A real-time VR-enabled digital twin framework for multi-user interaction in Industry 4.0

Abstract

Digital Twins (DTs) have become pivotal in Industry 4.0, providing a dynamic, real-time virtual representation of physical systems that enables advanced monitoring, predictive analysis, and operational optimization. Despite their widespread application in fields like manufacturing and robotics, integrating DTs with virtual reality (VR) for enhanced user interaction and multi-dimensional visualization remains challenging. This paper presents a flexible framework that bridges this gap by deploying a DT within a VR environment, specifically designed to enable real-time interaction and visualization of industrial processes. Focusing on the operation of a robotic arm manipulating a metal sheet passed through an English wheel (a specialized tool for sheet metal shaping), our framework demonstrates an efficient and scalable backend architecture that supports seamless multi-user interaction connected to a multi-user VR application. The system enables real-time data synchronization between the physical and virtual environments, enhancing the fidelity of the DT model for both visualization and control purposes. Through streamlined robust data flow management, automated processing and continuous integration and deployment, this framework contributes a versatile solution and novel methods for VR-based DTs, reinforcing their potential to drive predictive maintenance, operator training, and decision-making in Industry 4.0 applications.