According to a study released today by Nokia and EY, businesses that have already implemented industrial metaverse use cases report more benefits than those that are still in the planning stage anticipate, especially in terms of capital expenditure reduction (15%), sustainability (10%) and safety improvement (9%).
The "metaverse at work" study examined the situation of the business and industrial metaverse at this time and showed that with 860 corporate executives from six nations, the industrial metaverse is especially predicted to live up to and surpass expectations.
The results demonstrate that businesses have faith in the metaverse‘s potential and that metaverse technologies are here to stay. Only 2% of respondents think the metaverse is a fad or jargon, yet 58% of businesses with metaverse plans have already deployed or piloted at least one use case. 94% of those who haven't started their metaverse adventure yet say they'll do so within the next two years.
Businesses claim that the industrial metaverse is producing significant economic value. Eighty percent of those who have already put metaverse use cases into practice anticipate that they will significantly or fundamentally alter the way they conduct business. The majority of respondents (96%) recognize how the metaverse adds new inventive features that will enable them to expedite the deployment, adoption and monetization of Industry 4.0 for their company.
Geographically speaking, when it comes to having deployed or piloted at least one industry or business metaverse use case, the US (65%), the UK (64%) and Brazil (63%) are now leading the pack. While Asia Pacific is less developed (Japan, 49%; South Korea, 49%), the average in Germany was 53%.
Enterprises saw the greatest potential in the use of extended reality for training to onboard and upskill the workforce, while three out of the four industries surveyed chose the use of virtual R&D to improve product design and processes when asked which use cases they most expect to deliver transformative value.
Companies understand the necessity for adequate infrastructure and strong analytical capabilities while developing metaverse use cases. The three essential technical enablers — cloud computing (72%), AI/ML (70%), and network connection (68–70%) — that are actually foundational to satisfying the demands of such use cases received the highest priority from respondents. In order to fill capability gaps and roll out use cases, organizations are currently depending on a variety of partners due to the requirement for more technical competence in-house.
“The industrial and enterprise metaverse are here; this study shows the clear appetite for these technologies, such as extended reality and digital twins, to achieve business goals,” said Vincent Douin, executive director, business consulting and business transformation, Ernst & Young LLP. “We are already seeing many organizations going above and beyond the planning stages and recognizing tangible benefits from their initial implementations.”
Thierry E. Klein, president of Bell Labs solutions research, and Nokia, stated: “It is great to see that companies clearly believe in the power of the Metaverse for business value creation in both enterprise and industrial use cases. This strongly aligns with our vision, informed by more than 8 years of research at Nokia Bell Labs, that the Industrial Metaverse is an extension of Industry 4.0. Consequently, those who have already implemented mission-critical communications networks for Industry 4.0 are now well placed to experience the benefits of the Metaverse that clearly some companies are already seeing.”