Does

Augmented reality work instructions and wearable capture both put technology on or near the person doing the work, and both get sold as answers to the same problem: experienced people leave, and the next person has to do the job right. They move knowledge in opposite directions.

AR work instructions deliver. Someone writes the standard, attaches 3D models and media, aligns it to the machine, and the operator sees each step where the work happens. Wearable capture records. An experienced worker wears a camera or sensor through a real job, and the recording keeps what they did, in what order, and what they said about why.

So the choice is rarely one or the other. It depends on whether your gap is people not following a known standard, or a standard nobody has been able to write down. This guide covers both, with the costs vendors mention less often: authoring, CAD dependency, and hardware and platform lifecycles.

AR work instructions vs wearable capture at a glance

The rows describe the typical case. Some products do a little of both, and the boundary is covered below.

What are augmented reality work instructions?

PTC, whose Vuforia page ranks near the top for the term, defines augmented reality work instructions as critical information and guidance presented in a visual, interactive way, displayed on the physical products in the real environment. The operator sees the next step on the machine rather than on a page beside it.

The content comes from three places: step-by-step 3D animated sequences built from engineering models, video and images captured by an expert, and live annotations from a remote expert. Whatever the source, it reaches the worker through one of three delivery routes.

Headsets

Mixed reality headsets such as HoloLens 2 place holograms in the room and leave both hands free. Dynamics 365 Guides works this way: authors create guides in a Windows PC app and operators run them on HoloLens. PTC also lists RealWear Navigator headsets as eyewear for its Vantage viewer.

Phones and tablets

The camera view of a phone or tablet can carry the same overlay. PTC's Vantage viewer runs on iOS, iPadOS and Android devices as well as eyewear. Tablets are easy to buy and manage, but somebody has to hold or mount them, which is awkward for two-handed work.

Projection at the workstation

Projected AR skips the wearable entirely. LightGuide says it projects step-by-step work instructions directly onto the physical work surface and uses 3D sensors and cameras to confirm each manual task. This suits fixed stations with repeatable geometry, such as an assembly bench, more than a technician walking a plant.

How AR work instructions are built: authoring, CAD and anchors

An overlay is only useful if it lines up with the real object, and that is where most of the build effort goes.

• Authoring: In Dynamics 365 Guides, Microsoft describes two apps: a PC app to create the guide, choose an anchoring method, write the steps and assign 3D objects, images and videos, then the HoloLens app in Author mode to place holograms in the real world and test the flow.
• Anchors: Guides uses a single anchor per guide. Microsoft lists four types: object anchors, QR code anchors, circular code anchors, and holographic anchors aligned to a CAD model or a scanned model. It warns that misaligned holograms can show actions at incorrect locations and cause operator confusion or damage to parts.
• Model targets: In Vuforia, model targets let 3D content overlay the real object once the user matches an outline to it on a phone, tablet or HoloLens. PTC recommends the physical object have the same shape and size as the 3D CAD model.
• CAD for checks: PTC says recognition of the physical object for Step Check requires CAD data and information about what will be checked.

Not every AR instruction needs this. PTC notes that procedures captured with Vuforia Capture need no CAD data or coding, and flat steps with images and video can be delivered on the same devices. The spatial overlay and automated check are the parts that depend on models.

Where AR work instructions shine

AR is strongest when the right answer is known, can be modelled, and has to be executed exactly.

• Assembly with many variants: When the correct part and position change by order, an overlay removes the lookup and shows the location directly.
• Spatially confusing tasks: Cable routing, fastener sequences and hidden components are easier to follow in place than from a drawing.
• Rare service procedures: A task done once a year is forgotten between occurrences; guidance at the machine replaces memory.
• Error-proofing at a fixed station: Projection with sensor confirmation can stop a missed step before the part moves on.
• Products with good CAD: If engineering already maintains accurate models, the cost of alignment falls sharply.

What AR work instructions cost beyond the license

Authoring and upkeep

Every guide is written, aligned, tested and approved by someone. Every engineering change, tooling change or new variant is a revision. That is the same maintenance burden as any work instruction, with 3D content and alignment added. Budget author time per procedure and per change, not just at launch.

CAD dependency

Model-based overlays and checks need accurate 3D files. PTC's own setup guidance says those files usually come from engineering, the equipment manufacturer, or technical publications. For in-house product that is manageable. For a mixed fleet of older equipment, the models may not exist or may not match what is installed.

Hardware lifecycle

Headsets have a shorter life than the procedures they carry. Microsoft states in its HoloLens release notes that HoloLens devices have not been manufactured since December 2024, that the November 2024 update was the final feature release for HoloLens 2, and that monthly security servicing updates continue through December 2027. Programs built on HoloLens 2 need a device plan before then. Platforms that also run on phones, tablets and RealWear headsets give more room to move.

Platform lifecycle

Software can go first. Microsoft has announced that Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist reach end of support on December 31, 2026. After that date the apps will no longer be functional, with no security updates, bug fixes or technical support, although data is retained in the Dataverse environment. Microsoft advises customers to identify the users and scenarios that rely on Guides, plan the move, and export data from the Guides PC app. If that is your situation, see our Dynamics 365 Guides alternative page.

What is wearable capture?

Wearable capture records real work from the worker's own perspective: what they looked at, what their hands did, and what they said while doing it. The recording is made during the job, not staged afterwards for a camera. Its purpose is to keep the method and the reasoning of experienced people, including the parts nobody thought to write down.

Products differ mainly in where the device sits and what happens to the recording.

• Headset capture that feeds authoring: PTC's Vuforia Capture runs on HoloLens 2, Trimble XR10 and RealWear Navigator 500 and 520. The expert records hands-free, first-person, step-by-step video and images, and the capture is then reworked into a published procedure in Vuforia Editor. Here capture is the first stage of making an instruction. See our Vuforia Expert Capture alternative page.
• Smart-glasses capture: Myto says its AI glasses record physical-world expertise as it happens, with operators working as usual and no extra steps, and that the knowledge is structured into SOPs and troubleshooting flows. See our Myto alternative page.
• Chest-mounted capture: Bob is a chest-mounted device an experienced worker wears through a real job. It records first-person video, audio narration, and spatial data (location and orientation) while they talk through what they are doing and why. More on Bob below.

How they differ: deliver the standard or capture the judgement

The clearest way to separate them is to ask where the knowledge starts.

AR work instructions start with someone who already knows the correct answer and can express it as steps, models and acceptance criteria. The technology gets that answer in front of the operator with less room for error. Its ceiling is the author: an overlay can only show what someone knew, modelled and wrote.

Wearable capture starts with the person whose knowledge has never been fully written down. The millwright who listens to a gearbox before opening it. The wind turbine technician who knows which fault code on this model usually means a loose connector. The quality inspector who can tell when a marginal part is a gauge problem rather than a part problem. None of that starts as a CAD model, and much of it only surfaces when the real job presents the real condition.

Put simply: a procedure records what should be done. It has never recorded why. AR makes the procedure easier to follow. Capture keeps the why. If you are still separating procedures from task-level instructions, start with work instructions vs SOPs.

Where wearable capture falls short

Capture is not a replacement for delivered instructions, and it is worth being plain about the gaps.

• A recording is not a controlled standard: Quality systems need approved, versioned steps. A recording is source material and evidence, not the document an auditor signs off.
• No guidance in the moment: A novice doing a task for the first time needs step-by-step direction at the machine. Capture does not overlay anything on the equipment.
• No automated check: Capture does not confirm that a fastener is present or a connector is seated.
• People have to agree to it: Recording real work only works when the expert chooses to, narrates in their own words, and knows where the footage goes. Without that, the recordings are thin and the trust is gone.

Bob in particular does not do AR overlays, CAD-based inspection, instruction authoring, checklists or MES functions. Where you need those, an AR or digital work instruction platform is the stronger tool.

When to use AR work instructions, wearable capture, or both

Choose AR work instructions when

• The correct method is known, agreed and stable enough to model.
• Errors come from execution: wrong part, wrong position, missed step.
• You have accurate CAD, or the task can be anchored with codes at a fixed station.
• You have author capacity for the initial build and every change after it.

Choose wearable capture when

• The people who know the job best are few, and some are near the end of their careers or moving on.
• The hard part is diagnosis and judgement, not following steps.
• Work happens across a site, on older equipment, or in conditions no model covers.
• Nobody has the time to write the procedure, or every attempt has missed what matters.

Use both when

Most plants with a real knowledge gap end up here. Capture the experienced worker doing the job first, so the method and reasoning exist on record. Use that record to decide what the standard should be and write it. Deliver the standard through AR or digital work instructions to the people who need step-by-step guidance. When the method changes, record it again.

If you are replacing Dynamics 365 Guides before its end of support, this is also the moment to separate two inventories: the guides you have and can export, and the knowledge that never made it into a guide at all. The first is a migration. The second is a capture problem. For platforms on the delivery side, compare the best digital work instructions software and the best connected worker platforms.

Where Bob fits

Bob is on the capture side. It is a chest-mounted device an experienced worker wears through a real job. It records first-person video, audio narration, and spatial data (location and orientation) while they talk through what they are doing and why. Position ties what the expert said to the workstation or part of the facility where they said it.

There is no staged demonstration and no authoring step: no write-up, no author, no review cycle. Bob captures hands-on work. Expert workers opt in to wearing it. Recordings land in your own cloud tenancy, and a version with a volumetric spatial sensor in place of a camera is available. Captured knowledge can be run and governed by synthetic workers on Swarm.

Bob does not replace your AR or digital work instruction platform. It records the knowledge those instructions are written from. See how it works on Bob for Manufacturing and Bob for Energy.

References

All vendor pages accessed September 2026.

• PTC, Augmented Reality Work Instructions (Vuforia)
• PTC, Get Started with Devices: model targeting (Vuforia Expert Capture success path)
• PTC, Get Familiar with Vuforia Expert Capture
• PTC, Prepare to Edit Procedures (Vuforia Expert Capture success path)
• PTC, Vuforia Instruct and Step Check
• PTC Help Center, Vuforia Expert Capture supported devices
• Microsoft Learn, Authoring with the PC app and HoloLens app in Dynamics 365 Guides
• Microsoft Learn, Overview of anchoring your guide in the Dynamics 365 Guides PC app
• Microsoft Learn, Device, licensing, and other requirements for Dynamics 365 Guides
• Microsoft Lifecycle, Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist reaching end of support on December 31, 2026
• Microsoft Learn, HoloLens 2 release notes and end of life information
• LightGuide, projected AR work instructions
• Myto, AI glasses for factory knowledge capture

Related reading

• Work Instructions vs SOPs: What Is the Difference?
• PTC Vuforia Expert Capture Alternative
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides Alternative
• Bob and digital work instructions
• Bob for Manufacturing: manufacturing knowledge transfer
• All posts on the blog