The Next Chapter.
In the year 1992, Disney’s Aladdin released their song, “A whole new world, that’s where we’ll be, A thrilling chase, for you and me!” – Fast Forward 2021 – Meta or #Metaverse!
“Beyond” A Whole New Universe.
The first thought that pops up, revolves around several opinions. Is it our imagination, reality, another transformation, innovation, or simply a trend?
Reality or MORE. It is here to BE THE CHANGE.
What does Meta do/ intend to do?
This concept has always been a part of our lives & present in our subconscious mind.
It is a part of our current reality, however not entirely. People intend to take a break from it, to relax in the “real world.” This is exactly what Meta aims to eliminate. Why should there be a need to switch between different worlds or spaces, when all can be integrated into one to serve the best desired experience?
It’s begun to transform into bigger areas of our life through improved connectivity to ultimately shift our perspectives from “Time wasted on devices/tech, to time spent being worth it, just as much as real life experiences!”
Main goal stands to:
Transform from visualization to living in those experiences:
Initial development began from, PC 🡪Desktop 🡪 Laptop 🡪 Smartphone 🡪 Headset & Now, our Real beings itself being present in both the worlds. (physical & virtual)
From Chat, Images, Videos to AR, VR and Holograms
From Desktop, Mobiles to Oculus, Smart Glasses
From Web App, Games to 3D spaces and voice-based interactions
There is lots more.
Horizon Home, Horizon Workspace, Marketplace, Hangouts, business communities are going to provide a completely new perspective of connecting with people and brands.
How can we adapt to this & be a part of building this universe? Using 3 FORCES:
- Augmented reality:
One of the power forces of Meta is AR, that consists of little scientific tech & more of imagination.
What’s critical for this force is it requires you to be clear as to what do you want to do? Following which, AR would deliver personalized experiences and controls by connecting through realistically styled avatars that reflect your body language, voice, expressions, real eye-contact all through personalized UI & simple ease of touch.
Think of Iron Man, Robocop, Terminator. Did we ever believe that all the “techy stunts” visualized on these big screens- could one day move ahead of fiction into reality?
Observe the smart robo operators, virtual hospital assistants, around you. They are not here to replace our beings, but to simply level up our daily interaction.
Now, think about the below real-life situation:
Ever dragged your child out of your house, so they could be away from the online world & focus on nature & physical environment. Well, how about using the best of both the worlds?
That’s exactly where Atlantis Park Dubai took the leap & covered the gap present to provide entertainment along with education. While spending a cool day at the aquarium observing the different species, you could also learn about each species in a convenient, detailed & engaging manner simply through an AR gamification app!
Meta’s vision through AR, is simply adjusting the whole of current technology, present in desktop/phone/apps/ecommerce into easily accessible integrated mediums, such as through a normal pair of glasses? – Ray bean is already leading this race!
- Virtual reality: medium with 360-degree vision and integration
Breaking the norms of reality in every aspect:
Most of our belongings & experiences are currently constrained within a single space/medium. How about we think of revolutionizing these daily & significant aspects of our life?
Education: the standard form is no longer useful. Since, differentiation & personalization have been so widely recognized across the recent generations. Every student’s approach is being considered & valued. Through VR, it becomes easier to cater to these differentiated needs & learning styles, while being consistently engaged.
Why read innumerable pages of past history, forcefully memorize dates & names of warriors in battles, when you can meet them in real-time through VR?
Gaming & Entertainment:
No matter what your favourite past time may be, from video/app games, to theme and water parks, VR aims to be an integral partner of the entertainment industry in the near future.
For instance,
Bollywood parks UAE, has taken the standard theme park experience to greater levels, by serving adventurous experiences all through a simulated 4D environment.
Roblox: the popular game who enacts as the shepherd of metaverse stands out uniquely in the gaming world mainly due to its focus on the user’s self-expression through personalized avatars living in the world of enormous experiences. This gaming platform offers opportunities not just for “play” but also for several entrepreneurs and e-commerce players out there in the media, entertainment, social networking and retail industry. For instance, it delivered in game experiences supporting the release of Hollywood blockbuster, Spiderman Homecoming and supported Gucci’s premium quality brand experience too through the recent Gucci garden space.
Work: Remember the famous LinkedIn poll? What do you prefer more — work from home or office? Well, what if you don’t have to choose any more! Use the best of both worlds, convenient tech features offered in work from space without missing out social/networking interaction with colleagues whenever required.
Staying in Saudi, but need to give a presentation the next day to a big client in Abu Dhabi? VR makes it possible by adopting your virtual avatar presence and customized voice bots through cloning. This completely eliminates the need of your real physical presence or voice for the presentation.
Through Quest for business, collaboration with our colleagues through a headset and integrated access to all productivity related apps would perfectly serve our need for increased flexibility at work through an interface that connects everyone without the requirement of separate logins for each account.
- Creation & E-commerce: “Building products isn’t enough, creating ecosystems is what’s needed!
Creators have long been separated from their audience due to physical constraints.
Through integrated VR experiences, they can support, engage in depth with their community.
The current creator community focuses on engagement mainly through visual or audio content. In the metaverse, these creators can further enhance their art of good/service through digital co-creation and serve to a new in demand target network of avatars through digital objects.
Spark AR and Presence are the few essential platforms that enable creators to explore with augmented reality features and engage closely through mixed reality experiences.
Not just for FMCG or common B2C products, but also limited editions such as NFTs. Meta explored with various ownership models & entitlements to help business owners feel confident about what they own.
What isn’t online, isn’t living in the 21st century anymore.
Brands. Industries. Sectors. The entire economy has shifted towards & adopted the online paradigm shift. Fashion, FMCGs, healthcare, automotive through the digital e-commerce platform & voice-based automations are opening up their doors for co-creation, that offline brands cannot benefit from.
One such regional example is Medcare, the premium healthcare service in the Gulf region. It realized the need for better use of technology through virtual assistants and chatbots, during the pandemic. Through this virtual automation, it was able to increase its appointment bookings by 100%. Simply proves how voice and virtual reality content engagement is a perfect match for any brand’s productivity goals.
But in the end, why should we believe in something that is not even in existence yet?
In the pre-pandemic world, would you believe if someone claimed that your way of living is going to change & shift 90% of all operations online?
In the post- pandemic world, we all have observed the major shifts & transformations along with increased dependency on the online world. But did everyone predict this? No. Not everyone was ready for this major shift.
How long did it take for you to trust these innovative mediums, before you regretted missing out on the first-mover advantage?
- Online video conferencing
- 7D/8D Cinematic experience
- VR Headsets
- Digital currency (crypto)
This is exactly what Meta helps us realize, to be inclusive of all & help everyone be aware of the future possibilities while providing platforms for first mover advantage to co-create & visualize in real-time experiences.
What about the dark side though?
After all, despite the excitement, possibilities & creative imagination of the near future, nothing can be PERFECT!
So, how to approach the challenges of meta?
- Don’t let it surprise you, you should be the one surprising it through your capabilities, as it promotes co-creation.
- As Mark rightly said, meta isn’t something we’re building, it’s something we’re building for”
- Consider needs of everyone
- Don’t delay acting up on it
- Align your brand’s vision with Meta’s future line of action
- Reach out to Blue Logic Digital for o2o consultation
Lastly, don’t you think it’s high time, that we change the phrase, “the sky is the limit?” – Since, Meta is here to break all limits!