Microsoft Is Currently Selling Metaverse and Making Robots With Kawasaki

Joaquin Victor Tacla, Tech Times 25 May 2022, 12:05 am

The metaverse is still in the works and whether you are ready to immerse yourself in the virtual reality or not, it is coming sooner than you think.

(Photo : Microsoft.com)

From Robots to Ketchup

Microsoft revealed on Tuesday that Kawasaki is now one of its customers for the tech company's "industrial metaverse"- a factory where workers wear a HoloLens headset to ramp up production and manage supply chains. But this time, Kawasaki will use the headsets to build robots.

HoloLens was first released in 2016, it gives users the chance to experience an augmented reality overlayed with digital imagery in an actual world environment. Microsoft's industrial metaverse is employing all of the company's technologies such as cloud computing to aid workers and managers in creating products at a faster rate.

This unique metaverse is aimed to create Microsoft's "digital twin" of a workspace, which is beneficial in ramping up processes such as repairs and creating new manufacturing lines. For instance, when a worker needs a repair person to fix something, their HoloLens can be used to chat with workers on-site and guide them through the repair processes instead of taking the manual route.

Microsoft also said that the digital twin can speed up new production if needed especially if the company is facing supply chain issues.

Kawasaki is joining Heinz, which announced earlier that it would be employing the Microsoft industrial metaverse in ketchup factories, and Boeing will also be one of the manufacturing partners.

Hence, Microsoft is now helping companies make everything from robots to ketchup.

"Unblock Supply Chain Challenge"

Microsoft customers have long been requesting for the company to build a metaverse concept. In a statement with CNBC, Microsoft's corporate vice president of mixed reality Jessica Hawk said that the industrial metaverse is a glimpse of the possibilities of technology before it becomes fully immersive in the future.

"These are real world problems that these companies are dealing with ... so having a technology solution that can help unblock the supply chain challenge, for example, is incredibly impactful," Hawk said.

Microsoft's application of the metaverse is rather interesting since the prospects of virtual reality are often associated with a sci-fi future where everyone is socializing and playing digitally. But now, the company is setting an example of how it can be applied in business production.

Microsoft is already gaining a head start against Meta since it is currently selling mixed reality technology to companies while enabling their developers to have their own metaverse experiences as well.

Hawk added that there is differentiation with their company's strategy since they are including multiple devices and platforms where the metaverse can be experienced.

This means that Microsoft's metaverse products will also work on 2D screens, including new features added to Microsoft Teams chat app where users can appear as digital avatars. These features could be present in their headsets in the future.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla