We continue our analysis of the categories and subsectors of the expanded metaverse, as Siemens, along with industry and media partners the MIT Technology Review, NVIDIA, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Bentley Systems, and Youl Systems Inc., explores how businesses can assemble the industrial metaverse.  

Background

The Industrial Metaverse is not just an evolution of industrial technology; it’s a reimagining of how industries operate, innovate, and create value.

The Industrial Metaverse represents a fusion of the digital and the physical explicitly tailored for the industrial sector. It’s a concept that extends beyond merely adopting virtual reality or augmented reality technologies for consumer entertainment. Instead, it encapsulates a comprehensive digital transformation of industrial processes, leveraging the power of the metaverse to create interconnected, immersive environments where physical and virtual assets coexist and interact seamlessly.  At its core, the Industrial Metaverse is about harnessing the potential of advanced technologies—such as digital twins, spatial computing, and artificial intelligence—to revolutionize how we design, manufacture, and maintain products and infrastructure. It’s a vision of a future where engineers can collaborate in real-time on virtual prototypes that are exact replicas of physical objects, where factory workers can receive guidance from AI-driven avatars, and where maintenance can be predicted and performed remotely, minimizing downtime and maximizing efficiency.

This concept is not merely theoretical:

• We’re already seeing its early manifestations in the automotive and aerospace industries, where companies use digital twins to simulate manufacturing processes and optimize production lines without needing physical prototypes.
• Virtual power plants are being created in the energy sector to simulate and manage the flow of electricity from renewable sources across the grid, enhancing efficiency and resilience.
• The Industrial Metaverse also promises to revolutionize workforce training and development. By creating realistic, immersive simulations, employees can be trained on complex machinery and processes in a safe, controlled environment, significantly reducing the risk of accidents and improving overall competency.
• Opening up new avenues for collaboration and innovation, the industrial metaverse will provide a shared, interactive space that transcends geographical boundaries, it enables experts from around the world to come together to solve complex engineering challenges, share best practices, and drive forward the frontiers of technology and design.

The Industrial Metaverse is not just an evolution of industrial technology; it’s a reimagining of how industries operate, innovate, and create value. It represents a convergence of the digital and physical worlds that could redefine the landscape of global manufacturing, design, and engineering for decades.

Interoperability and ecosystems:  Assembling the industrial metaverse

“This is about bringing together diverse industry players with their unique strengths—be it computing power, AI, cloud and edge capabilities, spatial content creation, software, or specialized domain knowledge.”

Peter Koerte, Chief Technology and Chief Strategy Officer at behemoth global systems integrator Siemens, laid out the objectives of this report on LinkedIn: 

“Building the industrial metaverse is one of the most promising prospects of industrial transformation.  However, this world isn’t built overnight. To succeed, four strategic imperatives are crucial: robust interoperability, standardization, data integration, and strong ecosystems.  These principles are our roadmap to a digital world that can solve many real-world problems.  Teaming up with MIT Technology Review and experts from NVIDIA, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Bentley Systems, and Youl Systems Inc., we’ve gone beyond our initial report on “The Emergent Industrial Metaverse“.  We’re exploring how businesses can assemble the industrial metaverse. How they can develop a dynamic strategy to combine technologies like AI and spatial content creation with deep domain knowledge, and adapt continually to technological advancements.  This collaboration offers practical insights for businesses looking to navigate this space, thanks to valuable contributions from our partners, customers, and experts.  While this report doesn’t have all the answers, it aims to provide useful direction for your journey in the industrial metaverse.” 

Summary of the Report

Combining the real and digital worlds:  The foundation of the industrial metaverse lies in developing and visualizing digital twins of real-world objects. These systems are dynamic, requiring a continuous feedback loop that integrates and analyzes data, monitoring and managing real assets. This process also enables interactive evaluation, simulation, and prediction with the digital twin. It’s a complicated interplay between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), where physical data collected by sensors and IoT devices is merged with the analytical capabilities of advanced software, including data analytics and AI models.

Interoperability enables innovation and efficiency: As real-world systems and their digital twins grow in complexity, the challenge of interoperability intensifies. However, embracing interoperability and openness can create new opportunities for innovation and efficiency. Connected digital twins, for instance, can enhance supply chain collaboration, allowing for real-time tracking and optimization at every stage, from raw material sourcing and manufacturing to delivery, recycling, or repurposing of products.

“ Just as the internet thrived on open standards like HTML and TCP/IP, these efforts are necessary to enable seamless interoperability and integration of diverse industrial systems.”

Standardizing the future: To facilitate and enhance the integration of IT and OT—and to enable the industrial metaverse—key players across industries are actively working to develop, refine, and optimize standards. “Just as the internet thrived on open standards like HTML and TCP/IP, these efforts are necessary to enable seamless interoperability and integration of diverse industrial systems,” says Rev Lebaredian, vice president of Omniverse and simulation technology at NVIDIA.

Building the industrial metaverse – A step-by-step approach: As industries collaborate to standardize and integrate IT and OT systems, businesses are also exploring how to practically build the industrial metaverse. The potential is enormous. After all, “the industrial sector is producing the largest amount of data,” notes Douglas Bellin, global lead of business development for smart factories at AWS, “but often only a fraction of that data is actively used.” The key to unlock this potential is a step-by-step approach, beginning with laying the foundations for interoperability: robust data integration.

“…interoperability and collaborative ecosystems…are the necessary foundation upon which this digital world is being built, allowing diverse technologies and processes to come together.”  

Leveraging open APIs and data management: The journey to an interoperable industrial metaverse requires robust data integration. “Leveraging open APIs is essential,” says Selim Köklü, digitalization lead at Siemens Mobility Turnkey. “They are like doors to access data—but then you have to be able to work with what you f ind behind these doors. In this process, standardization and robust data governance are crucial, ensuring data quality, security, and compliance across systems.”

Embracing ecosystems and platforms: For businesses to effectively enable interoperability, they must also integrate into open, collaborative ecosystems. These ecosystems, often anchored in robust, open platforms, lay the groundwork for cross-industry collaboration and recombinant innovation.

Interoperability and ecosystems – A strategic imperative:  In shaping the industrial metaverse, interoperability and collaborative ecosystems are not just beneficial. They are the necessary foundation upon which this digital world is being built, allowing diverse technologies and processes to come together. Embracing these principles is imperative for any digitalization strategy meant to enable participation in the industrial metaverse—and the innovation, operational efficiency, and competitive edge it is about to bring.

Go to Assembling the Industrial Metaverse: 4 Strategic Imperatives for the full report.  A precursor report is also available, entitled The Emergent Industrial Metaverse, which can be found at this link. 

What Next?  

The Industrial Metaverse is one of a few categories and subsectors of the expanded metaverse, including: 

• The Metaverse
• The Industrial Metaverse
• Digital Engineering
• High-performance computing (HPC)
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Augmented reality (AR)
• Mixed Reality (MR)

We further position all these classifications of the metaverse in the context of a subtheme from the OODA Almanac 2024 – The Exponential Tech Stack Starts to Converge – as we expect disproportionate disruption where exponential technologies start to converge.  For a full analysis of this convergence as it relates to the future of the metaverse, see Spatial AI is the Future of Human-Computer Interaction and the Metaverse, where we explore AI + an expanded working definition (with subcategories) of what is broadly considered “the metaverse” + blockchain technology as an example of the future of exponential technology convergence. The post also provides a full analysis of the expanded metaverse classifications we use for our research.  

Additional OODA Loop Resources

for more OODA Loop News Briefs and Original Analysis on this topic, go to:  OODA Loop | Metaverse  OODA Loop | Industrial Metaverse  

Spatial AI is the Future of Human-Computer Interaction and the Metaverse:  Regular readers of the OODA Loop know that we cover exponential technologies daily and expect disproportionate disruption when these technologies start to converge.  In this post, we explore AI + an expanded working definition (with subcategories) of what is broadly considered “the metaverse” + blockchain technology as an example of the exponential tech stack starting to converge (a subtheme of the OODA Almanac 2024).  

Rise of the Metaverse: The Metaverse,an immersive digital universe, is expected to reshape internet interactions, education, social networking, and entertainment. See Future of the Metaverse.

Technology Convergence and Market Disruption: Rapid technological advancements are changing market dynamics and user expectations. See Disruptive and Exponential Technologies.

The New Tech Trinity: Artificial Intelligence, BioTech, Quantum Tech: Will make monumental shifts in the world. This new Tech Trinity will redefine our economy, both threaten and fortify our national security, and revolutionize our intelligence community. None of us are ready for this. This convergence requires a deepened commitment to foresight and preparation and planning on a level that is not occurring anywhere. The New Tech Trinity.

The Revolution in Biology: This post provides an overview of key thrusts of the transformation underway in biology and offers seven topics business leaders should consider when updating business strategy to optimize opportunity because of these changes. For more, see:  The Executive’s Guide To The Revolution in Biology

AI Discipline Interdependence: There are concerns about uncontrolled AI growth, with many experts calling for robust AI governance. Both positive and negative impacts of AI need assessment. See: Using AI for Competitive Advantage in Business.

Benefits of Automation and New Technology: Automation, AI, robotics, and Robotic Process Automation are improving business efficiency. New sensors, especially quantum ones, are revolutionizing healthcare and national security sectors. Advanced WiFi, cellular, and space-based communication technologies enhance distributed work capabilities. See: Advanced Automation and New Technologies

Materials Science Revolution: Room-temperature ambient pressure superconductors represent a significant innovation. Sustainability gets a boost with reprocessable materials. Energy storage sees innovations in solid-state batteries and advanced supercapacitors. Smart textiles pave the way for health-monitoring and self-healing fabrics. 3D printing materials promise disruptions in various sectors. Perovskites offer versatile applications, from solar power to quantum computing. See: Materials Science