Metaverse

The metaverse is probably one of the most hyped terms around at the moment – as I’ve said before, I’m not of the view that hype is a bad thing, it gets people talking and thinking about something which is great.

So what exactly is the metaverse? Well, that’s the thing it’s not entirely clear what some people mean by it when they use the term. Sometimes it sounds like use cases of AR and VR or an extension of fortnite. When we built a proof of concept using AR for a building retrofit problem had we wrapped a 3d representation of a house round it I’m not sure we’d have called that the start of our metaverse.

Rather than a specific technology or a new version of secondlife it feels more like an outcome, a connection of technology and data that works across boundaries that persist to create a shift in how we interact with people and organisations.

This creation of a concept where you can exist in a virtual world has some painting the picture of a dystopian future where nobody leaves the house and future generations are incapable of social interaction causing a catastrophic set of events. I’m not so sure that scenario will come true but there is something to think about around the sort of society we are creating for the future – lots of potential issues around ethics, privacy, access to technology, isolation, unbanked populations etc. Things that should be addressing now may become more heightened through this convergence of technologies and how we interact with them.

So if it’s not a dystopian world we’re creating what is the point of the metaverse??

There must be use cases in retail, creating a different experience, connecting communities and enhancing brand loyalty. ?We know some big businesses are exploring this area with Nike and Adidas making moves - I’m not going to get into NFT’s and digital purchasing but that’s another often talked about use. Although I collect trainers (sneakers) I’m not sure I’ll be collecting virtual versions just yet!

What about in an office environment for meetings, onboarding new hires, familiarisation of buildings, training courses?

Gaming is clearly another area that will evolve and become more immersive and blur the boundaries with social media platforms, Fortnite has already set the path for this.

Digital twins – maybe this is the best explanation of what the metaverse could be, connected digital twins. There is of course some debate about what a digital twin is but that’s another topic.

Real estate is another example I’ve seen talked about, where you can purchase your next home or office from the comfort of wherever you may happen to be in the world.

These examples already exist but in isolation and maybe that’s the real point of the metaverse. It’s not a particular use case of a single technology but a convergence of many and the interoperability that makes a real difference.

It’s an interesting space and one that’s going to continue to develop, definitely a space to keep an eye on and as CIO’s what that means for the industries we operate in.