Industrial Metaverse? Human-Centred Design for Collaborative Remote Maintenance and Training Using XR-Technologies

This paper outlines an ongoing three-year project aimed at enhancing remote maintenance with XR-technologies in the industrial sector, progressing from single-user to multi-user collaboration within the emerging industrial metaverse. With multiple iteration-cycles, this study addresses different sociological and technical challenges. The first year focuses on a single-user HoloLens2 solution, resulting in a local training application for cleaning an industrial machine. In year two, multi-user collaboration was introduced in a shared virtual space around a remote-rendered digital twin of a so called “granulator”, employing avatars, video streams and audio communication. User tests demonstrated effective remote collaboration, emphasizing trust. With this demonstrator, the capabilities of our 5G campus network were also evaluated. Overall, this study highlights the evolving role of Human-Computer Interaction in facilitating human-to-human communication through technology within possible industrial metaverse settings.