Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
The concept of #Metaverse is intoxicating. A hallucinatory stroll through virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual spaces. Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
The concept of the Metaverse is yet not clear. There are many unanswered questions. One of the most important is, Will there be only one Metaverse, like the Internet or there will be many?
Heavyweights like Meta are going full-throttle on the possibilities of Metaverse. They claim that it combines social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually. Well, we are far from this but not at ground zero as well.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25% of the world population will spend a least 1 hour in Metaverse.
If it’s only virtual worlds. People or avatars communicate, play games, do things together, or watch events together. This figure does not seem far away as well. Today approx. 6 bn players have accounts in the top 10 games in the 3D world with 2.5Mn active users anytime. The US has 50% of 9–12 years old playing Roblox or Minecraft. Gaming experiences are being enhanced with VR to 3D then to 6D paving way for an immersive experience. But these are still virtual spaces or worlds where avatars are spending time to play.
Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
This opens endless possibilities for digital commerce and new business models.
That is where blockchain takes over and we see NFT’s rising. There have been crazy deals to attract attention. RTFKT Studios sold 600 pairs of digital shoes for $3.1 Mn USD in 7 mins. Canadian Metaverse Group acquired a 116-parcel, 6,090 square-foot estates in the heart of Decentraland’s Fashion Street district for $2.4 million. An NFT photo of a trash can sold for a record-breaking $0.25 million.
The land investment will profit if it attracts a million avatars hourly. Important to understand is why the place will attract avatar’s footfall or ‘Avafall’ (if I may)?
- Pure Shopping trip. Meaning, instead of going to Nike.com or amazon.com to search for a shoe, one will go to Decentraland’s fashion street to shop, try on shoes and buy. Quite possible. In that case, companies will have many choices of Metaverse to set up virtual stores. Nike will have options to set up stores in Decentraland, Meta, etc.
- Attending a virtual event like Rock Show. Rapper Travis Scott did a concert in Fortnite with 27 Mn avafall. . We still need to experience it. Ad companies will grab attention via various means.
Well, now it’s getting complex. Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
On other hand, we also have business magnets like Elon Musk remarking “I don’t know if I buy into this Metaverse stuff. You can put a TV on your nose, I’m not sure that makes you in a Metaverse.”
Gaming is already big in Metaverse and is shaping up Metaverse. Play-to-earn games are another category that we need to understand. These are NFT based play-to-earn games. Axie Infinity had 2M daily active users and did $2.3 bn (as of 5th Oct’21) in total sales volume since its launch in 2018. With advances in technology, headgear adoption will increase. Making these games as immersive play to earn games. Since the avafall is 2M per day, Nike will want to open a store here as well. Of course depending on the demographic profile of avafall.
Immersive games are adopting NFT based digital assets model. And existing non-immersive NFT play to earn games adopting immersive tech.
Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
What about the meeting and collaboration with peers/friends and co-workers. Mark Zuckerberg showed how avatars, live videos will merge for conversation.
I see a catch. A conversation required paying attention to body language. It emphasizes facial expressions and voice tone. Today in pandemic WFH scenario’s our teams or zoom calls at least have a video feed. I can see facial expressions and somewhat hand and or torso movements. Or it’s a total phone call where the focus is only on tonal quality/expressions.
Switching to Current virtual worlds the avatars are very basic for now. Cartoon-like body, robot-like movements, no facial expressions. More like stick figures in Wii games. With headgear, there will be distractions. I will only see dummy body movements and no facial expressions. I will even lose focus on voice/tonal expressions. I do not see any enhancement in my productivity.
For Metaverse conversations, we need technological advancement. The tech that transfers our facial expressions and body movements to the digital avatar. Like how it’s done in ‘Planet of Apes’. Using many tiny cameras in front of the face to capture the facial expressions. This technology still needs to evolve.
Metaverse is shaping up bit by bit and will soon be reality. Play to Earn Games are early adaptors and will soon be all over metaverse. Digital Fashion seems more poised to benefit early on.
Is this a Metaverse (yet)?
