GTC ’24: NVIDIA CEO Outlines Spatial Computing Partners

Today, during NVIDIA GTC’s opening keynote, the firm’s CEO, Jensen Huang, took to the stage to highlight, among other breaking news, such as genAI and robotic tools, some of the firms that are helping to accelerate the presence of XR/spatial computing solutions in the workplace, namely partners that are leveraging or are helping to boost the NVIDIA Omniverse platform for creating enterprise-ready digital twin workflows.

“The future of heavy industries starts as a digital twin,” said Jensen. The CEO also explained that NVIDIA’s digital twin and AI platforms unite to initiate the next generation of industrial workflows, such as helping robots navigate and understand factory environments via virtual simulations.

Jensen added:

Once you get Omniverse connected into your workflow, your ecosystem, from the beginning of your design to engineering, to manufacturing, planning, all the way to digital twin operations. Once you connect it all together, it’s insane how much productivity you can get. It’s really just wonderful.

NVIDIA is working to optimize the Omniverse platform for its industry partners by providing cloud-based APIs which empower clients with digital twin workflows; Huang explained that “everything manufactured will have digital twins,” Jensen also noted that Omniverse is the operating system for “building and operating physically realistic digital twins,” that clients can use for design processes, automation workflows, or even predictive weather solutions.

The firm highlighted how it is expanding the Omniverse platform with new cloud integration that optimizes the service for headsets and other devices, with Vision Pro leading the race. Moreover, during its Vision Pro showcase, the firm highlighted how it is working closely with long-time partners like Wistron to help end-users understand and leverage the emerging service using Vision Pro devices.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the firm’s Omniverse partners and how each firm is helping NVIDIA distribute Omniverse into today’s forward-thinking workplaces.

Siemens

Siemens is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA by adopting Omniverse Cloud as part of Siemens’ Xcelerator platform for developing industrial digital twins and automation tools. Omniverse is landing on Siemens Teamcenter X cloud-based product lifecycle management (PLM) software, allowing workers to leverage genAI tools to develop enterprise digital twins.

Jensen added:

We have a great partnership with Siemens. Siemens is the world’s largest industrial engineering and operations platform. You’re seeing so many different companies in the industrial space [and] heavy industries is one of the final frontiers of it. We finally now have the necessary technology to go and make a real impact. Siemens is building [the] industrial Metaverse, and today, we’re announcing that Siemens is connecting their crown jewel, Xcelerator, to NVIDIA [Omniverse].

Siemens is investing massive time and capital into an industrial Metaverse ecosystem valued at roughly €2 billion, with an accompanying plan to allocate €1 billion to build facilities, as reported late last year. Siemens also aims to expedite growth, innovation, and resilience with its XR technologies via its industrial Metaverse journey; with the €2 billion investment, Siemens and its partners will develop innovation labs, education centres, manufacturing, and other verticals for Industry 4.0.

Siemens started to highlight its work with NVIDIA last year when it first included digital twin technology into its workflows. In April last year, Siemens announced it would leverage NVIDIA’s Omniverse platform to create digital twins of FREYR’s gigafactories – a partner developing batteries.

Today. Roland Busch, the President and CEO of Siemens AG, also added:

Through the NVIDIA Omniverse API, Siemens empowers customers with generative AI to make their physics-based digital twins even more immersive. This will help everybody to design, build and test next-generation products, manufacturing processes and factories virtually before they are built in the physical world. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens’ digital twin technology is enabling companies around the world to become more competitive, resilient and sustainable.

Microsoft

Microsoft is working to help NVIDIA optimize Omniverse Cloud. The leading computing firm is providing NVIDIA with Azure support that further supports its cloud operations while delivering high-quality digital twin services to end-users, which require less computing power.

Omniverse Cloud APIs will land on Microsoft Azure later in 2024. Andy Pratt, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Emerging Technologies, said the “next era of industrial digitalization has arrived.”

Pratt also added:

With NVIDIA Omniverse APIs on Microsoft Azure, organizations across industries and around the world can connect, collaborate and enhance their existing tools to create the next wave of AI-enabled digital twins.

Moreover, during the event’s keynote, Jensen noted how NVIDIA Omniverse will be hosted on Microsoft Azure – “all of this is deeply integrated and deeply connected with Microsoft,” Jensen remarked.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) primarily leverages NVIDIA’s recent AI innovations, such as its new CUDA hardware solution for optimizing AI workflows. However, AWS also leverages Omniverse to create innovative new XR-based use cases.

Omniverse will seemingly have an increased presence within AWS spatial computing workflows, using digital twins, simulations, and immersive spaces to help train and implement the future of industrial robotic solutions.

During the opening GTC keynote, Jensen explained that AWS/Amazon Robotics is working with NVIDIA, using OpenUSD file types and Omniverse Cloud services to accelerate its AI/robotics ambitions.

Wistron

As noted, Wistron is leveraging Omniverse Cloud and Vision Pro headsets to help with factory previews and digital visualizations. During the keynote, NVIDIA highlighted further how the partner is leveraging Omniverse to improve internal workflows.

According to the firm, Wistron is using NVIDIA SDKs and APIs to test and optimize factory layouts digitally and applying related simulation data, which led to an increase in worker efficiency by roughly 51 per cent.

Moreover, during factory construction workflows, Wistron leverages Omniverse to create digital twins of potential factory layouts to identify and fix discrepancies early and before they can affect real operations.

NVIDIA also notes that the Omniverse integration enables Wistron to reduce end-to-end cycle times by 50 per cent and defect rates by 40 per cent.

Other Partners

NVIDIA, unsurprisingly and due to the firm’s monumental presence, is working with a vast list of partners to leverage its Omniverse platform. Some other end-users include Nissan, Ansys, Cadence, and Dassault Systèmes, all of which are leveraging Omniverse today to influence the future of work.

Moreover, NVIDIA’s broader emerging technology services, namely robotics and genAI solutions, also are experiencing a comprehensive list of partners helping to optimize NVIDIA workplace products; some partners include but are not limited to Google Cloud, Meta, Cisco, and SAP.