FEATURE: Manufacturing enters the metaverse

Stepping into LiveWorx is a bit like stepping into an alternate universe. Here, CTOs and vice-presidents are rock stars, performing product announcements from a giant festival-like stage. Country music legends share the bill with sessions on agile product development, while candy floss vendors stand next to hulking agricultural equipment in the exhibition hall.

The sense of walking through the looking glass at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre was not just by chance. Alternate ways of viewing the world, and how they can help manufacturing and engineering firms, were a key theme of the May event.   

Jim Heppelmann, CEO of organiser PTC, set out the software and service firm’s vision in his opening keynote speech: “We have a powerful new way to drive a converged experience that blends characteristics of the physical and digital worlds. We call it the industrial metaverse.”

There is a “tremendous need” to enable better collaboration between remote and frontline workers, he said, bridging the gap between the digital realm and physical factories during service calls and other work. “Usually, this takes time and it might involve airplane tickets and rental cars. But that changes when you apply metaverse concepts.” ...