It's essentially a software-based virtual workforce that frees up human employees to focus on less tedious tasks that only humans do well. One article described RPA as "analogous to those giant, yellow-armed robots deployed on factory floors in that it changes the calculus of outsourcing/hiring decisions by automating labor-intensive tasks." In terms of specific business benefits, RPA runs the gamut from customer service and processing to fraud detection, auditing, compliance, and more. It is also used to automate and increase reporting accuracy, which involves sifting through a large amount of detail and data and is a key part of the compliance process. Robots are rapidly taking over finance in a variety of ways that are saving industry millions and automating time-consuming tasks.

A multilingual (English/Spanish) immersive learning environment is being created by an assistant professor at the University of Texas using virtual reality technology to help students better grasp the topic of additive manufacturing. The project, titled "Enhancing Active Learning in Additive Manufacturing Using a Bilingual, Assisted Virtual-Reality Platform," will be under the direction of Shuchisnigdha Deb, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering (IMSE). The research is being supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation worth $837,000. Emma Yang and Amanda Olsen, two other ISME faculty members from the College of Education's Department of Curriculum and Instruction, are also on the team. Deb asserted that teaching kids about additive manufacturing is crucial for the advancement of robots, augmented reality, and other technologies.