The Industrial Metaverse: Where Sci-Fi Meets ROI

When it comes to a new name, it’s hard to think of anything more powerful than "industrial metaverse."

In two words, the phrase encompasses the last 200 years of economic progress. It looks into the future of a world still under construction that many of us still struggle to understand.

Even so, the term industrial metaverse hasn't been coined just for fun, and it's not entirely the stuff of science fiction.

It describes the confluence between industry and the rapidly evolving world of the metaverse. In this digital place, the virtual has its own reality.

Why should I care?

To understand more, it is useful to quote a company that understandably has some skin in this game: industrial conglomerate Siemens.

“What is the industrial metaverse, and why should I care?” is the headline of a Siemens report.

The industrial metaverse, says Siemens, is an "always on" world where machines and factories are "mirrored in a virtual world."

This is important, Siemens says, because in a digital environment, "problems can be found, analyzed and fixed quickly—or better yet discovered before they arise.

“Data is the foundation of the industrial metaverse.”

"The metaverse is where virtual reality supports people who are working hands-on, on-site," the report says.

“A virtual realm where we can travel into the past and even into the future to understand problems and processes better and find optimal solutions.”

Still confused? Siemens does contribute an example, citing its Digital Native Factory based in Nanjing.

The factory was simulated with a digital twin "which optimized the building and detected and mitigated potential problems at an early stage."

“Planning errors, both small and big, which in the past would cost a lot of money and a lot of time, were completely avoided,” the report says.

“The true benefit of this digital plant: manufacturing capacity increased by 200%, productivity by 20%.”

The next phase will see Siemens combine with Nvidia to take the digital twin—“this key technology of the industrial metaverse, to the next level.”

"We are creating digital twins that will allow interaction in real-time, that will look like real machines and, thanks to Siemens know-how, will physically behave like one in every way," the report says.

If, for example, there is a rise or a fall in temperature, this will be simulated, and the digital twin will react immediately and in the same way as the real asset on the factory floor.

When the industrial universe talks about seeing the future, part of this is to simulate scenarios where parts fail and different processes are followed to understand what might happen.

Immersive environment

The analysts at Gartner also tackled the industrial universe in a recent report, defining it as a “convergence of the physical and digital world for industrial applications, where people interact and collaborate with machines to design, build and optimize systems in an immersive environment.”

Gartner's three main areas of focus are real-time data visualization and analytics, training and simulation, and enhanced remote collaboration.

These will deliver benefits such as enhanced predictive powers based on data, a reduced need for physical or on-site training, and new management skills from a more hybrid and decentralized workforce.

“Data is the foundation of the industrial metaverse,” says Gartner.

“The industrial metaverse can integrate real-time data from various sources (like IoT sensors) into a 3D virtual model (ideally, digital twins).”

The simulation can then leverage real-time data to validate and test digital replicas of the real world. This enables better monitoring, analysis, and decision-making regarding operational processes, supply chains and facility management,

On training, Gartner says that “workers can learn to operate machinery, improve their decision-making efficiency, practice safety protocols or understand complex systems through realistic simulations, without the risks associated with real-world training.”

“Industrial metaverse allows engineers, designers and operators to collaborate in immersive spaces (including but not limited to augmented reality, virtual reality, spatial computing and 3D environments), irrespective of their physical location,” Gartner says.

Where are the use cases?

Gartner agrees that the industrial metaverse term is being used so broadly that it's hard to discuss specific case studies. However, it points to opportunities in virtual prototyping, product development and end-testing, production line optimization and shop floor operations.

"For warehouse and distribution center operations, the move toward the industrial metaverse is nascent but is evolving from the gradual convergence of four dimensions of digital twins," Gartner says.

These dimensions are the visualization of warehouse resources in 2D and 3D, simulation of warehouse process and operations, codification of the parameters of assets and the virtual operation of warehouses in a digital environment.

Driving all this will be heightened connectivity from 5G and then 6G.

Who should care?

Gartner's shout-out is to technology innovation leaders in manufacturing and supply chain operations, a group for whom the term industrial metaverse will rapidly transform from sci-fiction and a slogan to the routine of their day jobs. 

Image credit: iStockphoto/Anatolii Frolov