The Industrial Metaverse Is Here. Are you ready?

We are fully immersed in the digital age. A whole host of different areas of our lives have now become easier thanks to technology. Our activities have become more agile, and our interactions more efficient. But, best of all, innovation is not stopping any time soon. We are on the path to creating the next megatrend: the metaverse.

In a recent study, MIT Technology Review Insights explained that, although the pace of the evolution of the business and consumer metaverses is not yet certain, it is expected that the industrial metaverse and its enabling technologies will quickly evolve during this decade. This is so because global complexities and challenges have forced businesses to use fewer resources and have as little impact on the planet as possible, while demanding more production and optimization in operations. Thus, the industrial metaverse is quickly becoming the key to achieving this. 

The fact that vehicles, machines, factories, cities, transport networks, and other extremely complex systems can be duplicated and hundreds or millions of prototypes and simulations can be created within an immersive and interactive environment in real time – in sync with the real world –  not only facilitates virtual testing and saves resources, but it also marks the beginning of a new era that will radically change our daily lives, allowing us to experience a physical environment in different ways to help solve real-world problems, digitally. 

What is needed to create the industrial metaverse? Interoperability and a robust ecosystem based on open-source solutions are crucial for its construction, just as they are today for successful digitalization. Existing technologies and those currently being developed, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, augmented reality, blockchain, and cloud and edge computing will play a fundamental role in the industrial metaverse, converging to create a powerful interface between the digital and the real world. 

At the very heart of everything is the idea of digital twins, virtual models that comprise all the data about a physical object throughout its life cycle, enabling it to be so accurately simulated that it is capable of imitating every aspect of the object, almost as if it were real. When several digital twins are linked in one environment, they become the backbone of the industrial metaverse, which is why they are key to its evolution. 

It is expected that the next generation of digital twins will be photorealistic, based on physics, AI compatible, and linked to metaverse ecosystems. Even before this happens, its growth forecasts are spectacular: according to Allied Market Research, in 2021, the global digital twin market was estimated to be worth US $6.5 billion, while, by 2030, this figure is expected to increase to US$125.7 billion, an almost twentyfold increase in just nine years. 

Although universal protocols and standards for the metaverse are still missing, advances are being made: the Metaverse Standards Forum is driving the creation of interoperability for an open metaverse, and the World Economic Forum is working to promote collaboration among key players to build an integrated and open metaverse. 

And while the foundations for this metaverse are being laid, digital twins are already changing the rules of the game. At Siemens, we have used them to simulate the construction of a 73,000m2 plant in Nanjing, China (combining immense amounts of data focusing on the plant, production line, building, and more to approve and validate the performance and efficiency of the plant even before we had laid the first stone), and we are now using this data to streamline operations, driving productivity by 20%, increasing flexibility by 30%, and achieving a 40% increase in terms of space efficiency (compared to conventional plants).

As technologies continue gaining ground, organizations can start leveraging the potential of these advances today. Bringing the industrial metaverse to life will require substantial cross-industry collaborations on standards and infrastructure. Organizations may partner with suppliers, competitors, or customers to assemble the technology pieces undergirding metaverse participation. Metaverse players ranging from established companies to startups and from governments to individuals will bring new ideas and voices into the industrial metaverse. Collaboration is a key part of doing this and Siemens is ready to help. In July last year, we launched Siemens Xcelerator, a platform that helps companies access the industrial metaverse, connecting developers, service providers and clients through open, flexible, interoperable, and scalable solutions. 

It is time for companies to start planning the strategies they are going to follow, to decide how to develop and implement a clear industrial metaverse strategy, considering the network technologies they are going to have to adopt, the in-house talent they require, and the third-party partnerships they will need. Organizations must also determine a value proposition or use case for their industrial metaverse initiatives. When the real world and digital worlds successfully converge, the metaverse will revolutionize production and operations, unlocking new and significant value for the industry. Are you ready?