Why it Matters:
- Industry 4.0 technologies—in particular, wearable technologies like assisted reality devices, smart gloves and smart shoes—can augment human workers' learning, communications and other capabilities.
- These technologies can enable front-line workers to more efficiently, precisely and safely complete complex, high-value industrial tasks.
Today, industrial companies around the world find themselves trying to adjust to the fourth wave of industrialization—Industry 4.0. This new wave of industrialization finds companies integrating information technology (IT), operation technology (OT), robotics, 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and machine-learning/AI technologies in ways that interconnect our physical, digital and even biological worlds.
The new Industry 4.0 technologies that have typically received the most notice are those that automate simple or dangerous tasks that human workers previously performed.
