  Citation: Trappey, A.J.C.; Trappey, C.V.; Chao, M.-H.; Hong, N.-J.; Wu, C.-T. A VR-Enabled Chatbot Supporting Design and Manufacturing of Large and Complex Power Transformers. Electronics 2022, 11, 87. https://doi.org/10.3390/ electronics11010087 Academic Editors: Răzvan Gabriel Boboc, Radu Godina, Albert Smalcerz and Dimitris Mourtzis Received: 14 December 2021 Accepted: 24 December 2021 Published: 28 December 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). electronics Article A VR-Enabled Chatbot Supporting Design and Manufacturing of Large and Complex Power Transformers Amy J. C. Trappey 1, *, Charles V. Trappey 2 , Min-Hua Chao 1 , Nan-Jun Hong 1 and Chun-Ting Wu 1 1 Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan; s106034803@m106.nthu.edu.tw (M.-H.C.); s107034531@m107.nthu.edu.tw (N.-J.H.); s108034530@m108.nthu.edu.tw (C.-T.W.) 2 Department of Management Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan; trappey@nycu.edu.tw * Correspondence: trappey@ie.nthu.eu.tw; Tel.: +886-3572-7686 Abstract: Virtual reality (VR) immersive technology allows users to experience enhanced reality using human–computer interfaces (HCI). Many systems have implemented VR with improved HCI to provide strategic market advantages for industry and engineering applications. An intelligent chatbot is a conversational system capable of natural language communication allowing users to ask questions and receive answers online to enhance customer services. This research develops and implements a system framework for a VR-enabled large industrial power transformer mass- customization chatbot. The research collected 1272 frequently asked questions (FAQs) from a power transformer manufacturers’ knowledge base that is used for question matching and answer retrieval. More than 1.2 million Wikipedia engineering pages were used to train a word-embedding model for natural language understanding of question intent. The complex engineering questions and answers are integrated with an immersive VR computer human interface. The system enables users to ask questions and receive explicit and detailed answers combined with 3D immersive images of industrial sized power transformer assemblies. The user interfaces can be projected into the VR headwear or computer screen and manipulated with a controller. The unique immersive VR consultation chatbot system is to support real-time design consultation for the design and manufacturing of complex power transformers. Keywords: intelligent chatbot; virtual reality; smart manufacturing; power transformer 1. Introduction Large-size industrial power transformers are complex static engineering systems used for electrical power distribution to step-up voltages for transmission from power plants or distribution centers and step-down voltage levels for receiving power at end user factories, manufacturing centers, or large building complexes. A high degree of customization is required for complex industrial-grade machinery design and manufacturing of transform- ers due to their extensive use in all aspects of construction including large ships, wind farms, factories, large medical centers, and even shopping malls. In order to provide remote customers with highly customized machinery designs and quotations, engineering consul- tation services during the processes of procurement are critically important. This research develops a generic methodology and system framework for building a Virtual Reality (VR) enabled intelligent engineering consultation Chatbot system. The customer-driven transformer consultation Chatbot prototype with VR as an improved Human Computer Interface (HCI) is demonstrated using a case example in Section 4. Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a process where an enterprise or public entity releases purchase specifications for the manufacturing, design, and services for a product or service to a qualified vendor. Vendors then tender bids in response to the request, which often requires interaction and negotiations over key components, customization, services, and Electronics 2022, 11, 87. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11010087 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics