Towards Digital Immersive Experiences for Collaborative Value Co-creation in Design

Abstract

The metaverse, which is often described as featuring a range of technologies for Extended Reality (XR) to consume and digest information from large and complex Digital Twins (DTs), is often discussed as one of the pillars of Industry 5.0 transformation. Immersive computer-generated environments based on DT and XR are highlighted as cornerstone technologies for the future of product and system design. While they are expected to become a commodity in the engineering toolbox in the next 20 years, little is known about how to set up and implement such environments to maximize innovation and collaboration capabilities in design. This article discusses the high-level gaps that remain before the vision of the metaverse in design is realized. It further draws a roadmap, based on four major tracks, that pinpoints research areas, methodological approaches and capabilities needed to develop and realise digital immersive experiences for collaborative value co-creation in design.