MetaStates: An Approach for Representing Human Workers Psychophysiological States in the Industrial Metaverse

Photo-realistic avatar is a modern term referring to the digital asset that represents a human in computer graphic advance systems such as video games and simulation tools. These avatars utilize the advances in graphic technologies on both software and hardware aspects. While photorealistic avatars are increasingly used in industrial simulations, representing human factors such as human workers internal states, remains a challenge. This article addresses this issue by introducing the concept of MetaStates which are the digitization and representation of the psychophysiological states of a human worker in the digital world. The MetaStates influence the physical representation and performance of a digital human worker while performing a task. To demonstrate this concept the study presents a development of a photorealistic avatar which is integrated into a simulated environment and enhanced with a multi-level graphical representation of different psychophysiological states. This approach represents a major step forward in the use of digital humans for industrial simulations, allowing companies to better leverage the benefits of the Industrial Metaverse in their daily operations and simulations while keeping human workers at the center of the system.