The #metaverse is dead -- long live the metaverse. While the consumer metaverse was a hype with a steep rise and an even steeper fall, the basic idea behind the third generation of the internet is more relevant than ever. In the context of #Industry40, the #industrial #metaverse has gained a lot of traction in industry over the last year or so.
For me, the core idea if the industrial internet is to create a system of systems where different sub-models, digital twins, and domain-specific simulation systems work together as if they were all one - enabling new dimensions of planning, decision-making, and operations. BMW Group, Siemens, and NVIDIA are leading the way, and networks like the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) are creating the standards.
But what about THE system that is perhaps most central to our lives, a system that still requires a lot of innovation: Cities and urban planning.
In a recent trend study at RWTH Aachen University we explored this #urban #metaverse, which we define as an immersive 3D environment that seamlessly connects the physical city with its digital data and systems and all its users and stakeholders. This opens up immense opportunities to optimize the design and operation of urban infrastructure, improve citizen engagement, and strengthen the innovative capacity of cities.
Inspired by a conversation with Dieter Rehfeld, and in collaboration with Dr. Dina Franzen-Paustenbach and Michael Müller from regio iT gesellschaft für informationstechnologie mbh (an IT company focused on public infrastructure), we embarked on a journey to explore the #UrbanMetaverse. Along the way, my co-authors Luis Alexander Kaufhold, Dr. Christina Dienhart and I gained exciting insights into a possible future for our cities.
We looked at the Dubai Metaverse, the #Tampere Metaverse 2040, the #Seoul Metaverse or the Stadt Zug Metaverse pilot, but also at many use cases in #Aachen, #Bremen, #Hamburg, #Amsterdam and other forward-looking cities to see what is just hype (or clever PR) and what might stick.
In a deep dive, we studied use cases of the urban metaverse for planning and maintenance of public infrastructure (because we all wonder why this road has to be closed for so long and why these construction sites cannot be better coordinated).
Our study ends with four key recommendations for a successful path for an urban metaverse, including the need for a truly user-centered design: Applications must address the real needs (job-to-be-done) of citizens, administrators, stakeholders, and local businesses.
My conclusion: The urban metaverse is an exciting evolution of the smart city with enormous potential. Maybe we need another term (because "metaverse" is so 2022, but "#cityverse" is not much better), but, first of all, we need an integrated vision for sustainable urban innovation that truly builds on the open needs of its users.
The full study can be downloaded here: https://lnkd.in/ekWcjCSd
