Factory Full Automation with Physics Informed Metaverse
Oct. 2023
New York General Group
Executive Summary
The industrial metaverse is a set of technologies that enables persistent, digital representations of the real world, such as people, places, and things, that can be accessed and interacted with in immersive ways. The industrial metaverse has the potential to transform the manufacturing industry by creating physics-based digital twins that can simulate and optimize the entire production lifecycle, from design to operation, and connect software-defined AI systems from edge to cloud. This report explores the value proposition, challenges, and opportunities of factory full automation with physics informed metaverse, and provides recommendations for manufacturers, technology providers, and policymakers to seize this opportunity.
Value Proposition
Factory full automation with physics informed metaverse can offer significant benefits for manufacturers, such as:
- Increased productivity and efficiency: By creating and harnessing physics-based digital twins, manufacturers can reduce design iterations, accelerate product development, improve quality, and optimize performance. For example, Siemens and NVIDIA plan to connect Siemens Xcelerator, the open digital business platform, and NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform for 3D design and collaboration, to enable an industrial metaverse with physics-based digital models from Siemens and real-time AI from NVIDIA. This will allow manufacturers to test and validate their products and processes in a virtual environment before deploying them in the real world, saving time and resources.
- Enhanced innovation and competitiveness: By leveraging the industrial metaverse, manufacturers can access and collaborate with a global network of experts, partners, and customers, and tap into new sources of data and insights. This can foster creativity, co-creation, and customization, and enable manufacturers to offer new products and services that meet the evolving needs and preferences of the market. For example, the industrial metaverse can enable manufacturers to create personalized and interactive experiences for their customers, such as virtual showrooms, product configurators, and augmented reality (AR) applications.
- Improved sustainability and resilience: By adopting the industrial metaverse, manufacturers can reduce their environmental footprint, mitigate risks, and adapt to changing conditions. For example, the industrial metaverse can help manufacturers to optimize their energy consumption, minimize waste and emissions, and monitor and manage their assets and supply chains. Moreover, the industrial metaverse can enable manufacturers to respond to disruptions, such as pandemics, natural disasters, or cyberattacks, by providing remote access, backup, and recovery capabilities.
Challenges and Opportunities
Despite the promising potential of factory full automation with physics informed metaverse, there
are also several challenges that need to be addressed, such as:
- Technical complexity and interoperability: The industrial metaverse requires a high level of
technical sophistication and integration, involving multiple technologies, such as 3D modeling,
simulation, rendering, AI, cloud computing, edge computing, 5G, IoT, and blockchain. Moreover,
the industrial metaverse needs to ensure interoperability and compatibility among different
platforms, standards, and protocols, and enable seamless and secure data exchange and
communication across different domains and devices.
- Data quality and availability: The industrial metaverse relies on large and diverse datasets to
create and update physics-based digital twins, and to train and deploy AI models. However, the
quality and availability of data may vary depending on the source, format, and frequency of
collection and update. Moreover, the data may be incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, or outdated,
which can affect the reliability and validity of the digital twins and the AI models. Therefore, the
industrial metaverse needs to implement data governance and quality assurance mechanisms, and
leverage data augmentation and synthesis techniques, to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the
data.
- Cybersecurity and privacy: The industrial metaverse poses significant cybersecurity and
privacy risks, as it involves the collection, storage, processing, and transmission of large amounts of
sensitive and proprietary data, such as intellectual property, trade secrets, personal information, and
operational data. Moreover, the industrial metaverse exposes manufacturers to potential
cyberattacks, such as data breaches, ransomware, denial-of-service, or sabotage, that can
compromise the integrity and availability of the digital twins and the AI models, and cause physical
or financial damage. Therefore, the industrial metaverse needs to adopt robust cybersecurity and
privacy measures, such as encryption, authentication, authorization, and auditing, and comply with
relevant regulations and standards, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Despite the challenges, there are also several opportunities that can enable and accelerate the adoption of factory full automation with physics informed metaverse, such as:
- Technology advancement and innovation: The industrial metaverse can benefit from the rapid and continuous advancement and innovation of the underlying technologies, such as 3D modeling, simulation, rendering, AI, cloud computing, edge computing, 5G, IoT, and blockchain. These technologies can improve the performance, scalability, and affordability of the industrial metaverse, and enable new features and functionalities, such as photorealism, physics realism, interactivity, and collaboration. For example, NVIDIA Omniverse is a platform that leverages NVIDIA's GPU technology and AI capabilities to create and connect physics-based digital twins across multiple domains and devices
- Industry collaboration and standardization: The industrial metaverse can foster collaboration and standardization among different industry stakeholders, such as manufacturers, technology providers, research institutions, and industry associations. These stakeholders can work together to develop and share best practices, use cases, and solutions, and to establish common platforms, standards, and protocols, that can facilitate the interoperability and compatibility of the industrial metaverse. For example, the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) is an initiative that aims to promote the development and adoption of digital twins in the industrial sector, and to define and harmonize standards and specifications.
- Policy support and regulation: The industrial metaverse can receive support and guidance from policymakers and regulators, who can create and implement policies and regulations that can enable and incentivize the adoption of the industrial metaverse, and address the challenges and risks associated with it. For example, policymakers and regulators can provide funding and incentives for research and development, infrastructure, and skills development, and can create and enforce rules and norms for cybersecurity, privacy, and ethics, that can protect the rights and interests of the industrial metaverse users and stakeholders.
New York General Group