Mixed Reality for Safe Operations: Connecting MR Devices to Process Automation and Documentation
- The industrial sector faces challenges in ensuring safety and efficiency of operation and maintenance tasks (OMT). These tasks involve manual interventions such as equipment inspections or sample extractions. OMT require workers to communicate with control rooms and follow strict operational protocols while managing physical and cognitive loads. Common challenges include safety risks, the difficulty of using safety gear, limited accessibility to information, inefficient communication, and high (human) error rates.
While chemical plants traditionally rely on paper-based workflows to tackle the mentioned challenges, we present an approach that leverages digital checklists to model workflows, integrating them with industrial documentation and process automation systems. We combine these elements into contextualized workflows that are deployed in a Mixed Reality (MR) application allowing to support personnel with hands-free execution, real-time verification, and an MR-based human-machineThe industrial sector faces challenges in ensuring safety and efficiency of operation and maintenance tasks (OMT). These tasks involve manual interventions such as equipment inspections or sample extractions. OMT require workers to communicate with control rooms and follow strict operational protocols while managing physical and cognitive loads. Common challenges include safety risks, the difficulty of using safety gear, limited accessibility to information, inefficient communication, and high (human) error rates.
While chemical plants traditionally rely on paper-based workflows to tackle the mentioned challenges, we present an approach that leverages digital checklists to model workflows, integrating them with industrial documentation and process automation systems. We combine these elements into contextualized workflows that are deployed in a Mixed Reality (MR) application allowing to support personnel with hands-free execution, real-time verification, and an MR-based human-machine interface (HMI). This integration enhances safety through automated system checks and MR-guided validation while reducing the cognitive load on personnel. We present an MR prototype based on a vacuum distillation sampling procedure that grants access to documentation, interfaces with process control systems, and manages workflows dynamically. Compared to conventional industrial checklists, our approach reduces errors by combining gamification, IT-based validation, and immersive task visualization while enabling hands-free task execution.
As future work, we envision a generalized framework for rapidly incorporating new tasks, enhancing adaptability in industrial environments. This research paves the way for standardized MR solutions in chemical plant operations, ultimately improving efficiency, safety, and workforce engagement.…


| Autor*innen: | Hernán Darío Muñoz GilORCiD |
|---|---|
| Koautor*innen: | Erik EscheORCiD, Wolfgang Welscher, Philip Parker, Steffi Knorn, Jens-Uwe Repke |
| Dokumenttyp: | Vortrag |
| Veröffentlichungsform: | Präsentation |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2025 |
| Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 2 Prozess- und Anlagensicherheit |
| 2 Prozess- und Anlagensicherheit / 2.2 Prozesssimulation | |
| DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Chemische Verfahrenstechnik / Chemische Verfahrenstechnik |
| Freie Schlagwörter: | Digital workflows; Mixed Reality; Operation & Maintenance; Process control system; Safety |
| Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Chemie und Prozesstechnik |
| Chemie und Prozesstechnik / Anlagensicherheit und Prozesssimulation | |
| Veranstaltung: | Process Engineering and Materials Technology (PEMT) |
| Veranstaltungsort: | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Beginndatum der Veranstaltung: | 10.11.2025 |
| Enddatum der Veranstaltung: | 11.11.2025 |
| Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
| Datum der Freischaltung: | 17.12.2025 |
| Referierte Publikation: | Nein |
| Eingeladener Vortrag (wissenschaftliche Konferenzen): | Nein |

