2 minute read
Meta Human
A People-First Look at the Metaverse
WRITTEN BY: AL NOLAN, HEAD OF TECHNICAL CONSULTING, BOTTLE ROCKET
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Meta wants you to think that it invented the metaverse. In a number of ways they will - just by deciding. In 10 years there will be no shortage of white papers and case studies written about how the Facebook transition to Meta was a watershed moment that saved the notion of a sustainable, capitalized metaverse. Why wouldn’t a hiring blitz, a full-throated rebrand and an intentional multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment give them that moniker – the inventors of the metaverse?
We will not remember that before October of 2021, the metaverse existed in the form of Fortnite, Roblox, Second Life and even physical installations like The Void in San Francisco have existed for years. The idea of shared virtual environments had been popularized long before the term metaverse and tales of its lore will hopefully persist.
However, where we are now feels different. With the advent of democratized technology from Nvidia & Microsoft’s Mesh and even Apple’s Memojis have done something powerful: they’ve made shared virtual spaces commonplace. They have been teaching us how to co-exist in persistent 3D spaces for years now. Without the burden of promoting something as grand as a “Metaverse” the groundwork is now laid for what is now not so scary. What was novel before is now a proper noun that one of the most powerful companies in the world is renaming itself after.
What is also unique are the circumstances by which this conversation has arisen. There are now several conglomerates worth $1 trillion who have maybe maxed out their market cap for the moment. There are only so many companies to buy that make sense so combined revenue and brand equity may have apexed. Incomes might be stabilizing soon and consumers need new stimuli; to supplement travel. And social media has taken it’s share of blows over the last several years. Consumers need to be inspired to consider new things but what is there that can inspire a jaded social itch? And home is the new work... is the new home. People are falling back in love with their own living spaces and making investments to ensure their qualities of life. What is needed is new real estate – new digital real estate.
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