Appointment at Binario F with Meta and Confindustria
A new session of Vagone FMD. From 01 to 100 in the Metaverse was held yesterday, Wednesday, November 22 at Binario F. The session was organized in collaboration with Meta and Confindustria, the main representative organization of Italian manufacturing and service companies, to explore the possible applications of the Metaverse in production processes.
Here is what the protagonists had to say.
INTRODUCTORY SESSION
Elisa Amorelli, Communications, Institutional Relations, and Social Marketing Coordinator, Fondazione Mondo Digitale. This, like the other meetings organized this year at Binario F as part of “FMD Vagone. From 01 to 100 in the Metaverse," is an integral part of our projects on innovation and digitalisation to fulfil the public service mission that our Honorary President Tullio De Mauro entrusted to us. Our mission is to help very young people to explore all the potential of technology for large industries, as well as SMEs and institutions. And, in this case, we seek to understand how the Metaverse can create significant opportunities for the business world.
Silvio La Torre, Digital Transformation and Supply Chains, Confindustria. We are interested in understanding how manufacturing can benefit from the Metaverse, starting from the fact that this sector was one of the early adopters of virtual reality between 2015 and 2016. An initial application could concern the elimination of limits linked to physical distances. During the pandemic, one of our associates, a highly specialized systems company, organized itself to carry out customer installations remotely. Think what that same company could provide with the Metaverse! I personally believe that this technology will enable a real business model to be implemented on a large scale. The impact for the world of production may be compared to what happened in accounting and management when electronic spreadsheets were introduced. Suddenly, the previous descriptive approach was transformed into the possibility of predictive calculation. And then I think of all the infinite possibilities still to be explored.
Andrea Di Leonardo, Technical Manager, Engineering. No company will be able to afford to ignore the Metaverse in the future. It’s a market that will grow by 33% by 2027, according to forecasts. Let's think of a world in which – as it already is today – digital tools are not disconnected from the physical world. The Metaverse uses languages that derive from gaming but concern the world of work. Related technology includes blockchain, xr, ai, digital twin, human-machine interaction, cloud, and cybersecurity. In 2022, companies connected to the Metaverse had a turnover of 65.5 billion dollars, a figure expected to grow by 39% between now and 2030. However, there are brakes to its development: one concerns the spread of terminals, the oculus, which are still perceived as expensive. In reality, this is a rather cultural obstacle and awareness needs to be raised about it. Then, there is hesitation related to cyberattacks, and we are already working hard on these security issues. AI itself, which is talked about so much, will give us a big hand in solving technical problems. And we expect technology to continue to evolve. The Metaverse can be applied to any context. We have currently addressed 7 main areas, ranging from consumers to businesses. One of the most recent experiences concerns the correction of incorrect procedures; training could also be an important field of application. We believe it is a very intelligent practice to identify opportunities and tailor them to specific cases to accustom users to a different way of interacting with software, no longer via PC but via visors.
Giulia Mastrorosato, Business Manager at TechStar, who was connected remotely, interacted as an avatar in an immersive environment with the avatar of Riccardo Russo, who was connected from Binario F. Digital twins allowed us to experience an immersive virtual industrial plant, created by TechStar, in which to interact with the employees of a company, but also with a virtual receptionist. Another use is technical training, with the novel element constituted by the object of the training reproduced in the metaverse before the eyes of participants.
After the experiential session organised by Edoardo Mancini, there was a brainstorming session.
BRAINSTORMING
Tancredi Proverbio, Mimit. For the sector in which I work, the public administration, digitalisation poses a particular difficulty; however, the metaverse seems to really be an interesting proposal. I am referring, for example, to the possibility of avoiding travel during meetings with colleagues.
Valerio Addis, Mimit. It has exceeded my expectations. It will soon become a widespread technology. I can't immediately visualize its use, but the possibilities are many.
Silvio La Torre, Confindustria. It’s a form of technology that will be increasingly improved by technology.
Michele D’Ambrosio, Confindustria. It seems interesting for uses such as maintenance, where it is very useful to visualize the object and have the possibility of reading codes and model names. It could also help in dealing with situations that are not easy to access. Moreover, it will also allow us to see a production line that has only been designed but not built.
Aniello Gentile, Csit. I also work with the cloud and therefore I imagine that one of the possible applications will be to preserve company data assets. I think about how many young people will be able to use this technology and it will be important to make sure they perceive the situation as virtual, unlike physical reality. It is important to explain the Metaverse well to make people understand the difference between access to virtual environments and environments that actually exist in the physical world.
Antonio Truglio, Unindustria. The unknown variables are linked to the cost of this technology and the method of its integration into already consolidated production processes.
Diana Giorgio, journalist. It is a very interesting experience in terms of entertainment, but I also appreciate its utility in terms of archiving. I identify an interest in the tourism sector with the possibility of viewing environments and structures in distant places before finalizing purchases and travel choices.
