Apples and Oranges: the role of spatial computing in the industrial metaverse

In early 2024, when Apple Vision Pro first hit stores in the US, the tech world diverted its attention from the topic that had been dominating for almost two years – generative AI – and cast its eyes on the potential of immersive technology.

Of course, Apple has always had this power to capture the public’s imagination. Prior to its entry into the smartphone market, most mobile models still had buttons. The US tech giant also took tablets from being a vague idea on Star Trek into millions of households.

Six months on, however, and the zeitgeist seems to have moved back towards artificial intelligence and Vision Pro sales have reportedly underwhelmed. But businesses are still highly interested in the opportunities afforded by immersive technology, according to an expert from French telecoms giant Orange.

Morgan Bouchet is Orange’s global head of immersive and gen AI marketing, and he tells TI the French company has already began exploring the opportunities offered by the Vision Pro, even though it has (yet) to launch in Europe.

“We are exploring the Vision OS with our partners and our internal developers to be sure of all the opportunities and capabilities offered by this device,” he says when I ask him if Apple has moved the dial on immersive.

“We are working to explore what can be done for our own business clients. Large enterprises are already exploring use cases around digital twins, such as city management and factories, but also our own internal needs to connect spatial computing with our own offering.”

With Apple due to hold its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, rumours abound that the iPhone-maker will announce a global version of its spatial computer, likely to go on sale before the end of the year.

Orange has long been a partner of Apple’s having been one of the first European carriers to offer the first-generation iPhone in 2007. But Bouchet wouldn’t be drawn on what Apple is set to announce – only praising the doors that the Apple device opens for the future of VR/XR.

“We are very excited by it, it is a high-quality device, even if the price is very expensive,” he says. “But it is also the OS – we want to understand all the possibilities and opportunities presented by this platform.”

Big enterprises, according to Bouchet, are already working with Orange to develop solutions that can operate with the Vision Pro, but his interest goes beyond just the Californian vendor.

Training itself for others

Not only is Orange a technology supplier, but it is also one of France’s biggest employers, and its reach can be seen across the globe, serving around 287 million customers.

Before offering immersive technologies to b2b customers, Orange started using it internally – most notably as a way of training staff.

In its domestic market, the telco wanted to train its staff to better deal with uncivility and conflict on calls or in-store. It turned to VR service provider Pitchboy to train staff in how to validate appointments with customers and refine them.

Bouchet says: “Training is also an important use case. For example, we partnered with Belgium’s PitchBoy. We started working with this startup four years ago for our own employees to improve sales, training and to train staff on generative AI.

“This exploration internally is also a way for us to get an understanding of the different possibilities offered by the technology, so we can then help our clients to adopt these kinds of use cases.”

Another project that Orange has led on is the opening its first virtual store through its op-co in Spain, which has now merged with MasMovil.

The virtual metaverse store – which was opened in September 2022 – displays products from its handset vendor partners, as well as offering a 3D visualisation, accessing demos, promotions and the online store.

“VR commerce could be a way to minimise travel when going to one place or another,” notes Bouchet. “We are exploring this use-case in other countries, because when we discuss immersive products, we are looking beyond just VR and XR at other platforms, such as Fortnite and Roblox.”

These gaming platforms will be at the forefront of the metaverse, Bouchet claims, because gaming environments are “very advanced” in offering new kinds of experiences.

The fact that these platforms are already home to digitally native generations means they will play an integral role in metaverse adoption.

Bouchet also highlighted VR experiences, including its location-based Notre Dame experience, which Bouchet guided TechInformed around last year. It has since began offering a version of this experience through Meta Quest, meaning those who want to tour the Old Lady of Paris no longer need to visit  the French capital to learn about its history or the current restoration project.

Twins and data

One building block of the metaverse that Bouchet thinks will be vital for businesses is digital twins. Industries such as construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and transport have all led the way with digital twin adoption, leading Orange Business to launch its digital twin platform aimed at supporting Industry 4.0.

“More and more, we are seeing interest in digital twins,” he explains. “It is very valuable for the future and a key area of focus for Orange Innovation.”

Companies already using 3D models – he pointed to firms such as Airbus – will find it easier to move to the metaverse, he adds, because “they already have assets in 3D”.

Orange has already launched a digital twin platform that has seen success, especially in manufacturing. Here, the digital twin platform has been designed to address several use cases and it fits industry 4.0 use cases, such as tracking, recycling materials, predictive maintenance.

The Thing’in research platform is a data platform which, Orange claims,  maintains a thorough structural and semantic description of the environments, such as cities or buildings, that are leveraging connected devices (internet of things).

The platform produces a graph that plots data about people, objects (connected or unconnected), physical entities and relevant systems that, in the case of manufacturing, help create new business applications or streamline processes.

It is integrated into Orange’s digital twin platform – one example of this in action in a fabrication factory can be read here.

So why should a telco like Orange be driving this change? Are they just the connectivity provider, or is there a greater role for a business currently undergoing its own digital transformation journey?

“Collaborations are vital in the metaverse,” he answers. “Big companies are willing to develop metaverse projects, but it is on the telcos to provide the connectivity, security, and identity as well, to support these experiences.

“At the moment much of it is showcasing the possibilities, but we need to be able to scale these projects. It is very important for us to connect our enablers to every part of the wider metaverse vision. And we bring more than a 30-year legacy of doing that – integrating security and connectivity with technology.”

So, will the metaverse and spatial computing finally replace the mobile/ cell phones that have been a core part of Orange’s offering for the past three decades?

Taking a “long-term vision” is “necessary” he says coyly. “We see the real impact of the network and cloud solutions here, but it is a long-term vision to have everything in the cloud.”

The mobile will continue to be at the middle for “the next few years at least” though this could remain the same for a long time, he adds, due to latency and the need to process some things locally.