Week 9: The Metaverse

Welcome to the Metaverse! Before we dive in, let's have a brief look at the journey of the web so far..

The Metaverse has been around for decades but in many cases we have not been aware that we were engaging with it because it's a way of interacting with the internet. The technology that we use is being improved, developed & leveraged in new ways all of the time & it will continue to do so whether we like it or not.

The fixed internet of the 1990s allowed us to connect when at home or in the office & often via dial-up connection. It worked (mostly) & added value to our lives but on our terms & dedicated times based on our schedules.

That all changed with the advent of the mobile internet ushered in by smartphones in the 2000s - we could now take the internet with us wherever we went. In short, the way we engaged with the internet changed forever and that was a big jump. Now, we are jumping again & this is as big a change as before if not a paradigm shift - we are moving into the immersive internet where the lines between our reality & virtual reality are becoming blurred, we are racing towards the Metaverse.

What the Metaverse is not

There is yet to be an official definition of what the Metaverse actually is but below are some things that is truly isn't...

• Virtual reality (VR)
• Augmented reality (AR)
• Virtual world platform
• Video games
• Internet browsers...

... in fact it’s not really a technology at all, it’s a new way of accessing the next iteration of the internet.

What is the Metaverse?

So what is the Metaverse then I hear you ask..? It's a mixture of the following key elements.

• Connection of our physical & digital realities.
• Gamification of many experiences.
• Immersive 24/7 digital world (unlike a Zoom call or the like where when the call ends, the environment also closes..)
• Home to economies that incentivize creators.
• Interoperable digital assets are key.?
• We can be constantly ‘within’ the internet rather than have access to it.
• There are & will be many Metaverses.

The key about the Metaverse is that it is likely to become a huge collection of online communities which will be interoperable & in many cases, will overlap. Cryptocurrencies will play a significant role as they will facilitate an exchange of value between the ecosystems & also between virtual reality & our reality. To put it into context, a participant in a particular Metaverse could play a game, earn a token native to that environment & then exchange it for Bitcoin or similar & spend it to buy food in a shop near where they live (in reality). This hasn't been possible until now.

Gamification

World of Warcraft & Fortnite are games which have already started this journey. Tech leaders like Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Unity, Roblox & Epic are all developing in the Metaverse. Nike, LVMH group, Chanel, Coca-Cola & many more are actively moving towards 2023 roll-outs.

In the 2020s, crypto games like Sandbox & Decentraland have been tilting the videogame economy on its head by adding digital assets to the mix. You can import your own NFT into the games & buy virtual land & use the games’ fungible governance tokens to alter the parameters of the virtual world you’ll inhabit, explore & build.

Sandbox uses fungible SAND tokens as in-game currency & uses NFTs to represent parcels of land & other game-native items, the kinds of assets that decorate your avatar. Decentraland has fungible MANA tokens & equivalent NFTs for virtual assets.

Education in the Metaverse

Let's take a look at 6 ways it could impact learning capability building.

1. Learn & connect in an immersive virtual campus: Democratisation of education through bringing together people from geographically dispersed locations, varied economic backgrounds for an immersive learning experience. e.g. September 2023, Kenya-KAIST virtual campus will allow the institution to extend their reach across continents allowing students to collectively learn without leaving their home countries.
2. Boost real-world skilling: Experiential & embodied skilling opportunities using real-world scenarios & high pressure situations, enabling mistakes without consequences. VR plus data science & spatial design improve learner engagement, confidence & application. Novartis trains life-saving lab skills with VR simulation, Wallmart use intense practice & feedback loops where employees hone customer service skills & Providence Health triggers psychological stress of responding to aggressions in the workplace using 3D actor.
3. Visual storytelling: Leave boring Zoom conferences behind & make stories come alive through immersion. Health care leader, DaVita builds patient empathy by using an interactive, multi-sensory first person story. Virtual property or community tours in AR alongside colleagues, friends or sales agents.
4. Build human capabilities: Onboarding & soft skill training such as effective communication, leadership, listening & empathy can all be boosted by immersive real-world scenarios. Difficult or sensitive conversations can be enacted in realistic but safe environments. Verizon used VR to train over 22,000 staff how to deal with highly stressful robberies which has before , been too overwhelming. 97% of trainees felt prepared after the training.
5. Boost disabled access to experiences & life-changing training: Huge potential to provide improved educational & social access for disabled people. Immersive sensory environments offer people with special needs, autism & social interaction issues the ability to boost interpersonal skills such as when visiting a shop, using public transport & having a job interview. Starlight charity uses VR goggles to help pediatric patients “escape” the walls of their hospital room & be transported to another world - playing sport, travelling abroad or being with friends.
6. Increase data capture: Using the Metaverse to create immersive learning experiences allows organizations to gather insights into learner behaviour, track progress, analyse body language, manage engagement & much more. Pfizer, Novartis & Bristol Myers Squibb track hand movements of their lab technicians. If users cross their hands or angle them the wrong way under the biosafety cabinet, the simulator provides feedback & starts over.

Innovators to watch in this space

Away from the gaming world, companies like Spatial.io which is an innovative company taking the Meteverse seriously & they have created immersive experiences which take meetings, exhibitions & collaboration to the next level using augmented reality (AR). You can set up your own place in the Metaverse & work on how to leverage this type of experience in your respective domain.

Final thoughts

There is no doubt that a more immersive & realistic online experience has many benefits to us as humans in a miriad of ways that we are only beginning to fathom, however clear regulation & guidelines of how we should use this amazing technology as we move towards connecting with the Metaverse are needed now. Smartphone addiction is already a big problem for many along with gaming and social media usage so more research is needed along with a high degree of self-discipline on our part. That's before we start discussing eye health due to looking through a headset for hours on end... Time will tell as they say.

Disclaimer

This series of newsletters complements the weekly blocklunch45 sessions and is for educational purposes only as my mission is to educate as many business leaders, entrepreneurs and consultants as possible about the miriad of amazing use-cases of blockchain. It is not financial advice in any shape or form and the examples given are to illustrate the content only.

If as a result, participants and / or readers decide to invest on any of the companies or brand names mentioned, then that is entirely at their own risk. Please do your own research (DYOR).

If you are interested in joining the blocklunch sessions then please email me at [email protected].

Jeremy Williams.