A look into a new up-and-coming market: The Metaverse

Metaverse is one of the trending technologies potentially transforming the next version of the internet and digital platforms. The concept of metaverse is nothing new — it is traced back to 1992 when a science fiction novel called Snow Crash was published. The story formed the idea of the metaverse by combining “meta” and “universe,” where all the characters lived an alternate life.

Since then, the concept of metaverse has been widely used in movies and games primarily. The concept propelled growth for some popular games including Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. The environment allowed characters to interact and play with each other while gathering in 2D environments.

The Metaverse Market in 2022 

This concept has gained momentum in 2021 since Facebook changed its name to Meta and announced an investment of USD $10 billion to build the metaverse environment. The platform will allow users to interact with friends, families, and colleagues using digital avatars.

Later, some other tech giants such as Apple, Sony, Google, Microsoft, and many others have joined in the race to build the next generation of the internet around the concept of metaverse and are spending billions of dollars in the process. They aim to combine the powers of AR/VR headsets, smartphones, personal computers, and cloud connected servers to provide an immersive experience to end-users. In a broader sense, these innovations will enable users to meet, interact with others, and carry out business in the metaverse environment. The metaverse concept has also attracted many other stakeholders including various social networks, technology leaders, retail and consumer companies, online game makers, education firms, and many other companies to make a presence within this new environment.

A huge number of investments, industry collaborations, and partnerships are expected to follow the metaverse trend. It is expected to create massive opportunities across industries. The metaverse solution will be used to carry out various purposes including gaming, content creation, social interaction, learning and training, online virtual shopping, and many other applications. It is expected to achieve industry goals like improving the existing structure, enhancing productivity, expanding customer experience, and many others.

The metaverse will transform the entire functions of an industry including sales, marketing, business operations, and various technological innovations. It will affect industries in various ways including enhancing social media experiences, improving business communication, optimizing overall productivity, creating immersive experiences across sales and marketing, revolutionizing online education, creating futuristic blockchain applications, and creating the future backbone of the new internet.

The concept of metaverse refers to a convergence of physical, augmented, and virtual reality in a shared online space and can be explained as an interconnected, intuitive, and immersive set of experiences. The platform is decentralized and not owned by any single organization. It is rather collectively created, managed, and optimized. The mandatory properties of the metaverse platform include 360-degree digital environment combining both physical and virtual worlds, the presence of a full-fledged economy to carry out financial transactions, and interoperability as a means of shifting seamlessly from one metaverse to another metaverse.

Metaverse will overlap across physical and virtual worlds to create an entire new universe where digital consumers and business will go hand in hand. Companies have started spending millions to buy a space within the metaverse. Even some countries are thinking of opening an embassy in the metaverse. It is expected to enrich our society and boom the digital economy.

Metaverse Market Share and Forecasts

Mind Commerce predicts that the metaverse market will be a combination of infrastructure to support the metaverse environment such as devices, equipment, the internet, haptic devices, and other hardware, software engines, and associated services. We predict that the hardware segment of the market will hold the largest market share, whereas the software segment will be the fastest growing segment, potentially superseding in the next couple of years.

From a solution and technology perspective, the asset marketplace segment and the AR and VR technology will be the highest contributor. From an application perspective, the gaming and game related application will lead the market.

From a regional point of view, North America will be the high adapter of the metaverse concept, attracting a huge number of customers and users performing business and entertainmentin a virtual space. The growing number of start-ups focusing on establishing a commercial platform will propel growth in the region. The APAC region will be the second largest market.

Source: Market Research Blog

Author: Mind Commerce staff

Virtual and Augmented Reality have long inspired the imaginations of futurists. Take, for example, this glimpse of a potential “Domestic Robocop” HyperReality future created by designer and film-maker Keiichi Matsuda in 2010.

Every real-world surface in the short movie was covered with constantly-changing information — with lots of ads and the occasional glitch thrown in.  Six years later, Matsuda has continued to create such movies, typically with a less-than-utopian view of what the future may hold.

But business soothsayers are now more optimistic about the real-world uses of these technologies. According to the analyst group Gartner, the next five to ten years will bring “transparently immersive experiences” to the workplace. They believe this will introduce “more transparency between people, businesses, and things” and help make technology “more adaptive, contextual, and fluid.”

In Gartner’s latest emerging technologies hype cycle, Virtual Reality is already on the Slope of Enlightenment, with Augmented Reality not that far behind. In other words, enterprise uses of virtual reality have started to become more widely understood, and there are real-world enterprise uses of the technology, even if it’s mostly only in pilot projects.

Emerging technology hype cycle from Gartner, as of July 2016.

The Q3 issue of Digitalist Magazine, Executive Quarterly enumerates the many new business possibilities in the cover story From E-Business to V-Business.

So we know these technologies are coming to our organizations. What are some concrete steps organizations we take today to start preparing the integration of these technologies into business workflows?

Dashboards linked to the real world Augmented reality tends to rely heavily on geographical location. A good first step is to ensure than business people can view data displayed on top of maps whenever position data is available.

Data mapped onto geographic locations, courtesy of the thinkingbi blog

 

These types of visualization are particular effective on mobile devices — for example, the managers of an amusement park could see the real-time data for any of their rides, as they tour the park.

 

The next step is to take current location data into account when showing the visualizations — for example, allowing mobile users to show data for only  locations that are closest to them.

 

Then comes augmented reality, where you have the option to overlay information about a particular location onto a view through a camera.

 

For example, you can provide branch managers of retail stores with latest sales figures as they walk up to a branch office:

 

Or let factory managers see the production records for a particular machine:

 

Or let a store manager compare performance of goods displayed inside the store with the goods stored in the shop window:

 

Or let a refinery foreman see safety records of a particular pipeline:

 

Virtual Boardrooms. There has already been work done in the industry on virtual dashboards for business executives — for example SAP’s virtual digital boardroom application, available for iTunes or Google Play.

 

The application allows viewers to move around and manipulate dashboards in a virtual environment — is this a preview of the boardrooms of the future? Here are the reactions of attendees of this year’s SXSW conference in Austin, Texas:

In conclusion: it’s clear V-business is coming — are you ready?

 

Our research partners at The Institute for the Future recently forecasted that we’re entering the next era of human machine partnership, and that between now and 2030 humans and machines will work in closer concert with each other, transforming our lives.

We’ve worked with machines for centuries, but we’re about to enter an entirely new phase – characterized by even greater efficiency, unity and possibility than ever before. 

Emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Real

ity (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing - made possible through exponential developments in software, analytics, and processing power - are augmenting and accelerating this direction. 

This is evident in our connected cars, homes, business and banking transactions already; even transforming how farmers manage their crops and cattle. Given this dizzying pace of progress, let’s take a look at what’s coming down the pike next.

Prediction 1: AI will do the ‘thinking tasks’ at speed 

Over the next few years, AI will change the way we spend our time acting on data, not just curating it. Businesses will harness AI to do data-driven “thinking tasks” for them, significantly reducing the time they spend scoping, debating, scenario planning and testing every new innovation. It will mercifully release bottlenecks and liberate people to make more decisions and move faster, in the knowledge that great new ideas won’t get stuck in the mire. 

Some theorists claim AI will replace jobs, but these new technologies may also create new ones, unleashing new opportunities for humans. For example, we’ll see a new type of IT professional focused on AI training and fine-tuning. These practitioners will be responsible for setting the parameters for what should and shouldn’t be classified good business outcomes, determining the rules for engagement, framing what constitutes ‘reward’ and so on. Once this is in place, the technology will be able to recommend positive commercial opportunities at lightning speed.

Prediction 2: Embedding the IQ of Things 

Starting in 2018, we’ll take gargantuan strides in embedding near-instant intelligence in IoT-enhanced cities, organizations, homes, and vehicles. With the cost of processing power decreasing and a connected node approaching $0, soon we’ll have 100 billion connected devices, and after that a trillion. The magnitude of all that data combined, processing power with the power of AI will help machines better orchestrate our physical and human resources. We’ll evolve into ‘digital conductors’ of the technology and environments surrounding us. Technology will function as an extension of ourselves. Every object will become smart and enable us to live smarter lives. 

We’re seeing this in our cars - the “ultimate mobile device” - which are being fitted out with ultrasonic sensors, technology that makes use of light beams to measure distance between vehicles and gesture recognition. In time, these innovations will make autonomous driving an everyday reality. Well before, we’ll get used to cars routinely booking themselves in for a service, informing the garage what needs to be done and scheduling their own software updates.

Prediction 3: We’ll don AR headsets

It also won’t be long until the lines between ‘real’ reality and augmented reality begin to blur. AR’s commercial viability is already evident. For instance, teams of construction workers, architects and engineers are using AR headsets to visualize new builds, coordinate efforts based on a single view of a development and train on-the-job laborers when a technician can’t be on site that day. 

Of course, VR has strong prospects too. It will undoubtedly transform the entertainment and gaming space in the near term, thanks to the immersive experiences it affords, but smart bets are on AR becoming the de facto way of maximizing human efficiency and leveraging the ‘tribal knowledge’ of an evolving workforce. 

Prediction 4: A deeper relationship with customers

Dell Technologies’ Digital Transformation Index shows that 45 percent of leaders in mid to large organizations believe they could be obsolete within 5 years and 78% see start-ups as a threat to their business. It’s never been more important to put the customer experience first.

Over the next year, with predictive analytics, machine learning (ML) and AI at the forefront, companies will better understand and serve customers at, if not before the point of need. Customer service will pivot on perfecting the blend between man and machine. So, rather than offloading customer interactions to first generation chatbots and predetermined messages, humans and automated intelligent virtual agents will work together, as one team.

Prediction 5: Bias check will become the next spell check

Over the next decade, emerging technologies such as VR, AI, will help people find and act on information without interference from emotions or external prejudice, while empowering them to exercise human judgment where appropriate.

In the short-term, we’ll see AI applied to hiring and promotion procedures to screen for conscious and unconscious bias. Meanwhile VR will increasingly be used as an interview tool to ensure opportunities are awarded on merit alone, e.g. by masking a prospective employee’s true identity with an avatar. 

By using emerging technologies to these ends, ‘bias check’ could one day become a routine sanitizer, like ‘spell check’- but with society-wide benefits.

Prediction 6: Media & Entertainment will break new ground with esports

In 2018, we’ll see increasingly vast numbers of players sitting behind screens or wearing VR headsets to battle it out in a high-definition computer-generated universe. As hundreds of millions of players and viewers tune-in, esports will go mainstream.

The esports phenomenon points to a wider trend. Namely that even quintessentially ‘human’ activities like sport have been digitalized. Technology has widened ‘sport’ to all types. You don’t need to have a certain physique or build. If you have quick haptic responses and motor skills, you can play and claim victory.

Additionally traditional sports, like cycling, have upped their game by harvesting data to identify incremental but game-changing gains. In the future every business will be a technology business, and our leisure time will become a connected experience.

Prediction 7: We’ll journey toward the “mega-cloud” 

Cloud is not a destination. It’s an IT model where orchestration, automation and intelligence are embedded deeply into IT Infrastructure. In 2018, businesses are overwhelmingly moving toward a multi-cloud approach, taking advantage of the value of all models from public to private, hosted, managed and SaaS. However, as more applications and workloads move into various clouds, the proliferation of cloud siloes will become an inevitability, thus inhibiting the organization’s ability to fully exploit data analytics and AI initiatives. This may also result in applications and data landing in the wrong cloud leading to poor outcomes. 

As a next step, we’ll see the emergence of the “mega cloud”, which will weave together multiple private and public clouds to behave as a coherent, holistic system. The mega cloud will offer a federated, intelligent view of an entire IT environment.

To make the mega cloud possible, we will need to create multi-cloud innovations in networking (to move data between clouds), storage (to place data in the right cloud), compute (to utilize the best processing and acceleration for the workloads), orchestration (to link networking, storage and compute together across clouds) and, as a new opportunity, customers will have to incorporate AI and ML to bring automation and insight to a new level from this next generation IT environment.

Prediction 8: The year to sweat the small stuff 

In this increasingly interconnected world, our reliance on third parties has never been greater. Organizations aren’t simple atomic instances; rather, they are highly interconnected systems that exist as part of something even bigger. The ripples of chaos spread farther and faster now that technology connects us in astonishing ways. Consider that one of the most substantial data breaches in history occurred because attackers used credentials to log into a third-party HVAC system.

Due to our increasingly interwoven relationship with machines, small subtle failures can lead to mega failures. Hence, next year will be a year of action for multinational corporations, further inspired by the onslaught of new regulations such as GDPR. Prioritizing the implementation of cybersecurity tools and technologies to effectively protect data and prevent threats will be a growing imperative.

Author: John Roese CTO Dell

We are moving toward a digitally-enabled world, where the lines between real and digital are blurring. As the digital world becomes an increasingly detailed reflection of the physical world, it creates fertile ground for new business models and ecosystems.

To embrace a digitally-enabled world, businesses need to digitally enable and transform every aspect of their operations. And they know this, with 55% of IT decision makers stating they have a year or less to make digital inroads before suffering financially and competitively. 

There are a plethora of new technologies to explore, and for enterprises still in the throes of digital transformation it can be difficult to figure out what technology to embrace next. 

What are some of these technologies that are ripe for companies to embrace? 

1. Augmented and virtual reality.
2. Artificial Intelligence and voice interfaces.
3. Machine to machine interactions. 

Each has different benefits for companies with one overarching theme - not every technology is the right fit for ev

ery company, and certain considerations must be made before deciding to implement. 

Augmented and Virtual Reality

AR and VR are arguably the most complex to implement of these new technologies. Everyone seems to be talking about them, but few companies can currently do anything useful with either. Why? Because they’re very hard to implement at the moment as they require new hardware which is still changing rapidly.

While major companies like Amazon and Microsoft have rolled out development platforms, the industry is still shaking out and establishing standards. Instead of rushing to leverage the newest technology, companies should first assess if it really makes sense for their business - a task that is unfortunately not always easy.

How can companies know they’re ready? There are a few specific use cases that are good guidelines; essentially, AR/VR only makes sense in certain markets currently. 

The first are companies that regularly need to visualize 3D objects like architects, construction firms and engineers. AR and VR can help those in the building space easily visualize and create floor and building plans.

In the automotive industry, car body designers can also benefit from this technology as it enables them to easily integrate and see the many small parts needed to create the car design. Simply, AR and VR make moving from the planning to production stage much faster - whether it’s for a car, home or machined component.

Industries that require complex diagnose and repairs - like energy - can benefit greatly from AR as it allows for augmented insights and repairs to very complicated systems with small parts. The one caveat, these must be high value systems to justify the cost of AR technology. Smaller car engine repairs would not justify the cost, but something which is critical to keep operating, such as an expensive and complex piece of manufacturing equipment or a wind turbine, really makes sense. 

Another instance where AR and VR are worth the investment is training for scenarios that are difficult to train for real life. In fact, we’ve seen versions of AR being used in flight simulators for quite some time.

The military has also begun using the technology in its training, and some areas of the private sector could learn to do the same. For example, in the medical field doctors could benefit from training for complex procedures with VR that would not otherwise be possible to prepare for. 

The main theme among these use cases is that AR and VR currently make sense only in industries that require visualization of plans/designs, high value and complex equipment or hard to train for scenarios. Companies should ask themselves if they fit into any of these areas and then determine if the potential benefits outweigh the costs of this technology. 

AI and Voice Interfaces

Although AI is even more complex under the hood than AR and VR, it has a huge benefit in terms of implementation - it can use the input from users’ current devices today! 

A specific area we are excited about in AI is the improvement in voice recognition and voice synthesis. These services can be purchased at competitive pricing from most major AI technology providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and IBM. They can also be combined with animated characters to provide visual voice interfaces that companies can benefit from right now. 

Digital agents are one of the biggest opportunities for digital transformation this year. This needs to go a step beyond the largely voice only interfaces of Alexa, to providing great visual interfaces that allow users to perform tasks like browsing, selecting and configuring.

While digital agents don’t make sense for every industry and company, they do offer vast opportunities to any company that has customers who interact with a product or service and want to offer an improved 24/7 experience. These include use cases like digital stylists, virtual concierges and digital chefs just to name a few. 

Digital agents give companies the ability to provide step by step instructions to customers or employees whether it is a digital chef demonstrating how to prepare a meal or a digital agent training employees on ways to complete internal tasks.

The hospitality industry also has a huge opportunity with digital agents, which act as a virtual concierge for guests - availa

ble 24/7 - and can be accessed anywhere by guests. Providing personalized customer service and simplifying the process of using a concierge that may encourage more guests to pay for services at the hotel. 

Ecommerce is another industry that can reap the rewards brought by digital agents. They offer a way to compete with Amazon by offering a better and more personalized customer experiences for online shoppers and ease the sometimes frustrating and arduous process of contacting customer service. They also offer an easier way to browse or configure and order complex products - like a customized RV or vacation package. 

Essentially, any company whose success is based on customers spending money can benefit from a digital agent as it helps to improve customer experience and encourage more spending thanks to ease of use and personalization. These agents are available 24/7, directly on a personal smartphone.

Machine-to-Machine Interactions

Interactions between machines is another huge opportunity for companies to digitally transform. When machines can interact and complete tasks with little human intervention using APIs, it streamlines the process and frees up resources for more complex tasks. Like the other technologies, machine-to-machine interactions are most beneficial to certain industries. 

One example of machine-to-machine interactions widely used today is shipping. This is a process that has become completely digital for many companies. A company can order goods, and a carrier like DHL ships the package and provides tracking information that is automatically shared throughout a packages journey thanks to automated barcode scanning machines. Once the company receives the goods, they can automatically process the 

packages without requiring an employee to review the shipment, because they trust the machine-to-machine reports that signal all packages have arrived. Three companies have interacted via API only. 

While the shipping example is already widely implemented, there are other machine-to-machine scenarios that companies can utilize. Anytime machines can be connected using the API economy or IoT devices, processes can be sped up and simplified. Human error becomes a thing of the past and the labor force is freed up to complete more complex tasks. 

Some considerations when implementing M2M in your business include using Swagger or the Open API Initiative format to share your API. You should certainly implement basic monitoring and analysis to ensure these API’s are being used as intended and not abused. 

Another new technology which can be highly beneficial is using a centralized blockchain log for machine-to-machine processes that require external auditing. This means that all parties can download the log and ensure transactions are unaltered, which is a great way to provide for transparency for automated trading or bidding interactions. 

Overall, there is a great opportunity for companies to digitally transform using technologies like AR/VR, digital agents and machine-to-machine interaction. With so many new technologies, it can be difficult for companies to determine which are worth the investment and which to pass up. The main consideration to account for are if the use cases for a technology make sense for the company and if the technology is being used successfully by others in the industry already.

Source: David Brebner (Information Management)