Germany-Head of Microsoft: Metaverse will conquer industry

Hannover Messe
Germany-Head of Microsoft: Metaverse will conquer industry

31.05.2022

Source: DPA

So far, the topic of Metaverse has mainly concerned the games industry, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also relies on the virtual parallel world and has renamed his company Meta accordingly. According to Microsoft, the Metaverse should also revolutionize industrial production.

The digital parallel universe Metaverse will also play a decisive role in industry in the future. This was pointed out by the head of Microsoft Germany, Marianne Janik, at the Hannover Messe on Monday. The pandemic has not only finally helped the home office and other variants of the newly organized work to break through, Janik told the German Press Agency. Many companies therefore also had to deal with processes in which certain scenarios are virtually run through before they are implemented in reality in the production or development of products. “This is almost the industrial metaverse.“

An industrial metaverse for better production management

By Metaverse, the industry understands a world in which physical reality merges with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in a cyber world. Important components in this world are also digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, with which, among other things, virtual land, digital art, objects for games or digital status symbols can be purchased. The term metaverse comes from the American writer Neal Stephenson, who first used it in his science fiction novel “Snow Crash” in 1992. Facebook FOUNDER Mark Zuckerberg is using the Metaverse in the USA and has therefore renamed the Facebook group Meta.

Janik emphasized that in an industrial metaverse you can accomplish things that you used to do physically with a much higher effort. “For example, you can also determine in advance how you can replace certain components in production that are not available at these times.“

“Good will alone is no longer enough”

According to Janik, the various crises such as climate change or the war in Ukraine are forcing the economy to step up its efforts on the issue of sustainability. According to a survey by the market researcher YouGov on behalf of Microsoft, however, one in three companies, namely 31 percent, has so far not made any investments in sustainable technologies. “This shows that goodwill alone is no longer enough, but we also really have to implement things in order to make sustainability a reality.“

Digital modeling of products and manufacturing processes helps to achieve these sustainability goals. At the same time, processes such as the “digital twin” have meant that innovations can be implemented and brought to market more quickly.

“We now live in a world where the issue of risk management plays a completely different role and is much more existential than before,” Janik said. The aim is not only to better assess risks, but also to act with foresight. “Data can be of decisive help in this mammoth task.” Microsoft is also responding to concerns from data protection experts who oppose the storage of data outside Europe. “We can already limit the storage of customer data to the European area if customers wish.“

(ID:48392646)