Architecture for data-centric and semantic-enhanced industrial metaverse : Bridging physical factories and virtual landscape

The metaverse paradigm has recently captured increasing scholarly and industrial attention, particularly within the scope of human-centric Industry 5.0. In this context, the metaverse promises a transformative confluence of the physical and digital realms, offering unparalleled avenues for human augmentation in industrial applications. Yet, while several conceptual metaverse architectures and illustrative case studies have emerged, they scarcely delve deep into the nuanced practice of cultivating the industrial metaverse for factory-scale applications. Addressing this research gap, this work introduces a novel architecture for a data-centric and semantic-enhanced industrial metaverse. The architecture intricately weaves the physical factory domain with the metaverse, fortified by a suite of ten modules, facilitating data flow and knowledge synchronization with the integration of digital twins and semantic models. The practical application and relevance of this architecture are further accentuated through a case study focused on in-plant material flow tracking. Emerging results underline that our architecture encapsulates the essential components for constructing a factory-scale industrial metaverse. Future research will be geared towards a comprehensive validation of the proposed metaverse architecture, culminating in tangible implementations across diverse industrial contexts.