LAS VEGAS and SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 6, 2022 – Hyundai Motor Company, the global mobility innovator, and Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D content, today announced at CES 2022 a partnership to jointly design and build a new metaverse roadmap and platform for Meta-Factory.
The companies held a virtual MOU signing ceremony with Youngcho Chi, President and Chief Innovation Officer of Hyundai Motor Group, Hong Bum Jung, Senior Vice President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS), Jules Shumaker, Senior Vice President, Revenue, Create Solutions, Unity and Dave Rhodes, Senior Vice President of Digital Twin, Unity, participating.
Through this MOU, Unity becomes a strategic partner to Hyundai, supporting its vision of becoming the leader in future mobility solutions. The MOU pertains to the fields of smart manufacturing, AI training and study as well as autonomous driving simulation.
The partnership will realize Hyundai’s vision of becoming the first mobility innovator to build a Meta-Factory concept, a digital-twin of an actual factory, supported by a metaverse platform. The Meta-Factory will allow Hyundai to test-run a factory virtually in order to calculate the optimized plant operation, and enable plant managers to solve problems without having to physically visit the plant.
Hyundai plans to first apply the Meta-Factory concept to the HMGICS facility, supporting the Group’s initiative to create an open innovation hub for research and development.
“Real-time digital twins will permanently change how we live, work, shop and make a positive impact on our planet, representing a significant component of what is often referred to as the metaverse,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Unity. “Hyundai’s vision for the future, including the digital twin of factory operations, represents a significant technological step forward in manufacturing with unlimited potential in its efficiency.”