The Dream of the Metaverse Is Dying. Manufacturing Is Keeping It Alive

It used to be that when BMW would refit a factory to build a new car, the only way the automaker could check if the chassis would fit through the production line was to fly a team out and physically push the body through the process, making note of any snags.

Now, process engineers can simply run a simulation, sending a 3D model of the car through a near-identical digital twin of the factory. Any mistakes are spotted before the production line is built, saving time and money.

Such is the power of the industrial metaverse. Forget sending your avatar to virtual meetings with remote colleagues or poker nights with distant friends, as Mark Zuckerberg envisioned in 2021 when he changed Facebook’s name to Meta; the metaverse ...