LG CNS Expands Metaverse Business... 'Platinum Partnership' with Unity

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] LG CNS has joined hands with global 3D platform company Unity to expand its metaverse business. Based on an open innovation strategy, the company plans to lead customer experience innovation with a metaverse triad consisting of ‘Virtual Factory,’ ‘Virtual Logistics,’ and ‘Metaverse Office.’

First Unity Platinum Partnership in Korea

LG CNS announced on the 29th that it has signed a platinum partnership, the ‘Global Platinum Authorized Channel Partnership,’ with Unity for metaverse business cooperation.

Unity, headquartered in San Francisco, USA, is a 3D content creation and operation platform company used in game engines, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). As of last year, 72% of the top 1,000 mobile games worldwide by revenue were developed on the Unity platform. The number of application (app) downloads developed with Unity exceeds 5 billion per month on average.

Unity’s platform is also used across various industries such as IT, aviation, shipbuilding, and entertainment to implement metaverse and digital twin technologies. Notably, Unity’s platform has been applied to Meta’s Horizon Worlds and Naver Z’s Zepeto.

LG CNS is the first and only domestic company to hold a platinum partnership with Unity. The platinum grade is granted only to partners who possess numerous digital transformation (DX) technology experts, operate specialized sales organizations, and can independently conduct DX business.

Having the capability to apply Unity’s new services to clients and provide technical support is also a mandatory requirement for platinum status.

Combining DX, 3D, and VR Technologies

The two companies will create synergy through an open innovation strategy, establish sales activity systems in the fields of ‘Virtual Factory,’ ‘Virtual Logistics,’ and ‘Metaverse Office,’ and jointly discover business opportunities. For example, LG CNS will virtualize customer manufacturing plant spaces and equipment based on Unity’s 3D engine.

LG CNS will build a metaverse environment that remotely operates actual factories by linking various factory data to the virtualized space. Additionally, by analyzing virtual factory data with AI, it will predict equipment failures and automatically optimize process sequences to complete a virtual factory, which will be provided to customers. The same applies to logistics centers. LG CNS plans to virtualize customer logistics centers using Unity’s 3D engine and develop a virtual logistics package platform capable of remote operation.

They will also provide functionality to connect customers’ existing business systems to the metaverse. Customers can purchase the virtual logistics platform to directly implement a metaverse logistics center. LG CNS plans to open a metaverse office at its Magok headquarters within the year and is currently working on linking business systems such as email and schedule management to the office virtualized on the Unity platform.

The LG CNS Metaverse Office features various functions including one-on-one video chatting, multi-party video conferencing, and video conferences accommodating over 1,000 participants. LG CNS plans to apply the metaverse office internally for technology verification before expanding the business to external clients.

Both companies plan to implement all three metaverse triad services in two forms: ‘customized customer implementation services’ and ‘cloud subscription-based SaaS services.’

Kim Sunjung, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of LG CNS, said, "Through collaboration with Unity, we will innovate customer experiences in the metaverse field by linking with LG CNS’s core areas of smart factory and smart logistics businesses, and lead the ecosystem.”