Episode 7 of our Insights Live focussed on what the metaverse is and what it means for business. Our guests included Olga Dogadkina from Emperia and AIXR CEO Daniel Colaianni. Mickey Adler from Mickey XR moderated the panel.
Talking points included the importance of defining the metaverse and how sectors such as e-commerce can adapt. Check out the highlights below.
The Key Highlights
What does the metaverse mean for your business? How do you define it?
- Important to move the XR industry away from a reliance on buzzwords. There remains a lot of confusion around what the metaverse means. There is no consensus.
- The metaverse is not the same as the internet.
- The metaverse is a framework for how we should interact with an immersive environment.
- Digital lives are becoming more important than our real lives. The metaverse will represent the culmination of this transition.
- Defining the term is essential to establishing a timeline. A lot of metaverse conferences at the moment focus too much on NFTs. Whereas, we need hardware advancement to create persistent immersive experiences.
How can businesses adapt to the metaverse? Are we seeing widespread interest?
- What we used to call a virtual store six months ago is now being called a brand metaverse.
- There is a lot of interest but activations are still experimental at the moment.
- Gen Z is demanding more experience-driven e-commerce experiences. 3D will enable a more engaging consumer experience. Hence the interest from larger brands.
- But businesses are looking at singular elements of the metaverse at the moment. Whereas the metaverse should be all-encompassing.
- Nevertheless, VR-enabled remote working environments will be accessible and effective to most businesses.
- We are seeing interest in the metaverse from across different industries. It has become about keeping your brand present where your consumers are.
Are there any metaverse projects that stand out to you at the moment?
- Gucci Garden in Roblox was successful within retail. They created an immersive, fun experience that resonated with younger audiences. They were engaging with this demographic to specifically grow the audience of tomorrow.
- We see audiences engage with these experiences for longer than traditional e-commerce experiences.
- As a result, brands that evoke strong feelings will benefit most from the metaverse. The metaverse is a long-term investment for these brands.
- The Travis Scott concert in Fortnite was a standout experience. There have been better experiences since but this established interest. It also demonstrated how the metaverse can drive ROI.
- Snapchat’s persistent, shareable AR experience on London’s Carnaby Street showed how the metaverse can be shared.
Visit our calendar and register for our upcoming episodes to explore more of what our Insights Live Webinars have to offer.
