Industrial Metaverse is expected to become the XR buzzword by 2024. Starting in mid-2023, companies like Microsoft and Meta have moved into this word as faith in the early Metaverse wave at the beginning of the year has waned.
The industrial metaverse is an umbrella term that includes immersive (VR/AR/MR) digital solutions that support workplace use cases such as remote collaboration, design processes, and training. Industrial metaverse solutions can include XR-related innovations such as digital twins, immersive spaces, AR guidance, and simulations.
Microsoft arguably kicked off interest in the industrial Metaverse this year when it began revealing information about its industrial Metaverse roadmap in an online showcase. At the recent Ignite, Microsoft presented the first updates to its 2024 roadmap, including avatars, immersive spaces, and AR guidance solutions.
Following the slow adoption of its Pro headsets and workplace products, Meta is joining the industrial Metaverse hype with the company’s marketing, events, and promotional materials promoting the industrial Meteaverse as it launches its XR products to industry professionals.
Another company entering this space is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is building out its immersive product portfolio in preparation for a busy 2024 for the XR industry. AWS appears to be looking to build a spatial computing portfolio. But what are leading companies currently offering?
Introduction to AWS Industrial Metaverse
AWS is currently providing a solid foundation for the industrial Metaverse vision to help enterprise end users leverage XR technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and simulation.
AWS Industrial Metaverse solutions leverage VR, AR, and MR solutions and partners to provide customers with ways to explore XR, improve decision-making, foster collaboration, and enable remote maintenance.
In particular, AWS offers two core first-party spatial computing solutions for cloud-based enterprises:
AWS IoT TwinMaker is a service that simplifies digital twin content creation, allowing customers to design digital representations of large assets such as factories and production lines, or small objects such as industrial equipment.
AWS services also help customers optimize digital twin content creation using existing data from the cloud and multiple sources. AWS IoT TwinMaker also allows customers to attach sensitive data to integrate valuable real-world data into an accessible digital twin.
Many enterprise customers are currently leveraging AWS IoT TwinMaker solutions, including Invista, Carrier, and John Holland, and the company is updating the service to attract more end users to choose its products.
AWS also offers SimSpace Weaver, which allows customers to create custom immersive spaces and simulations. SimSpace Weaver can leverage existing cloud infrastructure to simulate large-scale environments, such as crowded cities.
AWS also offers partner solutions as part of its industrial Metaverse portfolio, including Mytaverse, SURREAL, and PREVU3D services. Amazon and AWS plan to significantly expand their industrial Metaverse solutions as the 2024 cycle begins. If successful, the company will be able to build on its previous position as a provider of digital workplace solutions and become a market leader.
More information about Industrial Metaverse
Many other companies are also building industrial metaverse portfolios. Microsoft has released a roadmap for its industrial Metaverse portfolio as part of its AI Cloud Partner Program. This program brings together Microsoft and leading technology companies to drive growth and innovation in enterprise-grade AI. As part of this initiative, Microsoft believes that AI and MR will coexist and will support efforts to develop metaverse solutions and related technologies for industrial use.
At Ignite, Microsoft announced some of its first immersive workplace solutions for 2024, aligned with its industry Metaverse roadmap. Microsoft unveiled new updates to its Teams collaboration platform during the event, including Immersive Spaces and updated avatars for Teams. The company also introduced Dynamics Guides 365, a spatial experience that gives employees access to Microsoft collaboration tools like Teams as mixed reality spatial applications. AI integration isn’t fully developed yet, but previous comments from the company suggest the technology will soon be integrated more deeply into these tools.
on the other side, Nick Clegg, President of Global Operations at Meta We explained the company’s position on the industry Metacerse and what Meta is doing to support XR in the workplace and education.
The recent Connect 2023 event focused on consumer use cases for MR headsets and AR smart glasses, but Meta is also committed to supporting European companies using AR and VR to improve industries and people’s lives.
In a promotional video, Clegg noted, “Metaverse technologies like augmented and virtual reality have the potential to revolutionize the way we work and learn.” Clegg also explained how European companies today are using AR and VR to “improve industries and people’s lives.”
Clegg added:
European business leaders such as Lufthansa, Iveco, Alstorm, and Decathlon are already using immersive technologies to develop products, train employees, and engage customers. – Other fields, such as virtual medicine, are using Metaverse technology in groundbreaking ways to support healthcare professionals, educators, and students in fully immersive digital environments. The effects of the metaverse are real, and they are happening right now. – As metaverse technology continues to develop, more and more opportunities will open up.
Meta and Microsoft aren’t the only players in the industrial Metaverse. Numerous other XR companies, including RealWear and Siemens, are also working to support and develop industrial Metaverse solutions.
But where does AWS fit into that space? This space is already filled with companies looking to step up and lead in an ever-evolving environment. However, if the industrial Metaverse is to continue, AWS has the assets, contacts, and experience to extend XR into the workplace.
Moreover, because AWS is so closely tied to consumer technology, that may not stop the giant from reaching out to other areas of the XR space.