Nvidia, having announced an unexpected entry into the field of metaverse-enabling software, brings a surprising focus on industrial applications to an emerging technology that has been attracting attention largely for new marketing, gaming and consumer services.

With a significant income windfall from the sale of its graphics chips to Ethereum
ETH
Miners come and go, the chipmaker now sees an opportunity to develop immersive manufacturing design capabilities based on its computing systems in an industry-oriented metaverse.

CEO Jensen Huang describes this as a “3D extension of the Internet.” That may be at odds with the prospect of a decentralized, blockchain-based metaverse that moves away from the current corporate-dominated model, a path advocated by…