Is Siemens’ industrial Metaverse the next big thing? CTO Peter Koerte explains

It was earlier this year that Siemens AG announced its partnership with NVIDIA to enable an industrial Metaverse and increase use of AI-driven digital twin technology that will help better industrial automation.

Our tech editor, Aayush Ailawadi spoke to the man who is leading Siemens into a new era of manufacturing, Siemens’s chief technology officer, Peter Koerte.

Koerte, in this tell-all chat, explains how the revolution of industries is all set to begin from Berlin’s Siemensttadt. He said, "The future that we want to build is Siemensttadt Square, so the 2.0 like, so the next generation, how do we do that by creating, first and foremost, a digital trend? So, we really look at, of course, what is existing today, we built a digital model, and then we start to optimize it, because then we can see who's working where, what kind of buildings do we need, how is the traffic flow going to be, and all of that we simulate in the digital twins.”

Koerte also explained that the company is working with India because, “To build a Metaverse, you need a lot. Like, strong computer chips, rendering and real-time simulations and there are other purposes also that get fulfilled by working with India.”

Metaverse & 5G

Koerte believes latency is absolutely paramount to Metaverse. He said, "Metaverse has three things. It's immersive, so it feels real. Second, it's collaborative so you and I, we can work together. And the third one is real time. You only can travel as fast as the speed of light. Therefore, this is where we are heading and 5G is paramount because 5G is ultra-fast and it's ultra-reliable.”

He also explained, “If you have an AGV - an autonomous guided vehicle, you don't want to lose contact and the AGV crashes into the other car, right? So, therefore, they need to be ultra-reliable. So, it's not just the speed, but also the reliability, and 5G is great.”

Metaverse: a reality soon?

Koerte said, “The digital twins are already there. We have built a digital twin of our own factory. It’s just a matter of time until finally, we are going to move some shape or form into the Metaverse.”