Metaverse - From build to delivery!

Hi all, hope everyone is well! We are nearly there, 2024, and what a year it's been. Honestly, it flew by for me! At the end of this year, as new events cool off, I will be bringing back some of my articles that I published on LinkedIn. They are some of my favorite pieces of writing that I have done, and are still significant nowadays.

Normally, when speaking about the Metaverse we tend to focus our efforts on use cases that will address a specific process or challenge inside an organisation. However, I have come to the realisation that organisations with verticalized supply chains could be great benefactors of the Metaverse rise, having use cases throughout a product's whole journey.
My aim is to explain how the Industrial, Enterprise and Consumer Metaverse can harmoniously fit into an organisation's strategy. From Build to Delivery.

First of all - what is the Metaverse?

There is no official definition of the Metaverse, but I define it as 'the next evolution of the internet (or platform shift), which will change the way we work, interact with content and connect with people. Powered by an array of technologies such as XR (VR,AR,MR), Gen and Predictive AI, IoT Data and Sensors, Digital Twins, Blockchain, Cloud and 5G/6G'.
The three different visions I've referred to are linked to the different business areas in which these technologies will be used to form a Metaverse platform (or environment).

Industrial - Industrial use cases. Build
Virtual Immersive Live View of the factory floor
Simulation of different layouts to predict resources needed to achieve a desired output
Maintenance prediction
Sustainable prototyping and faster time-to-action, product design and engineering
Accelerating the training of new staff with Virtual Machines and step-by-step guides.
BMW, Boeing, Siemens

Enterprise - Corporate and Enterprise use cases. Plan
Remote collaboration between colleagues, increased sustainability - lower carbon footprints
New ways to present data and bring interactiveness during meetings
Accelerate the onboarding process of new employees and increase retention
Delivering soft skills and compliance training in a more immersive way - gamification
Remote Assistance
Accenture, Bank of America, NHS

Consumer - End User use cases. Delivery
Live virtual events, festivals, concerts, football matches
Virtual showrooms, product launches, product customisations
Interacting with friends remotely
Virtual Identities - digital collectables (NFTs, Nike, Adidas collections)
Brand awareness through gamified experiences
Walmart, Roblox, Pokemon

How can the Metaverse improve a product's journey from Build to Delivery?

To make this interesting let's use BMW launching a new car as an example, since they have already invested in this world with NVIDIA, creating the i-Factories and utilising tools from the Omniverse Umbrella.

Build
When thinking about the production of a new car, the first step is around prototyping which generally is a complex process, with many trials and errors. The ability to create high fidelity 3D Virtual environment where 1:1 scale 3D models can be tested and interacted with can both decrease the time of the process as well as reduce material costs, additionally creating an environment where teams can remotely collaborate and interact with the same content.
Once prototyping is done, you are ready to get into the production lines. This is where IoT data, Predictive AI and Digital Twins can really shine. Once you have collected an initial batch of data regarding production (productivity, downtime, scraps, material forecasting, etc), complex Predictive AI models can be applied to understand how different variables on the factory floor are likely to impact output. Additionally, overlaying all of this information onto a Digital Twin adds another layer of interactiveness and makes information more impactful. This data can be used to assist in making decisions for the production plans.
Congrats, you have a valid prototype and a production plan for your new car! However, as good as the product is, there is a team that needs to get it into the market and present it to clients.

Plan
Now it is time to prepare your teammates to be able to sell and market this new product. The same environments in which the prototype was built-in can be used by teammates to learn more about the car, familiarising themselves with the product before production starts. Training content around the new car can be pushed through VR platforms to ensure greater knowledge retention and connection to the material.
The salesforce is excited and familiarised with the new product, now it is time to unveil it to the world. How can we add on top of the traditional routes to market and provide new experiences?

Delivery
Kia used a virtual showroom to launch a new car model, so we will be using their idea. This would facilitate clients that may not reside near a dealership to still have a great experience, almost identical to the 'real world' one, you can still get all the not-so-funny car salesman jokes, and awkwardness if you are not interested in the product. Additionally, clients would be able to see their customisations to the car in real-time, possibly accelerating the time to closure for the average customer.
Who knows, we could bring in Drake to perform a virtual gig at our launch (marketing would laugh it off when asked).

Hopefully, I was able to share my vision of how the technologies underlying the Metaverse can be useful throughout the complete journey of a product, delivering real value for organisations that have a verticalized supply chain. From Build to Delivery. But this should not stop companies that don't own most stages of the supply chain to experience the Metaverse vision, there is value to be added in each stage of the journey, and new use cases are being tested every day.
I guess my question is, would you rather take the risk and be the first to potentially reap the rewards, or sit in the backseat and wait until mature results and successes have been shown?

See you next week,
Davi, MetaVisions