Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, Industry 4.0 has brought rapid technological growth and development in manufacturing industries. Emerging concepts and technologies, such as human–robot collaboration (HRC), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), cyber-physical systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things (IoT), and nanotechnology, will constitute the future working environments.

Technological development enables efficient manufacturing processes, but also requires the reorganization of work, which may create new threats to employee well-being and challenge their existing skills and knowledge. Therefore, it is crucial to align the advanced technologies in manufacturing to human factors.

This Special Issue emphasizes the need for technology to be advanced in tandem with human involvement and empowerment. “Design for all” requirements need to be always applied as if everyone of us is disabled (having the meaning of “differently abled”); this Special Issue will host contributions that explore the new challenges in interactions between humans and 5.0 technologies.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Naddeo
Dr. Rosaria Califano

Guest Editors

MORE INFO: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/J32V666TGY