Thought Leadership
Now that the initial hype surrounding the metaverse has subsided, its true potential is becoming apparent. New hardware, breakthroughs in AI technology and concrete applications are showing: The future is within reach. But are we ready for this new reality?
The big hype has died down, like a cake being taken out of the oven. And that’s a good thing: Hype is often irrational and doesn’t satisfy concrete needs. Just like NFTs, crypto, AI, blockchain and other trends of recent years, there was a hectic, frenetic phase – now comes a time when only the substantive lasts. It is important to look beyond the trends and consider the facts.
The hardware continues to evolve
In recent years, there have been many attempts to enable the metaverse through wearables: Google’s nerdy glasses have been joined by Snapchat glasses and, more recently, Meta Ray-Ban glasses. The latest Oculus has really hit the market and has concrete applications from gaming to education. Not forgetting the much-discussed Apple Vision Pro. One thing is clear: Technology is not standing still and is generating increasing enthusiasm.
AI as a game changer
Since we reported on the Metaverse, AI has undergone massive changes and radically accelerated the creative work of designers. Entire worlds can now be created with carefully selected prompts. Complete scenes can be created based on visual input. In development, AI not only supports the review process, but also the creation of source code.
Understanding 3D design
The metaverse has transformed traditional online interactions into rich, multidimensional stories. Designers are now talking about “Spatial Design”, a concept popularized not least by Apple and its visions. Traditional designers should now behave like architects, with interactions no longer confined to the limited space of a browser window, but occupying an entire room.
Practical applications on the rise
Virtual worlds have conquered numerous industries, from the traditional to the most advanced. BMW, for example, presented the iX1 in the Metaverse, while Mercedes is working with NVIDIA on a digital twin. H&M won awards with an innovative campaign and collection, creating an immersive experience through virtual showrooms and physical and digital products. Boeing is using augmented reality to simplify training for technicians with immersive 3D schematics right in front of their eyes.
It is therefore clear that the hardware is evolving, the design of virtual worlds is becoming better understood and some use cases are already proving successful. However, the great promise of the metaverse has been a painful realization for some, like Meta and the 11,000 laid-off employees, when expectations for the virtual world “Horizons” were not met. So why aren’t we meeting in the Metaverse for job interviews or digital dates yet?
I suspect there is a lack of accessible devices that would enable such immersion. It may sound dystopian, but I am convinced that once access to virtual worlds becomes possible through everyday glasses, we will spend a lot of our time online. A train journey already shows us that we already spend most of our time behind a screen.
