Industrial Virtual Assistants: Challenges and Opportunities

Important goals of the process-industry are efficient, safe and resource-saving production. High expectations have been formulated concerning the linkage of automation technologies, digitization and data-driven analytics methods like machine learning. This paper investigates the adaptation challenges of the process industry when it comes to the introduction of digital services in the plant. Specifically, we discuss the potential of virtual assistant systems to address these challenges. We discuss virtual assistant systems in their role as 1) support directly embedded into the work process and 2) integration point for new services. Based on this, we outline a research agenda for virtual assistant systems for the process industry.