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"Virtual worlds - experiencing opportunities in the metaverse" was the title of the major technology conference organised by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs together with the Virtual Dimension Center in Stuttgart in May 2025. More than 3,000 visitors gathered information, made contacts and discovered new opportunities in the world of virtual and augmented reality. Since then, the topic has continued to gain momentum.
Review of the 2025 Congress
In terms of content, everything revolved around the so-called industrial metaverse, a digital environment in which real production processes are supplemented by virtual images - so-called digital twins. This allows machines, factories and processes to be simulated, analysed and optimised even before anything is implemented in the real world. The underlying technologies include virtual reality, augmented reality and extended reality, as well as topics such as digital twins and the use of artificial intelligence.
The focus was less on futuristic visions and more on concrete use cases in practice, for example in industry, education or medicine. The event was organised in a variety of ways: In addition to lectures, panel discussions and keynotes, there were also workshops, consulting services for companies and numerous networking opportunities. A central component was the accompanying trade fair with over 160 exhibitors demonstrating their technologies and solutions on site. Awards were also presented for innovative projects in the fields of AI and metaverse.
With more than 3,000 participants from Germany and abroad, the congress developed into an important platform for dialogue between business, science and start-ups. It was also part of XR EXPO 2025 and helped to position Stuttgart and Baden-Württemberg as an important location for immersive technologies and digital innovations. Overall, the event pursued the goal of supporting companies - especially SMEs - in entering new digital worlds and making the economic potential of the metaverse tangible.
New funding and lighthouse projects
At the beginning of March 2026, the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that it would be funding immersive technologies with a further 2.4 million euros. The focus is on the two projects "CyberLÄND" and "Industrial Metaverse Reallabor". Both are aimed at decisively advancing the digitalisation of the economy. But what exactly is behind the projects?
CyberLÄND
CyberLÄND is both a platform and a network project that connects companies, research institutions and service providers working on technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality and digital twins. The aim is to make the existing expertise in the state visible and improve networking so that concrete innovations and business models can emerge.
The project is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and is part of a larger strategy to strengthen the digital economy and take on a leading role in the field of "immersive technologies". It is not just about visions of the metaverse, but above all about practical applications - for example in industry, mechanical engineering, the creative industries or the education sector.
A central component of CyberLÄND is a digital platform: concrete use cases are collected there, companies can find suitable partners (matchmaking), find out about technological developments and receive support with funding programmes or questions about skilled workers.
In terms of content, CyberLÄND builds on an earlier study that analysed the opportunities the metaverse offers Baden-Württemberg and how politics and business can actively shape this development. CyberLÄND therefore serves as a strategic initiative and infrastructure to help make the metaverse economically viable and position Baden-Württemberg as an important location for these technologies. The funding amount is 400,000 euros.
Industrial metaverse real laboratory
The Industrial Metaverse Real Laboratory BW enables companies to try out new digital technologies under real-life conditions and put them into practice. It serves as a kind of experimental test environment in which real industry is combined with virtual technologies. The project is being implemented by several partners, including Fraunhofer Institutes, the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy and the ARENA2036 research campus in Stuttgart. The aim is to bring together existing expertise from different areas such as industry, research and the creative industries and to work together on specific applications.
Similar to CyberLÄND, the real laboratory takes a very practical approach to the topic of metaverse: Companies should not only learn about these technologies in theory, but also be able to test them directly and utilise them for their own processes. In concrete terms, this means that real use cases are developed together with companies - for example, how virtual reality, data models or AI can be used to make production more efficient, more flexible or more sustainable.
The term "real laboratory" is crucial here: unlike traditional research projects, this involves experiments under real-life conditions. New technologies are tested, adapted and further developed directly in cooperation between science and industry so that they can be turned into marketable solutions more quickly. The funding amount is 2 million euros.
Digital twins continue to be an international trend
International trends in the industrial metaverse clearly show that the topic has changed significantly: away from visionary "virtual worlds" and towards concrete industrial applications with measurable benefits. A key global trend is the merging of real industry and digital twins.
Companies are building virtual images of machines, factories or entire supply chains that are fed with data from the physical world in real time. This allows processes to be simulated, errors to be detected at an early stage and production processes to be optimised before real costs are incurred. This use of digital twins is now regarded as the "centrepiece" of the industrial metaverse and drives productivity and efficiency considerably.
The second major trend is closely linked to this: the integration of AI, IoT and cloud technologies. Modern industrial platforms combine sensor data (IoT), artificial intelligence and cloud or edge computing to control and analyse complex systems in real time. This creates highly networked, data-driven production environments that can adapt dynamically.
Another important trend is the practical use of XR technologies (VR, AR, mixed reality) in everyday working life. These are increasingly being used worldwide - for maintenance, training or design processes, for example. Employees can operate machines virtually, carry out training in safe simulations or work together on 3D models worldwide. This is particularly helpful in combating the shortage of skilled labour and increasing complexity in industry.
Importance for collaboration: Remote & Collaborative
The industrial metaverse is developing strongly in the direction of "remote & collaborative work". Teams work across locations in shared virtual environments, which facilitates global collaboration and reduces travelling. International corporations in particular are increasingly focussing on such collaborative platforms. D, but the topic is also relevant for SMEs. This brings with it a fundamental change in collaboration - both internally and with partners.
For SMEs, this development means above all that collaboration is no longer tied to a physical location. Instead of teams, suppliers or customers having to come together at one location, they can meet in virtual, shared workspaces - often in the form of 3D environments or digital twins of machines and products. There, they work simultaneously on the same data, models or processes as if they were on site.
For SMEs in Baden-Württemberg in particular - which are often closely integrated into industrial value chains - this opens up new opportunities for cross-company collaboration. In such virtual spaces, several companies can work on projects simultaneously without having to completely disclose their sensitive data. This is particularly relevant for SMEs, which often work with many specialised partners.
Example: A machine manufacturer, a supplier and a customer no longer have to meet physically. They can work together on a digital prototype in the industrial metaverse, modify it and test it directly. Such forms of collaboration go far beyond traditional video conferencing and enable genuine "working together on the object".
Added value: from hype to profitability with a high growth forecast
Collaboration in the metaverse results in numerous concrete added values:
- Collaboration becomes more efficient and faster as decisions can be made earlier, all participants have access to the same information at the same time and changes are immediately visible.
- Costs are reduced, for example for travelling or physical prototypes, as many things can be simulated virtually.
- It becomes easier to integrate external expertise, such as experts from other regions or countries.
- The skilled labour situation is improved, as SMEs can work more easily with specialists thanks to the new technologies without having to have them permanently on site. At the same time, virtual training environments enable employees to gain better qualifications.
These advantages have a direct positive impact on the competitive situation of SMEs in BW, which is particularly important for hidden champions. Despite limited resources, SMEs can cooperate on an equal footing with large corporations as knowledge, data and processes are brought together digitally. At the same time, investments must of course be made in the digital infrastructure.
However, there is a clear trend from hype to profitability. While the "classic" metaverse has lost importance in the consumer sector, the industrial metaverse continues to grow strongly because it delivers concrete operational benefits. The market is therefore forecast to grow at very high rates (in some cases over 30 - 40 % annually), which shows that companies see real added value here. The Metaverse Congress 2025 has therefore undoubtedly helped to pave the way for the metaverse in practice.
