No, you don't need a Meta/Facebook account for the Energy Metaverse ...

Well thanks to everyone for all messages and chats over the past few weeks re "The Energy Metaverse". The response to my Enlit Inspire session and newsletter was a lot more that I had ever expected. So it certainly looks likes it's a topic that intrigues many of ye, as it does me.

In many of the chat's I have had these past weeks, a number of the same questions & issues have kept coming up. So for this issue I wanted to address some of these head on.

Now as ye read this, please do let me know your thoughts; do you agree, disagree, what am I missing or any other comments\feedback\suggestions are most welcome.

So what are the top questions or comments I hear;

1. Do I need to have a Facebook account for the Metaverse?

No ... You do not ...

However you perceive Meta/Facebook, you have to hand it to them that they have done a good job at 'branding'. The amount of folks I speak to who see Metaverse = Facebook is impressive. Now I would not be Facebook's biggest fan, but I'll give them credit around Oculus and Horizon Workrooms etc. I know they acquired Oculus but whatever the history, for many folks they are seen to be setting the Metaverse pace today.

But it's a bit of a double edged sword for Meta. Given the association that Metaverse = Facebook AND the fact that you MUST use a Facebook account to log on to the Oculus ecosystem, then many folks across many Industries and go "No way, not happening in my company".

So the GOOD NEWS is, if you wish to dabble in the Metaverse you do NOT have to use Meta/Facebook. Now it will rule you out using the Oculus headsets and their Horizon Workrooms, but the reality is you have a HUGE selection of companies, devices, platforms, apps that you can choose from out there today.

Bottom line, you do NOT have to use Facebook to dabble in the Metaverse.

[Note: Now the irony of me saying all this and the fact I used a picture above of me using my Oculus headset is not lost on me. I could have used my HTC Vive via Stream but I will admit, the Quest 2 is a cool bit of kit.]

Now another related 'feature' to all this is that the fact that many Energy Companies and Industrial Companies are very hesitant to use the word 'Metaverse' at all.

Why? It's seen as too Facebook related for the above reasons and/or it's just a hype, it's a gimmick ... Now you can read many articles online where folks are saying we need a different 'word' - so you'll hear Web3, The Spatial Web and many other company specific terms being used. Now to be fair, when you dig into these, they are all different, but for folks who are not deeply involved in this stuff day to day, it can be a bit confusing. My guess is we'll see a lot more terms and definitions in the coming months. For now I'm sticking to Metaverse.

2. The Metaverse is all about VR right?

Depends on who you ask ??

If you go with how Meta define the Metaverse, that is correct. Meta see Virtual Reality being a 'must have' for their immersive experiences. But as per the point above, it's NOT all about what Meta/Facebook think.

Now as I said in my Enlit session, look, I don't know what the Metaverse will actually end up to be but I will say that especially in the Energy Industry, I see companies deploying Augmented Reality tech to provide valuable Mixed Reality capabilities way faster and more broadly than Virtual Reality solutions over the next few years. My two cents.

3. So tell me again what the benefit of all this will be?

As cool as all the tech is, in the Energy Industry like in any Industry there has to be a reason for investing in anything. And while I can come up with all sorts of futuristic and very cool 'out there' potential use cases, conversations quickly come around to "OK, but what problem are we solving here?"

As I called out in my Enlit Inspire session, I honestly see the Metaverse simply being another stage along our 'Digitalization' journey that we are on already and it's not slowing down.

A. 'Dynamic' Digital Twins

Digital Twin tech has gone from hype and cool demos a few years ago to now everyone has one. Now like any tech, some are more mature than others.

And we're now seeing what I call 'dynamic' digital twins being used in production across many industries. As in the digital twin represents a digital representation of the real time state of the real world based on the real-time senor data. It's no longer about a static Digital Twin, as in this is what should have been built or this is what it looked like 6 months ago. Now it's a real time twin. And if you go look at any Digital Twin providers roadmap, they are all adding more and more capabilities, more and more simulation tools, more and more interoperability.

So it's a given we'll have way better Digital Twins. And what's a digital twin of a power station, a sub station, a wind farm, a oil rig ... it's a 'virtual world'. One of the key building blocks for any sort of Metaverse, be that in AR, XR or VR. And as everyone is investing in building better Digital Twins today, this leads on to the following;

B. We need more immersive collaboration tools.

One of the silver linings from COVID has been how companies the world over found ways to support their remote field workers, when others could not travel. Many companies deployed body cameras, heads-up display tech or simply using their phone camera to share what they are seeing in real time and get advice from a colleague back in the office. It's been impressive. But lets be honest, we need better tools.

Now many companies are offering 'Mixed Reality' solutions today. Some sort of a HUD (like from Realwear) or Holographic display (say MS HoloLens) that allows the worker to get an augmented reality 'overlay' on what they are looking at, add in the ability to pull up instructions, specs etc exist today. And at CES, many more cool new 'Mixed Reality' technologies and solutions are on display.

Now as per point 2 above, we can have an endless debate about the Metaverse around it being 100% Virtual Reality or not. Personally, I see Mixed Reality solutions being adopted way faster and more broadly than VR solutions in the next few years. We simply need better ways to collaborate with remote field workers.

And the same goes for us 'desk warriors'. While the use of Zoom/Teams etc has exploded, it's not the most immersive experience. For folks that know me, being a bit of a geek, I have been off trying out various virtual worlds, AR & VR for years. And I have to say being off at an event or having a Biz meeting in VR is a very different experience.

Having spatial sound, the ability to draw on a whiteboard with others, wander off into different rooms to have real-time audio conversations with folks. It is very different, it's very immersive. Now as per a post I had recently, getting good at using any of these VR 'environments' has a real learning curve and will not be for everyone.

But back to my point as to 'why invest in the Metaverse?' - if you are looking at some sort of Mixed Reality solution today, or having events or meetings in some virtual world, you are already off building a bit of the Metaverse.

C. We already have too much data to comprehend

As we gather more and more data from the real world, even as AI gets better, or as the next generation(s) of digital twins become real-time, you have to ask how will we be able to 'interact' with all the data, all the screens.

We already have information overload today. The likes of ABB and others offer a whole portfolio of control room systems today so that the system operators don't get tired, so info is displayed in ways folks don't miss something, or so they do not have to navigate through screens and screens of UI to find something. Add in noise cancellation tech, what colors to use in order to to eye fatigue etc, etc. It's a big challenge today and with next gen Digital Twins arriving every day, the challenge is not going away.

Now before you hit the comment bar below and tell me using VR or AR headsets is WAY worse, I agree. THEY ARE. I can use a VR headset for about 1 hour. After that, it's too much strain on my eyes, my brain, my neck etc... But again, think out a few years. We will have different 'display tech', holographic displays, potentially contact lenses with HUD's ... go 10+ years out and some folks are talking of neural implants.

And regardless how display tech evolves, remember we will have created the next generations of Digital Twins, which are basically virtual worlds. So we will have to find a way we can better comprehend all the information that's being served to us. So I'm thinking tech more like what Tom Cruise was using in 'Minority Report'. And many of the building blocks for such an immersive experience exist today.

Am I mad? ... maybe, but I'm convinced we have to develop better ways to visualize and thus comprehend what's going on in the real world given the impact of this next wave of Digitalization.

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Right, so these were the top 3 topics that usually came up. There were/are many, many more ... from "How do I get my Digital Twin in to the Cloud? ... What's better for AR; Heads-up Display or Holographic? ... Can I create a 3D model and sell is in the Metaverse? ... Should I create my own Virtual World now? ... What about 3D Hologram tech? ... Can VR events or Biz Meetings really be productive? ... What are the Etiquette Rules for a VR Business Meeting? ... Should we just wait for neural implants / transhumanism tech? ... "

There's a long long list of stuff we all need to figure out, but these are topics for another day. It's a newsletter afterall, not a book ??

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Now should anyone be interested to have a go at trying out some VR meeting tool or event, feel free to contact me. I'm learning all this stuff as I go, but as I always say, best way to try to figure out what's feasible VS hype is to try it out yourself with some folks to see what really works ...

Kev.