UH — along with some industry partners — has announced plans to work on applications for the industrial metaverse. Image via Getty Images

The University of Houston is helping advance the industrial metaverse.

UH has teamed up with the AI Innovation Consortium, software company Nvidia, and oil and gas engineering and services company TechnipFMC to create applications for the industrial metaverse. The project is affiliated with the Artificial Intelligence Industry Incubator and Digital Oilfield Lab at UH’s campus in Sugar Land. The incubator and lab opened in 2020.

As VentureBeat defines it, the industrial metaverse can transform the way every physical asset — such as a building, plane, robot, or car — is created, assembled, and operated. The industrial metaverse marries the “real world” with technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud computing, edge computing, the internet of things (IoT), 5G, and extended reality (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality).

Global revenue for the industrial metaverse is projected to reach $540 billion by 2025. A key fixture of the industrial metaverse are “digital twins,” which are virtual replicas of physical entities or systems (such as factories).

Adam Berg, manager of learning solutions at TechnipFMC, has been working with the UH College of Technology and the AI Innovation Consortium to test an augmented reality program for management of upstream resources. TechnipFMC is a pioneer in extended reality.

One of the UH professors participating in this effort is David Crawley, professor of practice at the university’s College of Technology and a trustee of the AI Innovation Consortium. Last year, the consortium hosted an AI conference at the UH campus in Sugar Land. The consortium is a think tank whose members include UH, Pennsylvania State University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Louisville (Kentucky).

Crawley says the consortium’s “academic ecosystem” is critical to developing the workforce of the future.

Konrad Konarski, chairman of the consortium, says the group is building the world’s largest portfolio of industrial metaverse apps for the oilfield services industry and various manufacturing sectors.

“This means a maintenance manager, an operations technology expert, or whoever is responsible for a metaverse technology project will be able to pick up an augmented reality platform or a wearable computer, or simply a smartphone, and seamlessly interconnect their real-world operating environment to and from the metaverse,” Konarski, an AI and IoT expert, says in a news release.

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California company to launch Walmart drone delivery in Houston

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California-based Wing will soon touch down in Houston.

The drone delivery company has partnered with Walmart Supercenters in Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando and Tampa. According to a news release, Wing’s drone delivery services will be available at 100 Walmart stores across the selected markets by this time next year.

Wing also plans to expand to additional Walmart stores in Dallas-Fort Worth, where Wing and Walmart already serve customers from 18 Walmart Supercenters. Wing reports that it has completed thousands of deliveries from DFW-area Walmarts with an average fulfillment time of under 19 minutes. Wing and Walmart launched their first location in the Dallas area in the fall of 2023.

"The popularity of drone delivery in DFW is a testament not just to its convenience, but to the way this technology quickly becomes a part of everyday life,” Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said in the news release. “Walmart has been a strong partner that shares our commitment to innovation and is equally eager to bring this new type of service to many more households.”

Customers in Houston and the other markets in the latest expansion can visit wing.com/walmart to be notified when drone delivery becomes available in their area.

The service works similarly to any other online shopping platform, and users can select the exact location for the drone to drop off their package. Items are packaged in a specialized box that a Wing drone retrieves from Walmart. The drones cruise up to 65 mph and drop off the package outside a shopper's home.

“This is real drone delivery at scale,” Woodworth said in the release. “People all around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex have made drone delivery part of their normal shopping habits over the past year. Now we’re excited to share this ultra-fast delivery experience with millions more people across many more U.S. cities.”

Houston team develops innovative soft skeleton for kids with cerebral palsy

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A team from the NSF University of Houston Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology (UH BRAIN) Center and TIRR Memorial Hermann has introduced the MyoStep soft exoskeleton for children with cerebral palsy, according to a news release from UH.

The soft skeleton aims to address motor impairments caused by cerebral palsy that impact children’s ability to participate in physical activities, self-care and academics.

“The MyoStep project represents a significant advancement in the field of pediatric mobility aids, particularly for children with cerebral palsy,” Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, director of UH BRAIN and the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said in a news release.

The next-generation lightweight, soft exoskeleton was funded by the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) Award.

The MyoStep is made to be lightweight and discreetly fit under clothes. It includes a wireless sensor network embedded inside the smart and flexible fabrics that is the backbone of the suit and collects and sends real-time data about the user’s movements It also includes safety features with temperature monitoring and emergency shut-off mechanisms.

“By integrating cutting-edge technologies such as artificial muscles, smart fabrics, and a comprehensive sensor network, MyoStep offers a promising solution to the challenges faced by existing exoskeletons,” Contreras-Vidal said in a news release.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that impacts motor skills. It occurs in one to four out of every 1,000 births worldwide.

“What makes the MyoStep project so compelling is that it’s not just about the technology: it’s about restoring confidence, function, and hope,” Dr. Gerard Francisco, a clinical partner on the technology, The Wulfe Family Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UTHealth Houston and medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann, said in a news release. “This kind of innovation has the potential to dramatically improve quality of life, helping children move through the world with greater ease and dignity.”