How The Metaverse is Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The initial Industrial Revolution was propelled by steam, followed by electricity, early automation, and robotics. However, we are on the cusp of yet another revolution that promises to innovate and minimize errors in our way of life - the industrial metaverse. In 2011, German engineers sought to streamline their means of production, which they dubbed as Industry 4.0. This revolution involves the modification of production processes through the application of cutting-edge technology. The digital world is used to connect, analyze, interact, and engineer things.

Throughout history, wherever there was an industrial revolution, there was a corresponding increase in velocity. Agriculture and animal husbandry gave rise to mobility via horses. Upon the discovery of steam and combustion, we invented trains and cars, respectively. Suddenly, we could travel faster and farther than ever before. Eighty years later, electricity became our best friend, and with great power came greater energy. We can now travel faster with the widespread adoption of personal cars. In a surprising twist of events, robotics took center stage just 50 years later after the electrical revolution. Automated manufacturing became the norm, and our production lines worked tirelessly to keep up with the increasing demand.

Forty years later, we discovered how to leverage the use of artificial intelligence to make things go even faster. This is the game-changer. We started using AI to scout, shape, and shift things by putting up a virtual digital universe that's different from our universe. It has a different meta in alternative reality. Technologies like this generate vast amounts of data that can be analyzed and processed by AI algorithms, providing businesses with valuable insights to improve their operations. These algorithms can also be used to locate inefficient parts of production procedures and suggest adjustments that could save a lot of money.

Similar to real-time equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance solutions powered by AI can spot possible problems before they result in costly downtime or other concerns. AI algorithms are designed for us to connect, analyze, interact, and engineer industrial processes. However, we also mentioned that we need to scout, shape, and shift things to make the industrial metaverse whole. This is where digital twins come in. The product of AI's whims and schemes, digital twins are virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, or systems that are created and maintained in the industrial metaverse to optimize performance, enable predictive maintenance, and facilitate collaboration between physical and digital entities.

If AI is the brain of this whole operation, the digital twins are the hearts of the industrial metaverse itself. It helps us mitigate mistakes on a relatable level before they even happen in the first place. In perspective, a study led by General Electrics suggests that digital twins increase reliability by around seven percent, from 93 to 99.49 percent.

The industrial metaverse applies to every industry, and current and future uses that we can extract from the revolution are remote training and maintenance, supply chain optimization, collaborative design and prototyping, and predictive maintenance. For instance, it can provide a virtual training environment where workers can learn how to operate and maintain complex machinery and equipment remotely. Companies such as Simons and General Electric are already using the metaverse to provide remote training and maintenance support to their employees.

There's also the fact that the industrial metaverse can provide real-time visibility of the entire supply chain. Of course, having the capability to virtually be there can enable you to identify bottlenecks and optimize operations to reduce costs by 50 percent and improve delivery times by 50 percent as well. Walmart, Maersk, and Unilever are already using this type of technology, all for the sake of getting goods out faster and with more efficiency.

The virtual environment that the metaverse provides also creates a safe space where designers, engineers, architects, and other stakeholders can collaborate on the design and prototyping of new products and systems. For instance, architects would be able to avoid the repeat of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Boeing is using the metaverse to simulate and test new aircraft designs for their safety and fuel efficiency.

Digital twins can fill a part of the void of loneliness, sadness, and even depression. A study from MIT tells us that digital twins in the industrial metaverse can increase commercial efficiency by 10 percent, reduce capital and operational expenditures by 15 percent, and reduce the time by which AI is rolled out by 60 percent. Equally, companies that don't invest in digital twins miss out 35 to 65 percent in value.

The industrial metaverse is set to change outcomes for the betterment of society. Through this whole metaverse-AI-digital twins cycle, the Don Avatar robot cafe in Tokyo, Japan, for example, allows persons with disabilities to control robots in their shop, creating opportunities for employment using their coined diverse Avatar working Network or Dawn for short. The cafe's owners are hoping that this trend picks up so that the future of business remains inclusive and bright.