Hyundai Motor and Unity partner to accelerate manufacturing innovation

Hyundai Motor Company and Unity, a platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content, announced a strategic partnership at CES 2022 to design and build a new metaverse roadmap and platform for Meta-Factory.

The companies signed an MOU virtually through which Unity is now Hyundai’s strategic partner, supporting its journey towards future mobility solutions. Smart manufacturing, AI training and study and autonomous driving simulation are included in the MOU.

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, participated in the virtual MOU signing. 

Through this partnership, Hyundai will build a Meta-Factory concept, a digital-twin of an actual factory, supported by a metaverse platform. Hyundai will use the Meta-Factory to test-run a factory virtually in order to calculate the optimized plant operation, and enabling plant managers to solve problems without physically visiting the plant.

“HMGICS will become a manufacturing innovation “game changer” through this world class Meta-Factory collaboration,” said  Chi, “and HMGICS will lead the future innovation by introducing various technologies that will transform mobility paradigm through human-centered value chain innovation.”

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, CEO of 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.”