By now, you have have certainly heard enough hype about the metaverse to conclude that it is on the horizon. But don’t expect many metaverse experiences to actually be mass-adopted in 2023. Instead, 2023 will be the year when we’ll be “metaverse-ready”.
There are now great immersive and interactive experiences, including games like fortress, Minecraftand Roblox. But none of these games really delivered on the promise of the super universe we envision today, a virtual world in which we can meet friends and strangers from all over the world. around the world to play, explore, shop, and interact with. To make that vision a reality, we have some work to do in areas like content production, technology standards and virtual commerce.
One thing we know about the metaverse is that it will only succeed if it’s filled with rich, interactive, personalized, and engaging 3D content. Many companies and creators have already started ramping up 3D content creation, not only because it allows them to experiment with super-reverse experiences for the future, but also because it helps them solve current business problems. . Creating in 3D allows companies to create marketing visuals for websites, catalogs and ads in a faster, cheaper, more scalable and sustainable way. For example, three-quarters of product images in IKEA’s catalog were rendered in 3D, rather than taken. Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s creates thousands of product images in weeks, rather than months, by rendering them in 3D—and at a low cost.
Many companies are also now using 3D creativity to design new products. Tommy Hilfiger used 3D content to scrap two weeks into his design review. Designers at footwear brand Salomon also found that rendering new shoe designs virtually cut prototype production time by 67%.
By 2023, having all that 3D content available gives companies the freedom to experiment with new metaverse concepts. They can test new approaches, partner with other companies and see what works and what doesn’t. A good example is Amazon, which is testing an augmented reality system that allows shoppers to order AR versions of products in their own homes. No one knows exactly what the metaverse will look like—it will come together through trial and error—but companies with libraries of 3D content to experiment with will be the architects of the new medium. this.
The other essential factor for the metaverse to be successful will be its technological standards. For example, HTML has helped the Internet thrive by ensuring that web pages look and function the same in all browsers. Likewise, companies and individuals won’t spend time and money creating content for metadata if they can’t publish it anywhere and make it look—and work. —as they intended. There’s still a lot of work to be done here, but groups like the Khronos Group, Real-Time Conferences, and the Metaverse Standards Forum are bringing together tech companies, hardware manufacturers, and retailers to work on new technologies. Open standards will begin to govern metaverse content. Among the standards being developed is USD, known as HTML of metadata, which allows 3D content to be shared and displayed across a variety of immersive experiences. Another standard, glTF, the JPEG of 3D, will allow 3D content to be compressed so that they are small enough for efficient transmission.
Like the hundreds of billions of dollars in purchases that are now happening on the internet, the metaverse will also become an important avenue for commerce. But supermarkets will not be just places to buy shirts, coffee machines or other physical goods. As people develop their personal avatars in the super universe, they’ll want to outfit their alter egos with shoes, cars, and virtual artwork. In 2023, we will begin to establish how to buy and sell physical and virtual goods in metadata. We started seeing this with NFT. Key to their value is their portability—they can be easily stored, accessed, and transferred via the blockchain.
Overall, the most important aspect of building a successful metaverse will be recreating the human experience on a massive scale. In many ways, we all crave small-town life—we crave digital experiences that feel more intimate, we want to do business with people who know us and We want to build our community. The superuniverse’s promise is to enable those kinds of essential human experiences in a world that doesn’t obey the laws of time, space, and physics. If we can get it right, the metaverse will no doubt succeed.
