Nokia uses the metaverse to connect remote breweries, train aircraft techs

From beer breweries on opposite ends of the globe to aircraft technicians in isolated airports, telecoms infrastructure firm Nokia has been looking for ways to use the metaverse to aid remotely-located workers.

Nokia, who many remember as a manufacturer of consumer mobile devices, has since pivoted into developing technology and equipment that “delivers the internet.”

Robert Joyce, CTO of Nokia Oceania told Cointelegraph that part of those plans also includes delivering the Metaverse.

“Nokia set up two labs last year to really look at the Metaverse and the technologies that underpin the Metaverse.”

Last year, Nokia began collaborating with an Australian university to deliver a 5G-connected microbrewery using the metaverse, noted Joyce.

Using augmented reality, researchers from a brewery tech lab at the University of Technology Sydney have been working alongside researchers from a twin facility at Dortmund University in Germany.

“They actually do joint experiments where they brew beer, they change the process, the temperature, the timings, the volumes, the recipes […] and they feed back all of that brewing process into the digital twin,” he explained.

“Then they can actually simulate brewing in the digital twin so they can perfect the beer in the digital space.”

Meanwhile, in South Australia, Joyce said Nokia has been using the metaverse to potentially assist Cessna aircraft technicians at remote airports. 

“We worked with a company that had a virtual Cessna aircraft […] You’ve got a Cessna in front of you, and then you have an audio instruction in your ear to tell you how to change the wheel, or change a part on the engine,” said Joyce.

“We had a 5G connected Microsoft HoloLens and we were able to instruct people on how to service a Cessna using augmented reality in this case.”

Earlier this month, Nokia’s global chief strategy and technology officer Nishant Batra told the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the Metaverse will have the biggest immediate impact on industries, rather than the consumer market.

“Ports have begun using digital twins to track every container on their docks, no matter how deeply they are buried in stacks. Aerospace companies are building engines and fuselages in the digital world to simulate exactly how an aircraft will fly – long before they…