The discourse on future technologies will take on a whole new dimension at Hannover Messe 2026: Trade show visitors will be immersed in the world of the industrial metaverse and discover the engineering potential of this virtual environment. Experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO will provide a hands-on demonstration of how the industrial metaverse is becoming a true competitive factor and offering companies tangible added value. Their exhibit demonstrates not only the technological possibilities but also specific application scenarios directly improving efficiency and knowledge transfer in product development or virtual collaboration.
Conversing with virtual AI avatars
The research scientists will not be the only ones available for discussion and questions. Visitors can also interact with photorealistic, voice-enabled AI avatars and can explore the many applications of the industrial metaverse with virtual experts.
Special highlight: The digital twin of Joseph von Fraunhofer himself will be available for discussions. Visitors to the trade show can engage in dialogue with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s eponym and experience live the possibilities that avatars now offer in areas such as human-machine communication and how they can be used for digital encounters, especially in the metaverse.
But this doesn't stop with a single demonstration: Also waiting at the booth will be the Added Value Avatars (AVA) — digital twins of real people who will answer questions in real time through a combination of a large language model and a local knowledge system. These open up completely new ways of providing companies with expertise anytime, anywhere and in consistent quality.
“Even today, people scattered across the globe can integrate so-called added value avatars into the metaverse, independent of time and space. This lets them incorporate expert knowledge in their decision-making processes and work collaboratively on innovative solutions,” says Stephan Wilhelm, who is leading the development of the Fraunhofer avatar at Fraunhofer IAO.
The exhibit also features the Persona Check. In this demonstrator, trade show visitors can immerse themselves in AI-supported service development. Interacting with AI personas makes it easier to grasp service ideas at an early stage and ensures that the different requirements of various customer groups are taken into account from the outset when developing business ideas.
A hands-on industrial metaverse
What does it feel like when development processes no longer take place in two dimensions on a screen but in an immersive space enabling immediate decisions? This is brought to life in the Collaborative Powerwall, the centerpiece of the Fraunhofer exhibit, which represents a new era of collaboration in virtual space.
Real-time visualization and tracking systems let visitors fully immerse themselves in the virtual environment. The technology enables a true-to-scale multiviewer perspective of a three-dimensional object in virtual space with capabilities for real-time interaction with the object. In this way, two people can view and discuss the object or prototype from their personal perspectives at the same time. Special highlight: The individual perspective is captured separately by a high-precision tracking system. Individuals can thus move independently around the virtual object in the room, make changes in real time and point out details or work on them together.
Experts from Fraunhofer IAO will be on hand at the trade show booth to explain how this technology can be used in practice and how its full potential can be exploited. “We are not just providing support for hardware installation; we also offer consulting services to customize the deployment and IT integration for your company's specific needs. We even offer cost-effective rental of the complete infrastructure in the initial stage. This lets new users gain experience and realize valuable benefits in their company's own environment,” explains Matthias Bues, who heads the Visual Interactive Technologies team at Fraunhofer IAO.
Dive into the future of industry
At Hannover Messe 2026, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO will be bringing the industrial metaverse to life—with immersive visualizations, photorealistic AI avatars and digital twins that already offer companies true added value today. From April 20 to 24, 2026, visitors to the joint Fraunhofer booth (Hall 11, Booth D33) will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in virtual worlds and explore the latest research results in engineering, service development and collaborative work.
The experts will provide exclusive insight into their avatar technology at the Hannover Messe preview event on February 25, 2026.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft