Redefining Reality: 3 Key Building Blocks for the Industrial Metaverse

In 2024, the industrial metaverse will take a giant stride forward, as our CEO Roland Busch and Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, highlighted at CES.

The industrial metaverse is set for major progress this year. It is not mere hype or vision, but an emerging reality.

"With Generative AI and the Industrial Metaverse, we all can accelerate innovation, accelerate sustainability, and accelerate access to technology. And this is what the world needs, now. Speed and scale, to solve the big challenges.” - Roland Busch.

The key building blocks that enable the industrial metaverse are already in place. We are talking about

• Digital twins
• Software-defined automation
• Artificial intelligence (AI)

These technologies are already having a huge impact on businesses and economies around the globe. They are, of course, a key element of Siemens Xcelerator. And they are going to evolve and converge even more this year, creating new solutions and, step by step, making the industrial metaverse a reality. 

Let’s take a closer look! 

Digital Twins: build twice to build faster 

For over thirty years, we have been at the forefront of developing digital twins: dynamic, physics-based simulations that react just like their real counterparts under various conditions. 

Imagine a scenario where an engineer, immersed in this digital environment, tests the aerodynamics of a new aircraft design. As she adjusts the wing shape, the simulation reveals real-time changes in airflow and drag, providing invaluable insights that would be costly and time-consuming to gather in the real world. 

Similarly, in a factory, building, or train, a digital twin can simulate processes, allowing for optimizations that save time and reduce waste, before making any changes in the real world. One can even rewind to the moment a problem first appeared and fix it, or even delegate the task to an AI copilot.  

Software-defined automation: “Everywhere you look, optimization”  

The industrial metaverse’s true potential is realized when solutions found in the digital realm are swiftly implemented in the real world. Key to this is software-defined automation, and in particular the Internet of Things and virtual Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). 

PLCs, the ‘brains’ behind factories, energy grids, office buildings, and trains, are expanding from their traditional small grey boxes to a ‘virtual’ existence. This development creates new possibilities and helps centralize control and simplify updates. A prime example is our collaboration with car manufacturer Audi - already using the virtual PLC in one of its factories.

With this setup, operable from miles away, expanding production or executing software updates across the factory becomes a matter of a few clicks. 

Data and AI: access all your company’s knowledge 

The industrial metaverse is about transforming data into meaningful information, turning numbers into actionable insights. AI-powered edge devices play a critical role on the shop floor, gathering information and identifying key patterns. And generative AI enables new ways to interact with machines and digital twins. Think, for example, of Siemens Industrial CoPilot. Developed in close collaboration with Microsoft, it allows machine operation and programming via natural language and will serve as a virtual assistant in the metaverse. 

We recently announced a collaboration with AWS, which marks a significant step in leveraging AI’s potential. This partnership integrates AWS Bedrock with Siemens‘ Mendix low-code platform within the Siemens Xcelerator ecosystem. This integration is a game-changer, simplifying AI application development and making it accessible to a wider audience, including those without extensive coding experience. 

However, AI’s impact in the industrial metaverse goes beyond being an interface. For example, by employing AI algorithms, ‘generative design’ helps to rapidly explore and generate design alternatives, optimizing for factors like weight, strength, and material use—identifying better solutions faster than any human could. 

Industrial Metaverse in Action: Immersive Engineering 

How these key building blocks create value and enable the industrial metaverse is highlighted in the collaboration between us and Sony. Together, our two companies create a new solution for Immersive Engineering – by combining the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software with Sony’s new spatial content creation system: a high-quality head-mounted display with dedicated controllers.  

This new solution, coming to the markets this year, will kickstart content creation for the industrial metaverse, enabling designers and engineers to create and explore design concepts in an immersive workspace. Here, users can manipulate, view, and understand every part of their designs, and develop and experience the digital twin of real-world objects. They will even get “the gift of hindsight”, as Cedrik Neike , CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, puts it. “Because [the industrial metaverse] lets us ‘test-drive’ every option, faster than ever. Not two times faster or three times faster, but a million times faster.” 

This is just the beginning 

The remarkable advancements in immersive engineering and foundational technologies are propelling the industrial metaverse forward significantly. Each day, these developments transform the industrial metaverse from a concept into a powerful reality. This evolution is revolutionizing the way individuals and businesses engage with data and information, offering innovative solutions to master real-world challenges. And this is just the beginning. 

Further reading / watching recommendation: 

You can rewatch the keynote from Roland Busch and Cedrik Neike at CES 2024 here.

If you want to know more about the Industrial Metaverse take a look here.

Where are the key enabling technologies leading us? Read more in our Managing Megatrends Paper.