Unlikely industries such as mining and manufacturing find a home in metaverse

The first-use cases for the metaverse might go to fly-in-fly-out mining workers or security guards, says Sumir Bhatia, president of Lenovo ISG Asia Pacific.

Lenovo ISG Asia Pacific president Sumir Bhatia said there would likely be many failed attempts before companies developed successful metaverse use cases. Picture: AFP/Handout/Meta Connect

The first-use cases for the metaverse might go to fly-in-fly-out mining workers in rural Australia or security guards before the public, says Sumir Bhatia, president of Lenovo ISG Asia Pacific.

The Singapore-based executive, who oversees the group’s technology infrastructure in the region, said the technology was being picked up by mining companies, warehousing, manufacturers and security companies.

Crowd control companies were using simulated training grounds in the metaverse to prepare for and stop tragedies occurring at live events.

“I think in the next 12 to 18 months you will find some early adopters in the metaverse and after that is when it will get to mass usage across the world,” Mr Bhatia said.

An increase in demand for metaverse infrastructure has put the company on a path toward hiring 12,000 more people as the business looks to ramp up research and development.

“It’s still early stages but what customers want from Lenovo is a bit of expertise around this area of the metaverse. Many of our customers are really talking about a specific problem right now and (to get around that) there are proof of concepts that are being actually set up,” he said.

Mr Bhatia’s comments come after many companies in the entertainment industry have failed attempts to host concerts using metaverse platforms. Rather, it is lines of work with little association with the entertainment industry that are finding their feet in virtual platforms.

Lenovo ISG Asia Pacific president Sumir Bhatia.

Queensland Rugby League last year launched a metaverse partnership, selling NFTs which came with benefits including tickets to rugby league games as well as fan meet and greets. It is not known whether it was successful.

Mr Bhatia acknowledged there would likely be many failed attempts before companies developed successful metaverse use cases.

“With technology coming in hot, you need to adapt. You either will get disrupted, or you will be a disrupter,” he said.

Transport was another area that had taken to the metaverse to improve efficiency.

“Depending on who you talk to, anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent of food is wasted. Companies are looking at how they can transport trucks at the right time in order to reduce food wastage,” Mr Bhatia said. “Companies are also simulating different scenarios with traffic and seasonality to see how it affects their transport.”

Last year The Australian reported that Web3 technologies were being picked up by frontline services, with West Australian police last year striking a $1.7m deal with ASX-listed virtual reality developer xReality Group.

The technology included VR headsets, replica weapons with haptic technology and pre-programmed incidents that were too dangerous to practice with people.

HTC, which provided the VR goggles for xReality, has sold similar headsets to Australian Meat Processing Company, which uses the technology to simulate meat processing, as well as FLAIM Systems, which offers 40 different scenarios for firefighters to battle blazes.

Even the medical industry has picked up the use of virtual reality, with a study last year finding that students who completed arterial blood gas collection modules with the use of VR performed 32 per cent better than their peers.