journal article·2026-01-28Open access

Real-Time XR Maintenance Support Integrating Large Language Models in the Era of the Industrial Metaverse

John Angelopoulos, Christos Manettas, Kosmas Alexopoulos

Applied Sciences· Volume 16· Issue 3

Abstract

Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence and eXtended Reality (XR) have laid solid foundations for the development of a new paradigm in industrial maintenance under the light of Industry 5.0 framework. This research presents the design, development, and implementation of an XR-enabled remote maintenance framework that integrates real-time video collaboration, AI-assisted guidance, and a persistent digital asset knowledge layer based on Asset Administration Shells for Maintenance and Repair Operations (MRO). By combining fine-tuned Large Language Models (LLMs) with immersive XR interfaces, the proposed framework enables technicians to interact with virtual representations of industrial assets, access contextual instructions, and receive expert support remotely in real-time. Through seamless integration of historical MRO data, digital twins, and real-time sensor streams, the system facilitates dynamic fault diagnostics and Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation. Therefore, the proposed approach is positioned as a Metaverse-aligned implementation, combining synchronous multi-user collaboration, digital–physical coupling through digital twins, and semantic interoperability. The framework is validated through two industrial case studies, demonstrating its feasibility and practical impact on maintenance efficiency and knowledge transfer. The findings position the Industrial Metaverse as a transformative enabler in the future of AI-driven machinery health monitoring.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Digital Transformation in Industry · Machine Fault Diagnosis Techniques · Occupational Health and Safety Research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Rio, 26504 Patras, Greece

Department of Digital Industry Technologies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 34400 Psachna, Greece

Funding

the European Institute of Innovation & Technology Regional Innovation Scheme

References (54)

Show source-provided references
1. Chryssolouris, G., Alexopoulos, K., and Arkouli, Z. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Systems. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, Springer.10.1007/978-3-031-21828-6 ↗
2. Stavropoulos, P., Alexopoulos, K., Makris, S., Papacharalampopoulos, A., Dhondt, S., and Chryssolouris, G. (2024). AI in Manufacturing and the Role of Humans: Processes, Robots, and Systems. Handbook of Artificial Intelligence at Work, Edward Elgar Publishing. Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks.10.4337/9781800889972.00015 ↗
3. Digital Capabilities Driving Industry 4.0 and 5.0 Transformation: Insights from an Interview Study in the Maintenance Domain10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100384 ↗
4. Liu, J., Ramentol, E., Landin, C., and Tahvili, S. (2025). Dta-Qc: An AI-Driven Framework for Adaptive Quality Control and Intelligent Test Optimization in 5G Manufacturing. J. Intell. Manuf.10.1007/s10845-025-02745-8 ↗
5. Zizic, M.C., Mladineo, M., Gjeldum, N., and Celent, L. (2022). From Industry 4.0 towards Industry 5.0: A Review and Analysis of Paradigm Shift for the People, Organization and Technology. Energies, 15.10.3390/en15145221 ↗
6. Bampoula, X., Nikolakis, N., and Alexopoulos, K. (2024). Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance of Assets in Manufacturing Using LSTM-Autoencoders and Transformer Encoders. Sensors, 24.10.3390/s24103215 ↗
7. Achouch, M., Dimitrova, M., Ziane, K., Sattarpanah Karganroudi, S., Dhouib, R., Ibrahim, H., and Adda, M. (2022). On Predictive Maintenance in Industry 4.0: Overview, Models, and Challenges. Appl. Sci., 12.10.3390/app12168081 ↗
8. Predictive Maintenance in the Industry 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review10.1016/j.cie.2020.106889 ↗
9. Challenges in Predictive Maintenance—A Review10.1016/j.cirpj.2022.11.004 ↗
10. Uj, A., Lintfert, B., and Käßer-Pawelka, G. (2025). Skilled Labor Shortage and Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for the Regional Labor Market. HCI in Business, Government and Organizations; Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer.10.1007/978-3-031-92823-9_15 ↗
11. Babashahi, L., Barbosa, C.E., Lima, Y., Lyra, A., Salazar, H., Argôlo, M., Almeida, M.A.d., and Souza, J.M.d. (2024). AI in the Workplace: A Systematic Review of Skill Transformation in the Industry. Adm. Sci., 14.10.3390/admsci14060127 ↗
12. Mourtzis, D., Angelopoulos, J., and Panopoulos, N. (2023). Blockchain Integration in the Era of Industrial Metaverse. Appl. Sci., 13.10.3390/app13031353 ↗
13. Di Maggio, L.G. (2025). Toward Autonomous LLM-Based AI Agents for Predictive Maintenance: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future Perspectives. Appl. Sci., 15.10.3390/app152111515 ↗
14. Dimidov, V., Hawlader, F., Jafarnejad, S., and Frank, R. (2025). Cleaning Maintenance Logs with LLM Agents for Improved Predictive Maintenance. arXiv.10.36001/phmap.2025.v5i1.4486 ↗
15. Angelopoulos, J., Manettas, C., and Alexopoulos, K. (2025). Industrial Maintenance Optimization Based on the Integration of Large Language Models (LLM) and Augmented Reality (AR). Advances in Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing II, Springer. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering.10.1007/978-3-031-86489-6_20 ↗
16. LLM-Based Intelligent Q&A System for Railway Locomotive Maintenance Standardization10.1038/s41598-025-96130-3 ↗
17. Digitalization of Maintenance Activities in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Conceptual Framework10.1016/j.compind.2023.104039 ↗
18. Digitalization of Maintenance: Exploratory Study on the Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies and Total Productive Maintenance Practices10.1080/09537287.2022.2083996 ↗
19. Advancing Maintenance Strategies through Digitalization: A Case Study10.1016/j.procs.2022.12.352 ↗
20. Digitalization for Sustainable Maintenance Services: A Systematic Literature Review10.1016/j.digbus.2021.100011 ↗
21. Jeffrey, N., Tan, Q., and Villar, J.R. (2023). A Review of Anomaly Detection Strategies to Detect Threats to Cyber-Physical Systems. Electronics, 12.10.3390/electronics12153283 ↗
22. A New Generation Cyber-Physical System: A Comprehensive Review from Security Perspective10.1016/j.cose.2024.104095 ↗
23. Explainable AI for Cyber-Physical Systems: Issues and Challenges10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3395444 ↗
24. Human-Cyber-Physical System for Industry 5.0: A Review from a Human-Centric Perspective10.1109/TASE.2024.3360476 ↗
25. Deep Learning-Based Anomaly Detection in Cyber-Physical Systems
26. Predictive Maintenance: A Historical Survey of Models with Imperfect Inspections10.1016/j.ress.2025.111939 ↗
27. Dynamic Predictive Maintenance Strategy for the Multi-State System Based on Remaining Life Prediction10.1016/j.ress.2025.111289 ↗
28. A Predictive Maintenance Policy for Manufacturing Systems Considering Degradation of Health Monitoring Device10.1016/j.ress.2024.110177 ↗
29. A Hybrid CNN-LSTM Model for Joint Optimization of Production and Imperfect Predictive Maintenance Planning10.1016/j.ress.2023.109707 ↗
30. Definitions and Taxonomy for High Impact Low Probability (HILP) and Outlier Events10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105504 ↗
31. Bukowski, L., and Werbinska-Wojciechowska, S. (2025). Towards Maintenance 5.0: Resilience-Based Maintenance in AI-Driven Sustainable and Human-Centric Industrial Systems. Sensors, 25.10.20944/preprints202507.0345.v1 ↗
32. Krishnaveni, N., Swathi, N., Schwartz, E., and Sangeetha, N. (2024). The Role of Human-Centric Solutions in Tackling Challenges and Unlocking Opportunities in Industry 4.0. Artificial Intelligence Solutions for Cyber-Physical Systems, Auerbach Publications. Auerbach Publications eBooks.10.1201/9781032694375-20 ↗
33. Global Perspectives on Navigating Industry 5.0 Knowledge: Achieving Resilience, Sustainability, and Human-Centric Innovation in Manufacturing10.1007/s13132-024-02498-4 ↗
34. Coupry, C., Richard, P., Bigaud, D., Noblecourt, S., and Baudry, D. (2024). The Value of Extended Reality Techniques to Improve Remote Collaborative Maintenance Operations: A User Study. arXiv.10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3.03 ↗
35. Integrating Extended Reality in Industrial Maintenance: A Game-Based Framework for Compressed Air System Training10.1016/j.procs.2024.01.048 ↗
36. Augmented and Virtual Reality to Support Corrective and Preventive Actions in Maintenance: A Framework Proposal10.1016/j.procs.2024.02.010 ↗
37. A Survey on Extended Reality, Digital Twins, and Metaverse Applications in Power Systems10.1109/JIOT.2024.3450813 ↗
38. Ibarra Kwick, J.M., Hernández-Uribe, Ó., Cárdenas-Robledo, L.A., and Luque-Morales, R.A. (2024). Extended Reality Applications for CNC Machine Training: A Systematic Review. Multimodal Technol. Interact., 8.10.3390/mti8090080 ↗
39. An Augmented Reality Framework for Visualization of Internet of Things Data for Process Supervision in Factory Shop-Floor10.1016/j.procir.2022.05.125 ↗
40. Mourtzis, D., Siatras, V., and Angelopoulos, J. (2020). Real-Time Remote Maintenance Support Based on Augmented Reality (AR). Appl. Sci., 10.10.3390/app10051855 ↗
41. Large Language Models (LLMs): Survey, Technical Frameworks, and Future Challenges10.1007/s10462-024-10888-y ↗
42. An LLM-Based Vision and Language Cobot Navigation Approach for Human-Centric Smart Manufacturing10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.04.020 ↗
43. Framework for LLM Applications in Manufacturing10.1016/j.mfglet.2024.09.030 ↗
44. LLM and ΧR Remote Maintenance Tool for Empowering Operator 5.010.1016/j.procir.2025.03.070 ↗
45. Ontology-Integrated Tuning of Large Language Model for Intelligent Maintenance10.1016/j.cirp.2024.04.012 ↗
46. Han, Z., Gao, C., Liu, J., Zhang, J., and Zhang, S.Q. (2024). Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning for Large Models: A Comprehensive Survey. arXiv.
47. Enhancing Wisdom Manufacturing as Industrial Metaverse for Industry and Society 5.010.1007/s10845-022-02027-7 ↗
48. Zheng, Z., Li, T., Li, B., Chai, X., Song, W., Chen, N., Zhou, Y., Lin, Y., and Li, R. (2022). Industrial Metaverse: Connotation, Features, Technologies, Applications and Challenges. Methods and Applications for Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems, Springer.10.1007/978-981-19-9198-1_19 ↗
49. Advances in Industry 4.0: From Intelligentization to the Industrial Metaverse10.1007/s12008-024-01750-0 ↗
50. Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0—Inception, Conception and Perception10.1016/j.jmsy.2021.10.006 ↗
51. Unity Technologies (2025, November 25). Available online: https://unity.com/releases/editor/whats-new/2022.3.10f1.
52. Unity Technologies (2025, November 25). Unity WebRTC Package Documentation v2.4.0-exp.11. Available online: https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.webrtc@2.4/manual/index.html.
53. (2025, November 25). Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit 3 Developer Documentation—MRTK3. Available online: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/mrtk-unity/mrtk3-overview/.
54. (2025, November 25). Visual Studio: IDE and Code Editor for Software Development. Available online: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/.