The industrial metaverse
Lori Hufford, Vice President, Engineering Collaboration, Bentley Systems, spoke to Danielle Kenneally
AS vice president of engineering collaboration at Bentley systems, Lori Hufford is passionate about the latest developments in infrastructure engineering software.
Using her 25-plus years’ experience in technology, Lori and her team are focused on delivering products that advance the efficiency, effectiveness and transformation of infrastructure engineering firms by becoming more data-centric. Her drive has seen the release of several collaborative Bentley applications, including ProjectWise, which is powered by iTwin – part of the Bentley Infrastructure Cloud. It’s Lori’s passion, focus and drive that is helping to advance infrastructure design through the use of digital twins. Here, she talks to the Civil Engineering Surveyor’s Danielle Kenneally about the data driven future of the industry – the industrial metaverse.
What is the industrial metaverse and how does this relate to engineering and in particular infrastructure?
The industrial metaverse is redefining how people and machines collaborate using immersive technologies. It is yet to arrive completely, however, we can definitely see its outlines. In the context of infrastructure, those outlines include immersive technologies that are in use now, such as digital twins, which provide a 3D geospatial user experience. As with the adoption of all immersive technologies, it does need to meet a criteria to ensure it is being used safely, so, it’s got to have real-time interaction with real-time data, such as from IoT sensors, and it has to be engineering grade quality.
The industrial metaverse is redefining how people and machines collaborate using immersive technologies. It is yet to arrive completely, however, we can definitely see its outlines.Within the entertainment industry, the metaverse doesn’t have to be millimetre accurate, but for it to be used in infrastructure, for engineering applications, it must be engineering grade. It also has to always be active and actively tracking changes, as well as interoperable and collaborative.
The iTwin Platform for example, is able to leverage NVIDIA’s Omniverse to create real-time simulations to empower that multiuser interaction through communication and collaboration. It’s this interoperability and collaboration that can optimise physical systems to improve sustainability and efficiency.
You were recently involved in a panel discussion for NVIDIA’s GTC Developer Conference titled ‘Are we there yet?A status check on the industrial metaverse’, tell us about this – what was its purpose and what did you hope viewers would take away from it?
I’ve had the great pleasure of participating in these panels for a couple of years now. It’s a great forum for open conversations with my contemporaries, including those from NVIDIA, BMW and Siemens. It enables us to discuss the tangible advancements that have been made, both by technology companies and with realworld adoption. The hope is that it helps viewers to access that industry knowledge of advancements.
The International Experimental Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER) project. Image courtesy of Brigantium Engineering.
What milestones has Bentley Systems accomplished in terms of industrial metaverse software?
Over the past few years we’ve productised capabilities to enable more infrastructure firms to benefit from leveraging the work that they’re already doing. At the 2022 Bentley Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital Awards event, we announced Bentley Infrastructure Cloud which encompasses ProjectWise for project deliveries, SYNCHRO for construction, and AssetWise for asset operations.
These enterprise systems leverage digital twin technologies powered by iTwin to open up data contained in engineering files through automated and intrinsic mapping to Bentley’s infrastructure schemas. By advancing these enterprise systems to become more fundamentally data-centric without disrupting those file-based workflows, Bentley Infrastructure Cloud is providing users opportunities to improve collaboration, productivity, and quality.
In November we introduced additional capabilities to the iTwin Platform to extend the scope and interoperability of infrastructure data to leverage digital twins in the design construction and assets operation workflow, such as iTwin Experience, iTwin IoT, and iTwin Capture. We also have our collaboration with NVIDIA on Bentley’s LumenRT for NVIDIA Omniverse which is the first engineering software application in the market built on Omniverse, a platform for creating and operating industrial metaverse applications.
It can leverage the iTwins that are created in Bentley Infrastructure Cloud or in iTwin Experience to enable real-time immersive 3D and 4D experiences to enhance the visualisation and simulation of infrastructure digital twins.
Do you have any real-world examples?
Over the past few years we’ve productised capabilities so that more infrastructure firms can benefit from leveraging the work that they’re already doing.
A great example is the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MnDOT’s ) TH 169 Redefine Elk River initiative designed by WSB. They wanted to share complex 3D model information among the design, construction, and asset management teams, but faced challenges updating the design model with the construction data and integrating the information with asset management systems.
Leveraging OpenRoads and iTwin, WSB imported data from MnDOT and other asset management systems into the design models and integrated them with the construction process data. The proof of concept demonstrates the value of a digital twin, providing real-time insight on the performance of 12 MnDOT asset classes for easier lifecycle maintenance and saving millions on project scoping assignments by identifying asset needs.
There were a number of companies who were part of the NVIDIA GTC Developer Conference, all sharing different industry gamechangers. How does Bentley’s software compare and do you think you’re on a level par, above the parapet or is there still more to do?
In the implementation of any sort of digital twin, all organisations have room to grow. We can see those outlines that I mentioned, of the industrial metaverse, but it’s not arrived completely and that’s what’s so exciting because there are opportunities to develop. I’m excited about working with leading infrastructure organisations to utilise the work that has been productised and then working with them to discover where we are going next.
What was the main driver for Bentley Systems in investing in the metaverse?
It’s got to be more expansive and collaborative to solve the real-world problems of today. This includes the increasing demand for infrastructure which meets economic community and sustainability goals, especially with today’s evolving hybrid workforce. The ability to immerse into the entire design, the entire construction project, and the entire built asset would be hugely beneficial. At Bentley we’re really focused on advancing infrastructure digital twins that open up the data contained in engineering files through that mapping to the Bentley infrastructure schema and the benefits this provides to the overall end-to-end lifecycle of infrastructure. We believe that investing in digital twins and therefore the industrial metaverse to evolve existing file-based workflows and augmenting them with datacentric workflows, is key.
Do you feel Bentley Systems is one of the first to embrace this interoperability or has industry as a whole welcomed this as part of a fast-changing industry?
As with the adoption of all immersive technologies, it does need to meet a criteria to ensure it is being used safely. One organisation cannot do it alone. No one organisation is going to be able to provide all of the applications needed to support the world’s infrastructure and that’s why a commitment to openness is key for Bentley. We’ve seen tremendous collaboration in recent times between leading technology organisations and industry partners. We’re able to collaborate with companies such as my esteemed GTC panel members from Siemens, NVIDIA, and BMW, both across technologies, as well as with industry partners and that is leading to some great advancements.
The iTwin Platform, for federating engineering data to establish infrastructure digital twins, with the NVIDIA Omniverse for AI enhanced visualisation and simulation, alongside Cesium for geospatial streaming is one example. We can take the best of each to leverage and validate the information and provide truly innovative solutions for infrastructure firms.
How does this work – do you build on relationships that you already have or are you continuously building new relationships?
It’s a combination. Of course, we have relationships, but we’re also always exploring how we can come up with new ideas. The work that was done on LumenRT for NVIDIA Omniverse was with a couple of key organisations within both Bentley Systems and NVIDIA. There’s always conversations about what is the art of the possible for us as large and diverse organisations aiming to bring the right technology to bear on any given problem that is facing users and infrastructure and then solve it.
Will the industrial metaverse become the go-to technology for ‘data-driven decision-making’ in industry applications?
It’s certainly going to be one of the technologies. The new generation of workers are hungry for technology and they want to be immersed, they expect it. The ITER project in Southern France has 35 nations collaborating on the build of the world’s largest Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. And while the official language on the project is English, there’s more than 45 native languages spoken in the head office.
My priority is to see infrastructure organisations and firms easily meet the world’s need for sustainable infrastructure by using technology to solve the problems and the increasing complexities that we’re all faced with in today’s societies.
It’s a challenge to make data-driven decisions. To overcome these language and communication barriers, Brigantium Engineering, the 4D planning and engineering specialists, is leveraging LumenRT for NVIDIA Omniverse to provide an interactive 4D model to outline the construction schedule and it is intuitively understood by everyone, vastly improving and streamlining communication. This one example shows that leading organisations are definitely looking to utilise the technology of the industrial metaverse for data-driven decisionmaking in industry applications.
What do you see as the current blockers to progress and how do you incorporate these into Bentley’s next phase of development priorities?
Language is a great example of a blocker that can be removed by using this type of technology. Adoption is key. I always talk people, process, and technology. Within infrastructure, ensuring digital twins are being synchronised is really the foundation for being able to leverage benefits at a larger scale. They’ve got to contain engineering grade quality 3D graphics that are also rich, aligned and structured band data reality contexts from drone photogrammetry.
They must be capable of being augmented with real-time, real-world conditions to track and visualise change. Synchronisation of these infrastructure digital twins has got to be easy and it’s got to leverage the existing file-based workflows of organisations.
The adoption of ISO 19650, for example, enables organisations that have implemented these standardised workflows to easily augment those existing file-based workflows with datacentric workflows. Focusing on this is the next big challenge in making sure that it is easy and one which Bentley is working on by productising the capabilities of Bentley Infrastructure Cloud.
What is your top priority for the future?
I’m really focused on delivering these products and combining with our fantastic user success organisation to enable organisations to see real benefits, such as those by WSB and the ITER project. My priority is to see infrastructure organisations and firms easily meet the world’s need for sustainable infrastructure by using technology to solve the problems and the increasing complexities that we’re all faced with in today’s societies. We have to bring technology to bear and we have to do it in a way that it’s easily adoptable to help all infrastructure projects meet today’s challenges.
Lori Hufford, Vice President, Engineering Collaboration, Bentley Systems, spoke to Danielle Kenneally