These are precisely the questions being addressed by the AIT Center for Technology Experience. In line with Industry 5.0 (digital, human-centered, sustainable), industrial automation is no longer focused solely on efficiency gains; resilience, transparency and the consistent human-centered design of technological systems also play a major role.
Closing the Interface Gap
Under the guiding principle of “Closing the Interface Gap”, the AIT Center for Technology Experience is researching what the optimal interaction between humans and machines should look like in the future. A success story: CRANEium, a comprehensive system for the remote control, monitoring and supervision of industrial crane systems, was developed in close cooperation with Industrie-Logistik-Linz. CRANEium is currently being complemented by CRANEtrain: a simulation-based qualification and training system that prepares crane operators for their work without interrupting ongoing operations.
“The future of industrial automation does not lie in removing humans from the system. It lies in redefining their role within the loop. We research and develop human-machine interfaces that transform machine performance, AI and human input into industrial added value,” says Markus Murtinger, Deputy Head of the AIT Center for Technology Experience.
Find out more in the new ‘Automation’ guide from New Business, which was published recently: https://www.newbusiness.at/magazin/new-business-guides/automation-guide-2026 (in German)
The report is available online here under the title ‘A New Role’: https://www.newbusiness.at/magazin/new-business-guides/automation-guide-2026/eine-neue-rolle (In German)
