What is the "metaverse"? How far is it from China Steel? This needs to start with a concept we are relatively familiar with - the digital twin.
In layman's terms, a digital twin is to clone some things in the real world into the corresponding virtual world through digital technology, so that we can carry out various experiments and attempts in the virtual world to provide decision-making for real-world applications. . The steel industry has already had a large number of application practices in the field of digital twin technology. For example, Zhongtian Iron and Steel invested nearly 10 million yuan in September 2020 to build one of the first 5G pilot demonstration digital factories in the country - San Steel "5G + Digital". The "factory" includes the digital twin system of the whole plant; the intelligent collaborative R&D platform of Maanshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. can realize the digital twin of product design; and so on.
Although digital twins and "metaverse" have some very similar concepts in concept, and many people even regard "metaverse" as an upgraded version of digital twin technology, there are obvious differences between the two. There is no authoritative definition of "metaverse" yet, but the mainstream view is that, unlike digital twin technology, "metaverse" is a space, a new type of Internet application and social form that integrates a variety of new technologies. .
In fact, no matter whether the "metaverse" is a time concept or a space concept, for now, it is relatively far away from industries such as steel. From the perspective of some applications of digital twin technology in the steel industry, digital twin technology emphasizes the interaction between objects or data in the virtual and real spaces; the "metaverse" emphasizes the human being in the virtual and real spaces. interaction, that is, emphasizing the digital existence of people.
From the concept of "metaverse" to the beginning of penetration in the field of life, changing people's lives, and then entering the industrial field to change the operation mode of enterprises, all this is still far away. Not to mention that it also involves issues such as ethical and moral hazard, state control and so on. "Metaverse" is a kind of future. What we can do is to continue to pay attention, maintain awe, and take the initiative at critical moments.
