Navigating the Fab in the Metaverse

The metaverse with the intricacies of AR/VR is widely advertised as a virtual factory of the future. More commonly, it is the darling of the gaming universe. Occasionally, the Metaverse, enriched by AI has some weighty implications because of its propensity for defense applications in the real world – no Call of Duty type of fantasy.

With the ongoing drive to bring manufacturing back to a global and local eco system of manufacturers and suppliers, the metaverse and its close cousin, the digital twin, have the potential to revolutionize how the industry manages risk. Whether in a test and assembly function/phase, or in the conveyer belt of the clean room, the ability of the metaverse to summon up the virtual reality of a complex hardware intensive physical universe - is invaluable. Robotics automation for location tracking and sensing, quality optimization, predictions of failures on the factory floor, can be simulated in a photo realistic replica of the clean room. Just as in a video game, the digital twin of the manufacturing environment stops short of conjuring up the perfect yield with a double-click.

The undisputed merits of optimizing the production process through the metaverse, are not the only reason to accelerate this union of the physical and the virtual. The interoperable nature of the metaverse makes it possible to recreate the intelligent edge with 5G networks to exert vigilance about physical and cyber security. By simulating the physical environment of the fab in the virtual metaverse, proprietary processes are glaringly obvious and new products can be gated with trusted traceability. In a world that warrants sanctions to curb unintended consequences of AI innovation, the metaverse lets you surveil the manufacturing environment remotely, with its intelligent automation and closed loop.

The metaverse is its own crystal ball. Processing the data produces actionable insights to predict failures post-production. With privileged access to trace a day in the life of a die from lab to fab, we have ring side seats to the virtual subway. Pre-empting supply chain shortages and managing global production risks may be the ultimate destination of the industrial metaverse.