Data Fabric for Industrial Metaverse

Abhishek Kumar, Lauri Lovén, Susanna Pirttikangas, Sasu Tarkoma

Abstract: The concept of a distributed computing continuum promises to offer a unified view of computing, communication and data resources scattered across edge, fog, and cloud, and utilize them for real-time data analysis, reducing latency, and improving operational efficiency in industrial settings. This paper explores a special utility of this continuum, i.e. the role of the continuum in facilitating the creation of an industrial metaverse. The concept of the Industrial Metaverse provides a major opportunity for the seamless integration of digital and physical assets in industrial settings. The metaverse consists of multiple worlds, generally manifested as 3D environments enhanced by AR/VR/XR technologies. These virtual worlds can also interact with the physical world, merging realities. In practice, companies within a supply chain network are interconnected; similarly, many metaverse worlds owned by different companies can also be expected to interlink. This necessitates the development of an interconnection fabric for the computing continuum which takes the intricacies of the metaverse into account, i.e. facilitating not only the integration of visual, aural, and other interactive 3D content but also various modalities and non-functional attributes such as ownership and privacy. Furthermore, this interconnection must adhere to the business agreements governing content flow among Metaverse worlds owned by disparate companies. This paper presents a novel data fabric model designed specifically for the interconnection of various private metaverses, emphasizing its potential to enable seamless data integration, support real-time analytics, and ensure operational scalability.