Driven by the likes of Boeing, Microsoft, Nvidia, Siemens, and Unilever, the industrial metaverse continues to evolve from surreal to reality.

 Incorporating technologies like AR, VR, AI, 3D modeling, 5G, edge computing, IoT, and digital twins, the industrial metaverse promises to fundamentally change how companies manufacture airplanes, manage oilfields, train factory workers, assess the environmental impact of a mine, and even produce plastic screws. Yes, plastic screws.

 Last year, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology opened a virtual factory in the universe to make plastic screws. Among other things, this setup allows for changing the pressure of an injection molding machine, adjusting the speed of production, and detecting defects more easily than can be done in a real-world factory.

 Digital twins are one of the most commonly touted innovations in the industrial metaverse.

 “Photorealistic, physics-based digital twins embedded in the industrial metaverse offer enormous potential to transform our economies and industries by providing a virtual world where people can interact and collaborate to solve real-world problems,” says Roland Busch, president and CEO of Siemens, a conglomerate whose technology and services enable electrification, automation, and digitalization.

 Grand View Research predicts the global market for digital twins will grow from more than $11.1 billion in 2022 to more than $155.8 billion in 2030. That would represent an increase of about 1,300%. More broadly, Market Prospects forecasts the entire global market for industrial metaverse will reach $540 billion by 2025.

 In other words, the metaverse as a whole and the industrial metaverse more narrowly are on a rapid upward trajectory. In a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. business leaders by professional services firm PwC, two-thirds said they had moved beyond metaverse experimentation and expect their metaverse efforts will be fully integrated within the next few years.

Boston Consulting Group outlines several real-world use cases for the industrial metaverse, including:

• Safety tutorials

• Product design

• Inventory and delivery network management

• Remote maintenance

Even though it’s in its infancy, the industrial metaverse is already yielding impressive results. For instance, Siemens’ digital native factory in China has boosted manufacturing capacity by 200% and productivity by 20%, Busch says.

“Even before we poured the first concrete, we simulated the plant’s performance with a digital twin,” he said in a keynote address at the launch of Siemens Xcelerator, an open-source digital platform. “In a virtual inspection, we spotted a painting machine without proper ventilation. In the real world, this would have caused a lot of hassle. Yet all it took was a few drag and drops during the design phase to put it in a more suitable spot.” 

With the involvement of major corporations like Boeing, Microsoft, Nvidia, Siemens, and Unilever, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers believes the metaverse can and will go beyond the hot sectors of e-commerce, gaming, and virtual work to encompass “industrial applications of the metaverse [that] have the chance to be both exciting and impactful.”