According to a study carried out by Nokia and EY, industrial metaverses are exceeding users’ expectations.

The joint study has found that early metaverse adopters are already reporting benefits, with CAPEX reduction (15%), sustainability (10%) and safety (9%) showing largest improvements.

The study incorporates the opinions of 860 company representatives from four industry sectors in the US, Brazil, UK, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The sectors are automotive; industrial goods and manufacturing; transportation, supply chain and logistics; and power and utilities.

According to the study, companies believe in the power of the metaverse. Only 2% of respondents see the metaverse as a buzzword or a fad, while 58% of companies with future metaverse plans have already deployed or piloted at least one metaverse-related use case. Nearly all (94%) of those who have yet to begin their metaverse journey plan to do so in the next two years.

Companies also say the industrial metaverse is creating substantial business value. On average, 80% of those who have already implemented metaverse use cases believe they will have a significant or transformational impact on the way they do business. Nearly all (96%) respondents see how, by mixing physical and virtual use cases, the metaverse brings additional innovative capabilities that will allow them to accelerate the deployment, adoption and monetisation of Industry 4.0 for their business.

In terms of geography, the US (65%), UK (64%) and Brazil (63%) are currently leading the way when it comes to having deployed or piloted at least one industrial or enterprise metaverse use case. The average in Germany was 53% while Asia Pacific is less advanced (Japan, 49%; South Korea, 49%).

When asked which use cases they most expect to deliver transformative value, enterprises saw the highest 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 enhance product design and processes.

When deploying metaverse use cases, companies clearly appreciate the need for sufficient infrastructure and robust analytical capabilities. Respondents placed highest importance on the key technical enablers that are truly foundational to meeting the demands of such use cases – cloud computing (72%), AI/ML (70%) and network connectivity (68-70%). Given the need for further technical expertise in house, at this stage enterprises are relying on a range of partners to close capability gaps and deploy use cases.

Vincent Douin, Executive Director, Business Consulting and Business Transformation, Ernst & Young LLP, said: “The industrial and enterprise metaverses are here, this study shows the clear appetite for these technologies such as extended reality and digital twins to achieve business goals. We are already seeing many organisations going above and beyond the planning stages and recognising tangible benefits from their initial implementations.”

Thierry Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research, Nokia, said: “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.”