Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 44 | Page 38

TALKING

‘‘ business

Companies are experiencing the industrial metaverse today as an always-on world where real factories , machines , data and people are connected in virtual ways .
Industrial metaverses are available and accessible on smartphones , tablets and desktops – the same devices that business and operations staff already use to access software and cloud services in their day-to-day work .
To collaborate in the industrial metaverse , workers must be able to use any device they want , connect to the necessary software , view trustworthy data from their Digital Twin and cooperate in one shared application . In some use cases , office workers and colleagues at the plant may interact within the same virtual environment – but one may use a tablet and the other a headset . the systems they use , in no small part to protect the commercial sensitivity of their assets ( including data ) and operations .
There ’ s no single industrial metaverse . Instead , each organisation creates its own industrial metaverse . This could be the caollection of its operational assets or simply represent each asset individually . Companies building out a new industrial metaverse will be able to build their own custom solutions , where access is strictly controlled with role-based privileges and security protection in the same way that access to any existing IT or OT system is currently protected .
4 . The industrial metaverse is years away and expensive to develop
The industrial metaverse harnesses existing technology in new ways . While these component technologies of the industrial metaverse may already be in use internally to some extent , it is often not in an integrated way .
Industrial metaverse is about using a reliable and consistent Digital Twin Driven by industrial data and AIinfused capabilities to deliver a seamless , connected , multi-person experience .
The industrial metaverse will initially be accessed as extensions to Internet browsers and messenger apps . Over time , it ’ s likely that devices will natively run immersive technologies – just as biometrics are embedded in today ’ s smartphones .
3 . One company owns the industrial metaverse
To avoid fragmentation , it made sense in the consumer space to work towards a single , or small number , of metaverses with global reach . But this model does not work for businesses ; they want more control of
Current use cases for industrial metaverse technologies lie in maintenance and repair , industrial design and prototyping , quality control in manufacturing and collaboration , communication and workforce training .
In the business world , the potential of the industrial metaverse is already apparent and its development hasn ’ t slowed . Companies are experiencing the industrial metaverse today as an always-on world where real factories , machines , data and people are connected in virtual ways – and are already reaping the benefits . p
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