According to a WEF report, 92% of US manufacturing executives explore metaverse integration for enhanced production efficiency.
As per a recent report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), there is a noteworthy development among American manufacturing companies: they are increasingly utilizing the metaverse to tackle intricate problems that arise during the production process. 92% of US manufacturing executives, according to a report released on March 12, are investigating the possibility of incorporating metaverse technologies into their business operations.
US manufacturing firms are flocking to the metaverse — WEF https://t.co/SDqLlNlViR pic.twitter.com/duaVvM3kTr
— Michele Marcucci (@michelem) March 16, 2024
The WEF report
According to the WEF, 92% of American manufacturing executives seek ways to integrate the metaverse into their companies. The survey data gathered from 100 of the biggest businesses in ten different industries stated that each executive was, on average, looking into up to six distinct use cases.
Also read: UK Researchers Warn of Copyright Risks in the Metaverse
The WEF went on to say that one reason for the interest is that the industrial sector needs to “elevate its ambitions” in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the report stated that amid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, technological, macroeconomic, societal, and business-to-business (B2B) customer trends are accelerating and converging to create new challenges and opportunities for growth in the industrial sector.
Industrial metaverse adoption
Numerous instances of businesses using digital twin technology to mimic and enhance physical operations are highlighted in the WEF report. Mercedes Benz uses NVIDIA Omniverse, a cloud services platform, to design manufacturing assembly facilities, and Amazon uses it to optimize robotics workstations and warehouse layouts.
Another example is that the massive telecom infrastructure company Nokia is investigating how to support Cessna aircraft technicians at remote airports in Australia by utilizing the metaverse. This highlights the industrial metaverse’s adaptability, as it can be used in design, production, and quality assurance, among other phases of the product lifecycle.
When adopting the industrial metaverse, the automotive, energy, software, and aerospace sectors are particularly advanced in investment and activity. However, the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence technologies, which some believe may overshadow metaverse initiatives, has also caused some companies to hesitate to continue investing in the metaverse, according to the report.
Though there is hope that the metaverse will simplify things in some industries, worries about how it will affect other sectors—especially the arts—are mounting. New UK research highlights the challenges associated with blockchain’s resistance to modification and emphasizes the need to develop strategies for managing intellectual property issues within the metaverse.
The article continued by stating that the industrial metaverse is used at every product’s life cycle stage, including design, production, and customer support.
Concerns on the metaverse
While the metaverse boosts productivity in some areas, worries have been expressed regarding possible adverse effects on other sectors, especially the creative arts sector.
Researchers from the United Kingdom concluded that strategies must be developed to govern and enforce intellectual property (IP) issues in the metaverse.
🔫 Metaverses could be a hub for distributing copyrighted work illegally — UK researchers
Researchers in the United Kingdom have studied the viability of current intellectual property (IP) laws and their application to new technologies like the metaverse. pic.twitter.com/3wQRn7znvz
— Somtel_C (@somtel_c) March 9, 2024
The researchers emphasized that “Blockchain’s inherent resistance to change or correction undermines the ability to manage or update IP rights flexibly.”
As the industrial metaverse takes off, it offers a unique set of opportunities and difficulties representing the intricate relationship between technological advancement and conventional business methods.
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