The emergence of the Industry 5.0 paradigm places human well-being and social sustainability at the core of industrial innovation, promoting workplaces where operators’ physical and mental conditions are prioritized alongside productivity and environmental responsibility. Building on the concept of the Healthy Operator, this project proposes a human-centric industrial ecosystem that integrates skilled operators into the monitoring and control loop of automated production processes. Achieving this vision requires an interdisciplinary approach to understand and measure human stress, needs, and behaviors; to adapt automation strategies that preserve well-being and prevent fatigue, injuries, or burnout; and to develop secure, interoperable cyber-physical environments that seamlessly connect human and machine intelligence.
From a technological standpoint, the project advances Digital Twin (DT) technology by introducing the Operator Digital Twin (ODT), a comprehensive digital representation of human operators incorporating biometric, physiological, and behavioral data. The ODT enables real-time awareness of operator conditions and supports dynamic, assistive decision-making. Moreover, the project explores the coordinated interaction of heterogeneous DTs—both machines and humans—to adjust machine parameters or reschedule tasks based on operator status.
The main outcomes include: (i) an interdisciplinary analysis of work-related stress and requirements for human-centered Industry 5.0 frameworks; (ii) a formal definition of the ODT model; (iii) a DT-driven ecosystem enabling intelligent orchestration between operators and machinery; and (iv) an experimental protocol to evaluate cognitive, emotional, and behavioral impacts of human-in-the-loop industrial applications.