Virtual Reality Application for the Safety Improvement of Intralogistics Systems

Immersive technologies from the spectrum of Industry 4.0, such as Virtual Reality (VR), are increasingly used in research and safety analysis in industrial and intralogistics systems, including distribution warehouses and production plants. Safety in intralogistics systems is influenced by design and management processes, human behavior, and device performance. In all these areas, VR can serve as a supportive technology for visualization, testing, and employee training. However, this requires the development of principles for integrating VR into standard procedures for the design, modernization, and analysis of intralogistics and production systems. This article discusses the use of VR to analyze the occupational and functional safety of intralogistics systems. It reviews the literature and VR implementations aimed at examining and improving safety in industrial systems. The article explores the integration of VR into the design and analysis procedures for intralogistics and production systems. The authors present a five-dimensional decision space for assessing the use of VR, including identifying subjects of safety analysis, threats and hazards specific to intralogistics, countermeasures for these threats, factors affecting safety, and mechanisms by which VR can improve safety in intralogistics systems. As a subsequent step, the authors discuss using universal simulation environments that support VR technology to study and enhance safety in intralogistics systems, providing a framework example based on the FlexSim (2023 update 2) environment. Finally, this article addresses the threats and limitations of VR technology, along with the challenges and future prospects of VR in the context of Industry 4.0. The article concludes that VR can be an essential tool for increasing safety in the future, albeit with some reservations about certain features of this technology.