Into the metaverse: A promising future for energy, industrials, and resources

While there is no single, unified view of the metaverse, we define it as a network of three-dimensional virtual worlds that, in its ideal state, focuses on immersive experiences, digital economies, and social connections.

The energy, resources, and industrials (ER&I) sector is primed for transformation as the metaverse scales and is adopted by companies and users alike. There are many potential use cases for the ER&I sector. Here are some examples, organized under our five fields of play.

1. Learning: Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) capabilities can be used to onboard, train, or upskill employees in immersive, safe, and controlled environments, without the need for travel or expensive equipment. This can be especially useful for training employees for work in dangerous or remote locations.

2. Collaboration: The metaverse can be used to improve remote communication and collaboration within the ER&I sector. VR and AR can be used to create interactive, immersive visualizations of data to allow teams to better understand and analyze complex information. This can lead to more informed decision-making and faster problem-solving.

3. Enterprise simulations: While digital twin technology is not new, advanced versions on newer platforms make it an enabling technology for the metaverse. It can render immersive visualizations of factories, plants, rigs, or mines to simulate processes for predictive safety or optimization, visualize supply chains, and render 3D models to provide customer insight into product provenance and the environmental impact of products or projects. It can also be used for human behavior simulation, i.e., to test the impacts and efficiencies of new workflows.

4. Storefronts: Virtual storefronts offer a new way to engage B2B or B2C consumers with products and experiences to showcase sustainable supply chains, innovative products, upcoming releases, etc.

5. Reimagined experiences: VR and AR can be used to explore and map new resources, such as oil and gas reserves. This can help reduce the costs and risks associated with traditional exploration methods. VR and AR are also helpful in the remote maintenance and inspection of equipment, such as oil rigs and mining machinery. AR technologies can be further applied to augment surrounding technologies and equipment to provide more information and improve workforce efficiency.

The nascency of the metaverse means there are several factors for ER&I companies to consider before investing, including: 

• Technology and organizational changes required to ensure that metaverse applications deliver value

• Access to talent and readiness of workforce to upskill or retrain to leverage emergent technologies

• Costs and resources associated with making large-scale technology and organization upgrades

• Readiness of, and compliance with, legal and regulatory requirements (for data privacy and Intellectual Property, for example)

• Social and ethical implications and how they may impact stakeholders across the value chain 

The metaverse has the potential to revolutionize the way the ER&I sector operates by providing new tools for training, design, communication, and collaboration, and by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of operations by improving safety and reducing risks and costs.