Do you find the “metaverse” creeping into your life in the strangest of scenarios? A random conversation, Satya Nadella’s LinkedIn feed, that 10 second ad before a video on YouTube; they’re all sprinkled with mentions of the “metaverse.”
So what is it really and why should YOU be a part of it? We’re here to break it down for you.
Simply put, the Metaverse can be described as “ an internet where you feel like you’re there and present with people/things who are actually in some other place.” This state of universe combines multiple technology elements like virtual reality and augmented reality to let the user “live” in a digital universe.
Virtual Reality (VR) is characterised by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you’re not playing.
VR example: You put on a VR headset to play a game and you’re transported to a virtual world, one with sweeping hills and fire breathing dragons. It all seems too real but just as you think that the dragon flames are going to smother you, you realise that what you see is simply digital. You find yourself at the beginning of the game and you set out once again, in an attempt to conquer this dragon land.
Augmented Reality (AR) combines aspects of the digital world into your physical world.
AR example: You’re a college student pushing your shopping cart through a store. A poster on display asks you to scan it to avail exciting offers. You scan the sheet with your mobile phone camera, and on your screen, out from the poster, pops out a 10 second ad, at the end of which, you’re awarded a discount coupon!
With corporate giants like Facebook (now Meta), H&M, Uber and Coca Cola exploring the metaverse for their marketing and advertising, experts talk about the metaverse concept as “The next version of the Internet”. Meta even rebranded itself from “Facebook” to reflect in their brand what is to come in terms of technology!
The global switch from desktop to mobile and text to photos and videos, along with the frenzy around cryptocurrency and NFT’s only speeds up the setting-in of the metaverse.
The age of the metaverse is inevitably dawning and corporations all around the globe are gearing up as their intrigued customers venture into it to explore. You know you need to hop on that bus too!
Not sure how your company could set up shop in the metaverse? Ask us at FlippAR!