Immersive technologies have made it possible to interact with physical and simulated environments, objects and people simultaneously or interchangeably. The technological advancements have led us to create immersive worlds where experiences shape, people meet, and providers offer services in many contexts, including education, entertainment, recreation, and hospitality.
Immersive technologies have made it possible to interact with physical and simulated environments, objects and people simultaneously or interchangeably. The technological advancements have led us to create immersive worlds where experiences shape, people meet, and providers offer services in many contexts, including education, entertainment, recreation, and hospitality. The next step, as Meta has announced, is creating a digital world where avatars replace humans.
One central concept is to establish a digital world, the metaverse, for people to connect digitally and thus further increase presence and immersion in a digital environment. Metaverse offers a parallel immersive universe where people can create spaces, work, study, game, and digitally experience all aspects of life. Metaverse encourages digital culture by allowing people to be part of the digital content instead of viewing it on devices. In metaverse, there will be digital identities that represent real-life personas.
Data exploitation is one of the high risks of digitalisation. Data privacy concerns data collection and dissemination and privacy of public users and policies that dominate handling of sensitive data. Data privacy is core in Artificial Intelligence. On many occasions, concerns have been raised about data protection policies, misuse or mishandling of information, leading to political dilemmas.
In light of Meta’s recent announcement on building the metaverse, concerns have been raised regarding how data will be manipulated in the virtual worlds we create and live in. On the occasion of Facebook’s (recently rebranded as Meta) connect event, Mark Zuckerberg asserted that the metaverse should be made responsibly from the very beginning and should acknowledge interoperability, privacy and safety from day one. However, the company’s previous affiliation with data breaches and lawsuits raises concerns about how the policies will avoid improper access to personal, specifically biometric, data and data leakage. Another point is how much previous data scandals, such as the Cambridge Analytica, will influence users willingness and trust to participate in the metaverse.
Data privacy also concerns the organisations’ control over users of the metaverse. In this regard, Marcus Carter, an expert from Socio-Tech Future Lab, indicated that current uses of VR data concern the potential violation of individual user privacy and societal harms. He commented that data from VR could be employed for the unethical identification of users. The state of the art development in immersive technologies allows interaction via wearable devices (headsets, glasses etc.) and sensors that track users. While these advancements facilitate transmitting gestures and movements to virtual environments, they allow tracking physiological data, leading to potential biometric abuses, including creating fakes with real-life looks.
Interoperability and decentralisation are two core concepts of the metaverse. The vision of decentralisation is that control is distributed within a network instead of having a centralised entity that pulls the strings. In metaverse, decentralisation could mean that users determine their experiences and sovereign their own identities. The question is whether tech giants are ready to rescind control of their users in the metaverse. This also relates to the issue with walled gardens.
Conspiracy theories project different views on the interoperability of metaverse. As David Porter, VP for global media foe APAC, states, one vision is that current walled gardens might push to gain control over metaverse, which can result in the opposite vision of metaverse currently established. On the other hand, as Tessa Conrad, head of innovation at TBWA Asia, claims, the existing walls won’t dissolve. However, they could be led by communities instead. Therefore, platforms in metaverse will have some walls, but they’ll be potentially more open to integration across platforms.
The internet needs to expand a lot further to facilitate real-time interaction in the metaverse. For successful meta experiences, natural and persistent experiences will be vital. Hence, the internet bandwidth needs to keep up with the scale and amount of data exchange to avoid lag in movements, gestures, expressions and experiences. A full-scale metaverse requires an enormous infrastructure and cannot simply be implemented at once.
In terms of hardware, Meta is already collaborating with other companies to develop hardware devices that suit the purpose of the metaverse. For example, Ray-Ban and Meta are rolling out smart glasses available in prescribed glasses and sunglasses. The key features of these smart glasses include capturing images and videos, playing music and making calls. The data from the smart glass is stored on an app called Facebook View.
NVIDIA is already moving towards creating elements of the metaverse. For example, the NVIDIA Omniverse is a platform for connecting 3D worlds that function based on three components, including a database engine that connects users and facilitates interchanging 3D assets and NVIDIA CloudXR for streaming. In addition, NVIDIA has introduced NVIDIA Omniverse Avatar, a platform to create AI avatars. It bridges speech AI, computer vision, and simulation technologies.
Microsoft Mesh is an immersive technology that tackles presence, collective experiences, and connection without boundaries. While it shares some concepts of the metaverse, it also has some fundamental differences with it. For instance, Microsoft Mesh prioritises real-life human interactions and intends to enhance them through technological advancements. As a result, people come first and will be in the spotlight. Technology fades into the background and becomes the foundation for enhanced real-life experiences.
Whilst many tech giants might be intrigued by the idea of becoming part of the metaverse, Niantic has announced that they are not a fan. John Hanke, the CEO, referred to the notion of metaverse as a dystopian nightmare. Niantic’s vision is to employ technology to lean towards AR and, by doing so, encourage users to walk outside and connect with others. Hanke explains, “as a society, we can hope that the world doesn’t devolve into the kind of place that drives sci-fi heroes to escape into a virtual one — or we can work to make sure that doesn’t happen. At Niantic, we choose the latter. We believe we can use technology to lean into the reality of augmented reality — encouraging everyone, ourselves included, to stand up, walk outside and connect with people and the world around us. This is what we humans are born to do, the result of two million years of human evolution, and, as a result, those are the things that make us the happiest.” Therefore, technology should be used to help enhance human experiences, not to replace them. Instead, they launched an AR developer kit, The Lightship Platform, that allows real-time mapping (meshing), Semantic Segmentation to ensure digital objects will interact correctly with different surfaces in the real world, and multiplayer experiences concurrently.
On an urban scale, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would be the first city to enter the metaverse. Their vision is that they will be able to launch a virtual communication ecosystem that embodies economic, cultural, tourism, education and civic services, in the next three years. The program is part of the Seoul Vision 2030 plan and transforms Seoul into a city of co-existence. The Meta Seoul will include cities, major attractions, including Gwanghwamun Plaza, Deoksugung Palace and Namdaemun Market. In addition, lost historical sites such as the Donuimun Gate will be recreated in the virtual space. As of 2023, the Seoul Lantern Festival will be held in the metaverse. Therefore, people all around the world will be able to attend.
On the contrary, Iceland responded to metaverse with a video featuring Zack Moseberguson, Chief Visionary Officer of Iceland. In the video, Zack Moseberguson talked about Icelandverse, where enhanced reality means people can connect without wearing headsets or entering an alternative digital world. The video responds to the idea of the metaverse and reinforces many tourism opportunities in Iceland where people can have rich experiences ranging from the Northern lights to volcanic rocks.
As some entities negotiate to embark on the metaverse journey or not, IMEX claims that they already hold a version of the metaverse. They launched ‘Planet IMEX’, a platform for virtual experiences, a hybrid space for connectivity. The 2020 edition of Planet IMEX included three 3D interactive islands, namely a beach themed island for access to activities, a forest-inspired island for education and a networking island with landmarks for people to explore and connect. This edition was in line with IMEX’s nature topic, “What we can do for nature, and what nature can do for us”, and honoured keeping the world’s oceans clean. It presented interactive elements and facilitated an enjoyable aquatic experience and networking opportunity. The interactive features embedded in the design encouraged curiosity and exploration in the dynamic space.
The metaverse is probably one of the most discussed topics right now and AR has been seen as an attractive opportunity in the tourism industry for a few years now. We would love to know what you think about this, if you are ready to embrace this "new" form of reality to enhance the experience or if you think that nothing will ever replace what you can experience in real life. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Immersive technologies have made it possible to interact with physical and simulated environments, objects and people simultaneously or interchangeably. The technological advancements have led us to create immersive worlds where experiences shape, people meet, and providers offer services in many contexts, including education, entertainment, recreation, and hospitality. The next step, as Meta has announced, is creating a digital world where avatars replace humans.
One central concept is to establish a digital world, the metaverse, for people to connect digitally and thus further increase presence and immersion in a digital environment. Metaverse offers a parallel immersive universe where people can create spaces, work, study, game, and digitally experience all aspects of life. Metaverse encourages digital culture by allowing people to be part of the digital content instead of viewing it on devices. In metaverse, there will be digital identities that represent real-life personas.
Data exploitation is one of the high risks of digitalisation. Data privacy concerns data collection and dissemination and privacy of public users and policies that dominate handling of sensitive data. Data privacy is core in Artificial Intelligence. On many occasions, concerns have been raised about data protection policies, misuse or mishandling of information, leading to political dilemmas.
In light of Meta’s recent announcement on building the metaverse, concerns have been raised regarding how data will be manipulated in the virtual worlds we create and live in. On the occasion of Facebook’s (recently rebranded as Meta) connect event, Mark Zuckerberg asserted that the metaverse should be made responsibly from the very beginning and should acknowledge interoperability, privacy and safety from day one. However, the company’s previous affiliation with data breaches and lawsuits raises concerns about how the policies will avoid improper access to personal, specifically biometric, data and data leakage. Another point is how much previous data scandals, such as the Cambridge Analytica, will influence users willingness and trust to participate in the metaverse.
Data privacy also concerns the organisations’ control over users of the metaverse. In this regard, Marcus Carter, an expert from Socio-Tech Future Lab, indicated that current uses of VR data concern the potential violation of individual user privacy and societal harms. He commented that data from VR could be employed for the unethical identification of users. The state of the art development in immersive technologies allows interaction via wearable devices (headsets, glasses etc.) and sensors that track users. While these advancements facilitate transmitting gestures and movements to virtual environments, they allow tracking physiological data, leading to potential biometric abuses, including creating fakes with real-life looks.
Interoperability and decentralisation are two core concepts of the metaverse. The vision of decentralisation is that control is distributed within a network instead of having a centralised entity that pulls the strings. In metaverse, decentralisation could mean that users determine their experiences and sovereign their own identities. The question is whether tech giants are ready to rescind control of their users in the metaverse. This also relates to the issue with walled gardens.
Conspiracy theories project different views on the interoperability of metaverse. As David Porter, VP for global media foe APAC, states, one vision is that current walled gardens might push to gain control over metaverse, which can result in the opposite vision of metaverse currently established. On the other hand, as Tessa Conrad, head of innovation at TBWA Asia, claims, the existing walls won’t dissolve. However, they could be led by communities instead. Therefore, platforms in metaverse will have some walls, but they’ll be potentially more open to integration across platforms.
The internet needs to expand a lot further to facilitate real-time interaction in the metaverse. For successful meta experiences, natural and persistent experiences will be vital. Hence, the internet bandwidth needs to keep up with the scale and amount of data exchange to avoid lag in movements, gestures, expressions and experiences. A full-scale metaverse requires an enormous infrastructure and cannot simply be implemented at once.
In terms of hardware, Meta is already collaborating with other companies to develop hardware devices that suit the purpose of the metaverse. For example, Ray-Ban and Meta are rolling out smart glasses available in prescribed glasses and sunglasses. The key features of these smart glasses include capturing images and videos, playing music and making calls. The data from the smart glass is stored on an app called Facebook View.
NVIDIA is already moving towards creating elements of the metaverse. For example, the NVIDIA Omniverse is a platform for connecting 3D worlds that function based on three components, including a database engine that connects users and facilitates interchanging 3D assets and NVIDIA CloudXR for streaming. In addition, NVIDIA has introduced NVIDIA Omniverse Avatar, a platform to create AI avatars. It bridges speech AI, computer vision, and simulation technologies.
Microsoft Mesh is an immersive technology that tackles presence, collective experiences, and connection without boundaries. While it shares some concepts of the metaverse, it also has some fundamental differences with it. For instance, Microsoft Mesh prioritises real-life human interactions and intends to enhance them through technological advancements. As a result, people come first and will be in the spotlight. Technology fades into the background and becomes the foundation for enhanced real-life experiences.
Whilst many tech giants might be intrigued by the idea of becoming part of the metaverse, Niantic has announced that they are not a fan. John Hanke, the CEO, referred to the notion of metaverse as a dystopian nightmare. Niantic’s vision is to employ technology to lean towards AR and, by doing so, encourage users to walk outside and connect with others. Hanke explains, “as a society, we can hope that the world doesn’t devolve into the kind of place that drives sci-fi heroes to escape into a virtual one — or we can work to make sure that doesn’t happen. At Niantic, we choose the latter. We believe we can use technology to lean into the reality of augmented reality — encouraging everyone, ourselves included, to stand up, walk outside and connect with people and the world around us. This is what we humans are born to do, the result of two million years of human evolution, and, as a result, those are the things that make us the happiest.” Therefore, technology should be used to help enhance human experiences, not to replace them. Instead, they launched an AR developer kit, The Lightship Platform, that allows real-time mapping (meshing), Semantic Segmentation to ensure digital objects will interact correctly with different surfaces in the real world, and multiplayer experiences concurrently.
On an urban scale, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would be the first city to enter the metaverse. Their vision is that they will be able to launch a virtual communication ecosystem that embodies economic, cultural, tourism, education and civic services, in the next three years. The program is part of the Seoul Vision 2030 plan and transforms Seoul into a city of co-existence. The Meta Seoul will include cities, major attractions, including Gwanghwamun Plaza, Deoksugung Palace and Namdaemun Market. In addition, lost historical sites such as the Donuimun Gate will be recreated in the virtual space. As of 2023, the Seoul Lantern Festival will be held in the metaverse. Therefore, people all around the world will be able to attend.
On the contrary, Iceland responded to metaverse with a video featuring Zack Moseberguson, Chief Visionary Officer of Iceland. In the video, Zack Moseberguson talked about Icelandverse, where enhanced reality means people can connect without wearing headsets or entering an alternative digital world. The video responds to the idea of the metaverse and reinforces many tourism opportunities in Iceland where people can have rich experiences ranging from the Northern lights to volcanic rocks.
As some entities negotiate to embark on the metaverse journey or not, IMEX claims that they already hold a version of the metaverse. They launched ‘Planet IMEX’, a platform for virtual experiences, a hybrid space for connectivity. The 2020 edition of Planet IMEX included three 3D interactive islands, namely a beach themed island for access to activities, a forest-inspired island for education and a networking island with landmarks for people to explore and connect. This edition was in line with IMEX’s nature topic, “What we can do for nature, and what nature can do for us”, and honoured keeping the world’s oceans clean. It presented interactive elements and facilitated an enjoyable aquatic experience and networking opportunity. The interactive features embedded in the design encouraged curiosity and exploration in the dynamic space.
The metaverse is probably one of the most discussed topics right now and AR has been seen as an attractive opportunity in the tourism industry for a few years now. We would love to know what you think about this, if you are ready to embrace this "new" form of reality to enhance the experience or if you think that nothing will ever replace what you can experience in real life. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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