Metropolia and Helsinki XR Center to attend the Metaverse Day at Expo 2025 in Osaka
Will you take a remote-controlled bus to work in the future or simply put on your virtual glasses in the morning? During the Metaverse Day at the Nordic Pavilion at the Osaka World Expo 2025, Finnish companies will shed light on the possibilities and solutions of virtual reality in the work of the future. Metropolia will participate in the Metaverse Day with the Helsinki XR Center, which specializes in augmented reality.
Both the Japanese and Finnish societies suffer from the rapid ageing of the population and a shrinking workforce, and immigration will not be sufficient to address the skills shortage in the future. In addition, traditional jobs face challenges in attracting young people as they show more and more interest in gaming and technologies.
Future work and everyday solutions are at the heart of the theme day organized by Finnish XR and AI companies at the Osaka 2025 World Expo. The theme day is aimed at Finnish companies interested in the Japanese market that work with metaverse technologies. There is strong interest in this expertise in Japan. The event and its program are coordinated by Laura Olin, who is in charge of the XR business in the Finnish Younite-AI.
Helsinki XR Center seeks contacts for the development of sustainable urban living conditions
One of the participants in the Metaverse Day is Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and its Helsinki XR Center, which provides start-ups in the industry with concrete tools for growth. Located in Helsinki Arabia next to Metropolia University of Applied Sciences culture campus, HXRC is the largest innovation, development and startup center in the Nordics dedicated to Extended Reality (XR) technologies.
“Metropolia’s Smart and Creative City innovation hub aims at bringing together experts from different fields to develop better urban living conditions for everyone. At the Osaka World Expo, Metropolia combines and highlights these themes, especially from the perspective of sustainable development,” says Tiina Vuorio, head of unit of the Helsinki XR Center.
In Finland, the metaverse and XR industry is an exceptionally active and extensive network that connects technology companies, start-ups, research institutes, and training organizations. As an example, Vuorio mentions the national metaverse strategy launched by Finland last year. Hundreds of industry influencers participated in its planning.
“Our innovation-promoting start-up culture combined with high-class technological know-how, pilot platforms and resources create the ideal framework for developing the metaverse ecosystem and being a forerunner. This expertise deserves to be known around the world.”
Using the metaverse makes work more efficient by up to 40%
“The application of metaverse technologies is very effective in large projects in fields such as urban planning, industry, medicine, and training. Finnish companies have great opportunities to get involved in projects,” says Paul Yang, founder of the Japanese 8EX. He has been helping Finnish technology companies to enter the Japanese market for years.
For example, the metaverse gives companies an opportunity to train employees remotely, which lowers training costs as well as shortens and levels off the steep learning curve in the adoption of new technologies. All this can be done without worrying about time zones, language differences, geographical location and, ultimately, scaling.
“Work productivity easily improves by 30% to 40%. In the manufacturing industry, for example, this solves the problems of the shrinking workforce by allowing companies to quickly hire and train domestic employees from other industries or from another country, while at the same time increasing their production,” Yang says.
Osaka participants are serious about the Japanese market
The Metaverse Theme Day will be held at the Nordic Pavilion at the Osaka World Expo. In the day’s program, participants will be able to showcase their products to invited guests. The participating companies will start planning the program in August.
“The goal of the Metaverse Day is to create concrete business between Finnish and Japanese companies,” says Laura Olin.
“The World Expo is also an important project for the Japanese, and participating in it shows that we are serious about the Japanese market. It definitely pays off to take advantage of the Expo participation in your own marketing. As part of the joint theme day, the expenses will also be reasonable for a small company.”
Experience has shown that the Japanese are particularly interested in Finnish solutions and Finland. Why is this, Paul Yang?
“The Japanese and Finnish cultures have a lot in common: striving for the best possible result and fine-tuning the details, as well as the desire to develop sustainable and effective solutions. The cultures are also united by a certain modesty and, at the same time, a sense of self-worth and an interest in learning from others.”
In addition to the Metaverse Theme Day, other theme days are also planned for the Osaka World Expo concerning digital solutions, health, and the circular economy, for example.
More information
Tiina Vuorio
Head of Unit, Helsinki XR Center
tiina.vuorio [at] metropolia.fi (tiina[dot]vuorio[at]metropolia[dot]fi)
The article has been expanded to include the role of Metropolia and Helsinki XR Center. Article originally published on the Business Finland website: Finland plans a Metaverse Day at Expo 2025 Osaka