Metaverse to usher in golden era of innovation

A man learns how to use smart manufacturing equipment at the 2022 World Metaverse Conference in Beijing. LI MUYI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Established tech companies such as Lenovo, Huawei, HTC, Tencent and Alibaba, as well as numerous startups, are scrambling to explore the application of industrial metaverse, which is still in its infancy, in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, tourism and automobiles.

Tencent, for example, is building an early version of a digital twin factory with Ruitai Masteel New Materials Technology Co Ltd that carries out digital simulation and virtual testing before processing real products.

Lenovo also said earlier this year that it will spend more than 100 billion yuan over the next five years on research and development of metaverse and other technologies, as it shifts from hardware to high-tech services.

Rui Yong, Lenovo's CTO, said the company offers a diverse product portfolio of metaverse, including its latest ThinkReality VRX, an all-in-one virtual reality headset for enterprise applications.

From improving efficiency in employee training and virtual collaboration to expanding design and engineering tasks in 3D, VR and AR technologies are becoming more important than ever for businesses to enable hybrid workers to do more, Lenovo said, adding that it also develops end-to-end solutions tailored for different industries.

"Moving forward, Lenovo is willing to build an open metaverse ecosystem, along with like-minded industry partners," Rui said.

Foreign companies are also actively exploring the application of industrial metaverse in China.

German industrial giant Siemens is building a digital twin factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

The entire factory is simulated with a digital twin, which optimizes the building, and detects and mitigates potential problems at an early stage, according to Siemens.

Planning errors, both small and big, which in the past could have cost a lot of money and time, are completely avoided. "And we continue to use the power of simulation during operations. The true benefit of this digital plant is that manufacturing capacity has increased by 200 percent and productivity by 20 percent," Siemens added.

Tom Mainelli, who manages the device & consumer research group at market research company International Data Corp, said: "Manufacturing companies that aren't at the very least experimenting with AR and VR today are at risk of falling behind in the near future. AR and VR will not only help manufacturers digitally transform their businesses, but also be key to recruiting, onboarding, and upskilling their workforces in the future."

Yu, the co-author of the book on metaverse, said: "With rapid technological development, the real economy will embrace metaverse, which will bring profound economic changes and revolutionize industrial upgrading. The next decade will be a golden period for development of metaverse."