Not too long ago, when BMW needed to retool a factory for a new car model, the only way to test whether the chassis would glide through the assembly line was to fly in a team and physically guide the car’s body through the production floor—taking notes on where things went wrong or got stuck. It was time-consuming, expensive, and definitely not the most efficient process.
Fast forward to today, and the game has completely changed. Now, process engineers can run detailed simulations using a digital twin of the entire factory. With just a 3D model of the car, they can test the entire assembly virtually—spotting issues long before any physical setup even begins. This smart shift saves both time and money.
Welcome to the real power of the industrial metaverse. While many associate the metaverse with virtual meetings, digital hangouts, or playing poker with friends using avatars (remember when Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021?), it turns out that manufacturing is where this technology truly shines. It’s not just a flashy concept anymore—it’s a practical, money-saving tool that’s revolutionizing how industries build, test, and innovate.
While the consumer-facing metaverse might have hit a few bumps in the road, the industrial metaverse is gaining serious momentum—and fast. According to a World Economic Forum report, it’s projected to be worth a whopping $100 billion globally by 2030.
That’s because, unlike the avatar-filled social worlds we imagined, the industrial metaverse is grounded in real, practical tech—like simulations, sensors, augmented reality, and 3D modeling. Think of it as a supercharged version of digital transformation, where the physical world meets a smart, digital twin.
Varvn Aryacetas, who leads AI strategy and innovation at Deloitte in the UK, has a more down-to-earth way of describing it: “spatial computing.” In simple terms, it’s all about creating digital versions of real-world environments—like factories or training spaces—and using them to design, test, or train without ever touching a physical object. It’s like having a crystal ball for engineering and operations.
Back in 2022, Nvidia (yes, the same company behind many of your favorite video games and now a big name in AI) introduced Omniverse—a suite of tools made to build simulations, run digital twins, and drive automation. It’s become one of the leading platforms for powering the industrial metaverse.
As Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia’s VP of Omniverse and simulation tech, puts it, “Representing the real world inside a computer simulation is incredibly useful for a ton of things.” And when it comes to building autonomous systems—robots, smart machines, or AI-powered operations—it’s not just useful, it’s essential.
So while the dream of social VR worlds might be cooling off, the industrial side of the metaverse is just heating up—and changing the future of work, training, and design as we know it.
Big brands aren’t just dabbling in the industrial metaverse—they’re diving in headfirst. Take Lowe’s, for example. The home improvement giant is using digital twins to test new store layouts virtually before rolling them out in the real world. That means fewer headaches, better designs, and smoother operations from day one.
Then there’s Zaha Hadid Architects, the renowned design firm known for its futuristic buildings. They’re embracing virtual models for seamless collaboration, letting teams around the globe work together in the same digital space—no flights or endless emails required.
Amazon is getting in on the action too, simulating its massive warehouses in a virtual environment where digital robots can learn the ropes before ever hitting the real floors. It’s like sending them to robot bootcamp—minus the risk of bumping into shelves.
BMW is another powerhouse leading the charge. The company has built detailed virtual twins of all its manufacturing sites, including its state-of-the-art facility in Debrecen, Hungary. Before even breaking ground, the entire plant was planned, tested, and optimized in the digital world.
To make this happen, BMW packed its virtual factories with everything from 3D car models to people and machinery. They used OpenUSD, a flexible open-source format originally created by Pixar, to build it all out. Omniverse laid the groundwork, and BMW layered in its own tech to customize the experience. As Matthias Mayr, BMW’s virtual factory expert, puts it, this level of detail and planning is helping the brand move faster, smarter, and more confidently into the future.
“If you imagine a factory so big it takes 30 minutes just to walk from one end to the other, then you can imagine how massive the virtual model must be too,” says Matthias Mayr of BMW. That’s exactly why BMW turned to a company rooted in gaming—these folks are pros at rendering immersive, interactive environments.
In fact, early versions of BMW’s virtual factory even let people move around using the classic gamer-friendly WASD keyboard controls. Eventually, they switched to a simpler point-and-click setup, kind of like navigating Google Street View, so that anyone—tech-savvy or not—could easily explore the factory layout.
But it doesn’t stop there. BMW also uses Omniverse to collaborate on car designs and offer realistic customization previews for customers. One of the biggest game-changers, though, is using this tech to model and test production lines. Every new vehicle launch requires changes on the factory floor, and in the past, figuring out the assembly process was a huge challenge. Different teams held pieces of the puzzle—production crews knew the workflows, suppliers had part specs, and architects had building layouts. Delays or errors meant big costs. As Nvidia’s Rev Lebaredian puts it, “The later you find a problem, the worse it is.”
Now, BMW solves many of those issues before they happen—virtually. A central digital space holds all the necessary data, bringing everyone onto the same page early on. Of course, there’s still a bit of real-world work involved. To create the virtual model, a person literally runs through the factory with a laser scanner strapped on to collect detailed spatial data.
Then, design engineers build 3D models for every stage of the car’s assembly, right down to how long it takes a real worker to attach a specific part. With all of this info, BMW can test the entire process virtually—machines, robots, people, and all—before anything changes in the physical factory.
At the heart of it, BMW’s goal is simple: avoid costly errors before they happen. For example—does that new machine actually fit where it’s supposed to go? But it’s not just about preventing mistakes; it’s also about making the production line smarter.
The digital factory setup allows teams to fine-tune layouts—like shifting a rack of parts closer to an assembly station to save time and reduce walking for workers. “You can optimize first and gain a lot of efficiency in the first production,” explains Matthias Mayr. “It’s less error-prone and leads to fewer mistakes during the construction phase.”
And since this entire system is built on Nvidia’s Omniverse platform, it’s no surprise that AI is starting to play a bigger role. BMW is already using generative AI to help navigate their sprawling digital factories.
These models are so large that it can still take a person to point out the exact spot you need—but with AI, that could soon become a thing of the past. Eventually, the AI could help optimize entire production lines by learning from data across all BMW factories. “Because you have the whole data available—not just from one plant—it will be able to make good suggestions,” says Mayr. So, if one facility figures out a better way to do something, that insight can be shared across the board.
And it doesn’t stop there. The Omniverse is also being used to test out robotics and autonomous systems before they ever touch the real production floor. Even better, it can generate synthetic data—virtual training simulations for robots, similar to how AI for self-driving cars is trained on simulated video. As Rev Lebaredian puts it, “Real-world experience isn’t going to come mostly from the real world—it comes from simulation.”
In short, the future of smart manufacturing is here—and it’s running test laps in the metaverse.