What exactly is the metaverse? How are companies using it? And should we be worried?
All your questions about the metaverse answered by a futurist …
All your questions about the metaverse answered by a futurist …
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TechTranscript
00:00Virtual reality is definitely one small aspect of the metaverse, but it's not the end
00:15state.
00:16It's not what a lot of companies even have in mind.
00:21I examine vast amounts of data, whether it's historical, societal, qualitative, quantitative,
00:33a lot to do with emerging technologies, and build forecasts about different future scenarios.
00:44It means different things to different people.
00:45How I would describe it is the convergence of the physical and the digital world, where
00:51spaces in the digital world become more immersive, and where spaces in the physical world become
00:58more digitized and connected and clickable.
01:01Having a digital twin that you can use for medical appointments, or a digital twin of
01:06your home that you can use before you redecorate, those are all entry points into the metaverse.
01:16Walmart is stepping into the metaverse, joining other retail giants like Ralph Lauren and Vans.
01:22Companies are racing to the metaverse.
01:25There's a few reasons for that.
01:26I'd say hype has a lot to do with it.
01:29I think Meta's recent announcement that they are now a metaverse company kind of sparked
01:33a huge new influx into the metaverse.
01:36We'll be able to feel present, like we're right there with people, no matter how far
01:41apart we actually are.
01:43But for other companies, they believe that it's the next frontier of where and how we
01:48will work, interact, socialize with one another.
01:51So similar to how social media became a non-negotiable, if this is the frontier of the future, companies
01:58want to position themselves for success in it and to claim their stake in it now.
02:07What we're doing is pre-buying advertising space.
02:09So pre-buying the areas that people are going to be wandering around in and socializing,
02:14going to concerts, going to museums.
02:17We see a lot of virtual reality at the moment.
02:20And so for a retailer, that could mean that they open a virtual store in the metaverse.
02:25So your customers would largely enter in the form of avatars and shop more immersively
02:30that way.
02:31NFTs are an entry point into the metaverse.
02:34So you could issue an NFT, and that token could represent a ticket or a coupon to purchase
02:40something in the physical world.
02:41And then there's the augmented reality version.
02:43So maybe if your customers have some form of augmented reality devices, whether it's
02:48glasses or a ring, when they shop online, they can see products in that kind of 3D visual,
02:55which is a little bit easier to examine the product.
02:57It's a bit more in detail and a little bit more immersive.
03:05Some governments have started to see the metaverse as an opportunity to improve accessibility
03:10for their citizens and for society in general.
03:13For example, Seoul is building what they refer to as Metaverse Seoul, which would contain
03:19a virtual tourist site and tourist attractions all the way to civil offices.
03:24So if you needed to book an appointment with a city official, it could be a little bit
03:29more challenging for you to get into the city.
03:31So you could just log into the metaverse and meet a city official that way.
03:35Barbados is building their next embassy in the metaverse, a virtual embassy.
03:40And that makes a lot of economic sense for them.
03:43Building a physical embassy all around the world, that's expensive.
03:45When we think about the advent of such technology, we can start looking towards a lower cost,
03:53much more efficient infrastructure that really plays to the modern age.
03:57So a virtual one would give the same kind of accessibility, if not more, at a much
04:01cheaper price.
04:02Of course, it comes with some privacy issues and a lot of things to still hash out.
04:12A lot of people are concerned with the metaverse, myself included.
04:15And I think that there's a lot of reasons to be concerned or to be cautious.
04:20One is it would increase access for surveillance.
04:23The more immersed we are inside of our technologies, the more data points there are on us.
04:29If I have augmented reality glasses on and I'm immersed in the metaverse, who gets access
04:34to that data of me and my home or me going to work?
04:37I think we have a lot of trust issues based on this version of the internet and our relationship
04:43with digital technologies, with certain companies, for example, or certain products.
04:48So I think before we want to run inside the next iteration of that, we want to make sure
04:53we figure out the current issues that we have.
04:56Another concern for me would be avatars in the metaverse.
05:01Who's behind those avatars?
05:03The idea of trolls in the metaverse could be a nightmare, getting locked inside a world
05:09of avatars.
05:11Technology isn't inevitable.
05:12We have a choice in how we create it.
05:14And I do think we have an opportunity to build this right if we don't just rush into it for
05:19the sake of, you know, money, so to speak.
05:23I think we have an opportunity to build this right if we don't just rush into it for the
05:24sake of, you know, money, so to speak.