Empowering the shop floor with Industrial AI
Humans and computers working hand in hand to complete tasks and solve problems has, for decades, seemed like little more than science fiction and even up to a few years ago, was little more than that. Yet as the rapid rise of AI combines with ongoing digitalization efforts in industry along with continuing development of smart, wearable technology, today that goal seems less a dream and more a reality.
In a recent podcast, host Conor Peick was joined by Theo Papadopoulos, senior consultant and head of the Metaverse Lab at Siemens to explore how far the idea of the Industrial Metaverse has come, why it’s able to bring real benefits today, and what that means for the future of human machine interaction.
Check out the full episode here or keep reading for a summary of the highlights of that conversation.
Why now for the Industrial Metaverse
With the increasing availability of compute power since the start of the 21st century, the idea of the Industrial Metaverse has captured the minds of many with its promise of uniting physical and digital worlds along with siloed digital domains and all the benefits that come with that. However, even reaching a fraction of that potential has proven difficult and, today, the Industrial Metaverse is still very much a work in progress.
Theo starts by answer the question of, why now? Specifically in relation to the adoption of smart glasses technology on the factory floor. This use case offers real benefits to workers – the ability to gain insight and support hands-free by simple looking at something and asking a question. As to the reason of why now, Theo offers a twofold answer. Firstly, XR, or mixed reality, glasses are now capable of offering both all-day comfort and battery life for convenient long-term use and secondly, the increasing abilities of AI to bridge the gap between human and machine communications.
Smarter glasses, smarter workers
While the Industrial Metaverse has a lot of potential to empower users, a basic limitation to overcome is how to bring that power to the end user, for factory workers especially, tools like smart glasses make a lot of sense yet as Theo points out, have three core problems which must be overcome: AI, hardware and connectivity. It was only recently that all three have reached a point where real, practical applications of this technology are possible.
AI is a key element in natural language processing, or NLP, as well as vision recognition from cameras that allow for seamless hands-free communication through the smart glasses without any special training. Hardware must be both comfortable to ware and have sufficient battery life to last a full shift and wireless communication must be both fast and stable enough to handle streaming all the required data back and forth. Thanks to improved battery technology and the advent of 5G in the factory, now truly is the time for connected technology like this to shine.
Connection is only half the equation though, without the right back end to support it, this technology lacks purpose. This is where copilots come into play. Through the lens of mixed reality, copilots can offer greatly enhanced functionality. Copilots already have the ability speed up and assist human users in many tasks but, it can be hard to describe problems with text or voice alone and when receiving answers, it can be inconvenient to have to check a phone or tablet.
By merging the convenience of smart glasses with the power of copilots, it becomes possible for a user to simply look at a problem, ask for a solution and receive it all without having to lift a finger. By having answers provided through an AI copilot, it is also possible to tailor them to the user, rather than having set instructions from a manual, where the AI is capable of providing as much or as little assistance as quickly or as slowly as any given user requires, allowing users of every skill level to benefit from AI-enhanced assistance.
Bringing cutting edge technology into real use cases is something that must always be approached with due diligence but, with proper care, the results speak for themselves. While smart glasses are only a glimpse of what a fully connected Industrial Metaverse has to offer, they represent a strong first step with real value today, offering users – through technology – a new approach to traditional problems.
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens’ software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today’s ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
