Ericsson, Volvo, Airtel Partner on XR, Digital Twin Tech for Manufacturing

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Ericsson, Volvo Group, and Bharti Airtel on Monday announced their research partnership to explore potential prospects of Extended Reality (XR), Digital Twin technologies and AI in the manufacturing sector.

Through the use of 5G and 5G Advanced, this partnership seeks to transform industrial operations, improve workforce training, and enable real-time process optimisation, a company statement said.

"The research engagement, to be conducted at the Volvo Group Factory and Volvo Group's R&D Centre in Bengaluru, will explore futuristic Industrial Metaverse applications, including Human and Machine interaction and collaboration - use cases that will blend the physical and digital worlds," it said.

The insights from this engagement will enhance efficiency and drive innovation in the manufacturing sector by providing a digital platform for immersive training and real-time process optimisation, leveraging AI technologies, it added.

"By combining our expertise in network technology with cutting-edge XR applications, we are creating an ecosystem that will help industries to transform manufacturing. The research insights will be instrumental in shaping the future of industrial digitalisation, not just in India but globally," Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India, said.

A key part of this partnership will be the deployment and exploration of Airtel's 5G advanced network as the foundation for industrial XR applications. It will test 'what if' scenarios and optimise production workflows without disrupting actual operations.

5G has the potential to enable differentiated connectivity for real-time simulations, design prototyping, and immersive training across multiple factory and industrial sites, the statement said.

Airtel Business Director and CEO Sharat Sinha said the telecom operator's high-speed, low-latency 5G network will redefine the manufacturing sector by enabling real-time XR applications and will unlock new revenue streams.

Beyond operational efficiencies, the collaboration will play its part in supporting the path to Industry 4.0 and beyond while also offering opportunities to unlock new revenue streams and business models for the telcos, it said.

"This transformation also includes the way we work and collaborate across our industrial and R&D sites. 5G, coupled with Extended Reality applications, will help foster innovation as well as collaboration between our sites and engineers, in real-time, through the power of connectivity and digitalisation backed by advanced AI technologies," said Kamal Bali, President and MD, Volvo Group India.