SPHERE (Service Platform to Host and sharE REsidential data) is a 4-year Horizon 2020 EU-funded project, carried out by 19 SMEs, RTOs and Large Enterprises across Europe. The platform aims to provide citizens, AEC stakeholders, as well as city administrations and urban developers, with an integrated ICT platform that will allow for a better assessment and development of the Design, Construction and Performance of residential buildings. SPHERE platform will facilitate improvements in the energy performance of buildings from the start of the construction process. In addition, it will also reduce time, costs, and the environmental impact of construction processes and improve the indoor environment due to a seamless integration of each meaning dimension and respective stakeholders within the platform.

Both the operational phase and embodied emissions that are introduced during the construction phase through the manufacture, sourcing, and installation of the building's materials and components are significant contributors to carbon emissions from the built environment. It is essential to change the current design and (re)construction processes in order to achieve the energy-saving targets for the EU building stock and move toward a society that is net carbon neutral. This change must be made from both a technical perspective as well as from a methodological perspective. To accomplish this, the EU has suggested several regulations and legislative steps to phase out inefficient structures. The most recent of these initiatives propose the idea of a Digital Building Logbook, which serves as a central repository for all pertinent building data, including information on energy efficiency. In this work, we present a survey of the elements that have been taken into consideration for the creation of the Digital Building Logbook to give an overview of what research has been done so far.

A lot of people have neuromuscular problems that affect their lives leading them to lose an important degree of autonomy in their daily activities. When their disabilities do not involve speech disorders, robotic wheelchairs with voice assistant technologies may provide appropriate human–robot interaction for them. Given the wide improvement and diffusion of Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, etc., such voice assistant technologies can be fully integrated and exploited in robotic wheelchairs to improve the quality of life of affected people. As such, in this paper, we propose an abstraction layer capable of providing appropriate human–robot interaction. It allows use of voice assistant tools that may trigger different kinds of applications for the interaction between the robot and the user. Furthermore, we propose a use case as a possible instance of the considered abstraction layer. Within the use case, we chose existing tools for each component of the proposed abstraction layer. For example, Google Assistant was employed as a voice assistant tool; its functions and APIs were leveraged for some of the applications we deployed. On top of the use case thus defined, we created several applications that we detail and discuss. The benefit of the resulting Human–Computer Interaction is therefore two-fold: on the one hand, the user may interact with any of the developed applications; on the other hand, the user can also rely on voice assistant tools to receive answers in the open domain when the statement of the user does not enable any of the applications of the robot. An evaluation of the presented instance was carried out using the Software Architecture Analysis Method, whereas the user experience was evaluated through ad-hoc questionnaires. Our proposed abstraction layer is general and can be instantiated on any robotic platform including robotic wheelchairs.

Industries such as construction and business companies are becoming increasingly digitized. The amount of data to be monitored and processed has increased significantly since the advent of the Internet of Things and the massive use of sensors. In addition to the data from these sensors, large amounts of data that require specific handling and processing are received. Much of this data is eventually represented in digital twins as a monitoring or decision-support tool. In this paper, we present an architecture to improve digital twin-based experiences that need to represent information from multiple sources. This architecture is demonstrated using the specific use case of a digital twin for an office of an Italian company. The implementation leverages the Matterport 3D media platform and integrates different technologies and sensors. An evaluation of the solution has also been carried out. The results show high user acceptance and the opening of multiple possibilities to enrich the virtual model with further data from different sources.

Pilot lines have become a key element in modern industry. The demands for resilience, human-centricity, and sustainability in Industry 5.0, combined with technological innovations, highlight the critical role of these lines in the new industrial paradigm. Pilot lines facilitate the validation of processes and the reduction in uncertainties, making them essential tools for future industries. This article examines the current state of pilot lines and evaluates their alignment with Industry 5.0 principles. As part of this analysis, the GAMHE 5.0 pilot line is presented as a line designed with a focus on automation and robotics, meeting the requirements of the industries of the future. This article also details a series of case studies conducted on the pilot line, demonstrating its flexibility and adaptability. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of small-scale lines are analyzed within the context of Industry 5.0, emphasizing their importance in balancing technology, human factors, and sustainability.