The Metaverse. Everybody is welcome, but not everyone is invited.

Meet Rafael Nunan, Digital Marketing Manager at Fjord Brazil.

Meet Rafael Nunan, Digital Marketing Manager at Fjord Brazil

I am a journalist by craft so I tend to look for holes in things. So I’m by nature very critical of things like the metaverse, especially when it comes to how we create value for people and clients.

One aspect of the metaverse that is exciting to me is its phygital possibilities — phygital is the concept of using technology to bridge the digital world with the physical world to provide a unique interactive experience for the user.

We are all people

Latin America is taking the first steps into this digital jungle called the metaverse and brands are just starting to play with it. But one of the main obstacles we face when thinking about participating and developing the metaverse is language. English is a barrier to entry for many people in Latin America.

I’m personally curious about how we can create a space in the metaverse where we can recognize that we are Latin American citizens because right now I don’t think that we all realized the power of our identity. We get lost in old country stereotypes. Perhaps the metaverse can unite us all Latino Americanos in ways the real world hasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, Brazil has progressed a lot in a very short time. 20 years ago anybody could say something offensive and get away with it but today people, companies, and institutions are more careful and conscious about the inherent bias of language and culture.

But it’s important to be inclusive because we are all people, we are different but we are also the same. We all have dreams and needs. And I think we need to recognize everybody’s needs and create a system that serves the needs of every individual.

For example, in our team in Brazil, we are intentionally adding different perspectives to make it more accessible for more people. We are also openly speaking about change to inspire trans people to feel safe being themselves and to feel accepted.

We recently developed a really interesting accessibility guide that we will publish soon on our website and we will make it available to anybody who wants to download it.

How do you make the metaverse accessible?

One of the main issues regarding access to the web and therefore the metaverse across Latin America is the high cost of technology. Affordability is the main factor related to digital exclusion: from internet price, and speed bandwidth to mobile phone cost and digital infrastructure.

If the ultimate goal of web accessibility is to deliver an equal experience to every user, no matter what your circumstances might be, then, we need to make sure that we are including older people, people in rural areas, or people with disabilities.

Web and metaverse accessibility essentially means that platforms, websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with all types of disabilities can use them, including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual disabilities.

Some people have argued that Integrating accessibility removes architectural, digital, and social barriers that can get in the way of innovation, for example:

• Accessible design thinking provides varied and flexible ways for users to interact with websites and applications.
• Design of user interaction considers experiences other than screens leading to interactions that are more human-centered, natural, and contextual.

When you put these initiatives, like web accessibility, in the context of emerging markets like Latin America, you have to realize the tension inherent in the conversation of inclusion, diversity, and accessibility. For instance, in Brazil, only 10% of the web is accessible for users who have disabilities.

Will Brazil help design the metaverse?

In Brazil, nobody has taken the lead to discuss and define how we are going to deal with these issues in the metaverse.

The infrastructure that is needed in Brazil to innovate at the level of the metaverse is not in place yet. Culturally we are ready to build it, we are ready to create it and innovate within it but we don’t have enough support from the government, and we don’t have enough support from institutions.

But I remain excited about the possibilities of building our metaverse where the cultures and customs of each country or region can be celebrated, but we need the space and autonomy to innovate.

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