###### Abstract  
Training in virtual reality (VR) is a valuable supplementing tool for advancing knowledge transfer that results in increased efficiency and accuracy of technicians in fieldwork. However, COVID-19 pandemic restrictions made it impossible for VR training centers to operate on a full scale, forcing traditional face-to-face learning sessions to become remote. In this article, we investigate the asymmetric use of a VR training solution--among devices with different levels of immersion and control--to enrich the content of remote training sessions. The VR in this case can be seen as a source of visual and other contextual information to advance the effects of situated learning and enhance knowledge transfer. To evaluate this approach, we conducted a remote user study with ten industrial maintenance and installation experts. We also introduce the \"Research Panel\" tool to gather reactions of learners during the remote training session. The expert user study results demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of asymmetric VR to improve remote training sessions and other application industrial scenarios, while the \"Research Panel\" data provided detailed insight into the session flow. Building on the qualitative findings, we present design guidelines to aid the adoption of asymmetric VR in the industrial context. virtual reality; VR; asymmetric VR; training; remote training; industrial maintenance; installation; fieldwork training; knowledge transfer Article  
An achemic  
One of the greatest examples of how XR technologies can be applied in industrial settings is to facilitate training. The benefits of performing industrial training in VR have been explicitly demonstrated by the extensive body of research on the topic [6; 7; 8]; it positively affects the effectiveness and accuracy of maintenance technicians while minimizing error rates. Further, it advances the transfer of knowledge and skills by improving situated learning and spatial understanding [9; 10], since training happens in a simulated but still realistic context, which would help technicians to become familiar with their work environment without physically attending it. Even though training in VR would prepare technicians for fieldwork, it still should be reviewed as a supplementing way of training rather than replacing [11]. With the recent restrictions on the social gathering, forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, many industrial processes were forced to become remote. Among others, training and learning activities of industrial maintenance technicians, which were usually arranged as physical gatherings in training centers equipped with simulators, test elevators, and VR equipment, during the pandemic were arranged remotely via Microsoft Teams, while the access to training centers was physically restricted around the globe. This rapid jump towards remote ways of living and working caused a critical change in educational activities of industrial maintenance and assembly trainees with a possible reduction of educational effects. To minimize the negative effects of forced remote learning, the existing practices should be reconsidered and adapted to the current world conditions, using the flexibility of XR technology. Despite the fact VR cannot yet be accessed in an immersive way by every trainee (considering the low spread of technology and its relatively high price), VR-based educational content can still be utilized for learning purposes to advance remote learning sessions and positively influence situated learning. This can be facilitated by applying asymmetry to VR usage--meaning making virtual environments accessible via diverse technologies with different immersion and control levels. _Asymmetric VR_, which originated from studies on telepresence [12], evolved into a body of research, exploring the asymmetry of experiences between various groups of users, accessing virtual environments via different end devices [13; 14; 15].