How will businesses use the metaverse?

Summary

The video explores the metaverse, a virtual world that mirrors and extends reality, with transformative potential across industries like entertainment, manufacturing, medicine, and firefighting. Technologies such as augmented reality, digital twins, and real-time 3D graphics are revolutionizing fields from film production to surgery. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia are heavily investing in this space, which offers significant opportunities for both major corporations and independent creators. However, the metaverse still faces challenges, such as the need for standardized protocols and massive increases in computing power, as it moves towards becoming a multi-trillion-dollar economy.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The metaverse is a virtual world that mirrors reality, allowing people to meet, travel, and learn new skills like piloting.
• 🚀 The metaverse has the potential to transform daily life, from firefighting and manufacturing to filmmaking and medicine.
• 🎬 Industrial Light & Magic’s Stagecraft technology, used in shows like *The Mandalorian*, enables real-time, virtual set design, revolutionizing film production.
• 🕹️ The metaverse isn’t just for gaming—it's a new frontier for businesses and entrepreneurs, with multi-trillion-dollar opportunities on the horizon.
• 💻 Companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft are investing billions in metaverse technologies, recognizing its transformative potential.
• 🎮 Roblox, an online platform with 58.5 million daily users, exemplifies the metaverse’s commercial potential, allowing creators to build virtual experiences.
• 🔥 Metaverse technologies, such as AI and digital twins, are being used to predict and fight wildfires, improving disaster management.
• 🏗️ Digital twin technology, which creates virtual replicas of physical objects, is being adopted by industries like manufacturing to optimize processes.
• 🔗 A major challenge for the metaverse is the lack of standardized protocols to connect multiple virtual worlds, akin to HTML for websites.
• 💡 Augmented reality (AR) devices are already being used in areas like healthcare, where they assist surgeons in performing more precise operations.

Q & A

What is the metaverse and how does it mirror the real world?

The metaverse is a virtual world that mirrors the real world by allowing users to interact in a 3D environment with virtual spaces, people, and objects. It operates similarly to the real world, providing infinite memory and history, and can simulate real-world activities such as meetings, travel, and even skill development like obtaining a pilot's license.

How might the metaverse impact industries beyond gaming and entertainment?

The metaverse could transform various industries such as firefighting, filmmaking, manufacturing, and medicine. For example, it can be used for real-time immersive experiences, augmented reality in manufacturing, and even medical procedures where augmented reality assists surgeons in performing complex surgeries with greater precision.

What is ILM's Stagecraft technology, and how does it relate to the metaverse?

ILM’s Stagecraft is a virtual production toolkit that allows filmmakers to design and visualize sets in real time using LED walls. This technology underpins the metaverse by enabling the creation of realistic computer-generated environments, revolutionizing film production by streamlining the process and reducing post-production work.

What is the origin of the term 'metaverse' and how has it evolved?

The term 'metaverse' was first coined by author Neil Stephenson in his 1992 novel *Snow Crash*. However, its roots lie in the early gaming industry of the 1970s, where multi-user simulations and text-based virtual worlds were the precursors to the immersive 3D virtual experiences we are beginning to see today.

How have gaming technologies influenced the development of the metaverse?

The gaming industry has played a crucial role in the development of the metaverse. Over decades, improvements in visual fidelity, graphics technology, and real-time simulation software have laid the foundation for the creation of immersive virtual environments that are now central to the metaverse.

What are digital twins, and how are they being used in the metaverse?

Digital twins are precise virtual simulations of real-world objects, environments, or processes. In the metaverse, they are used to model and simulate real-world activities, such as factory operations or environmental conditions, allowing industries like manufacturing and climate science to predict outcomes and optimize processes more efficiently.

What challenges exist in developing a standardized metaverse, and what is being done to address them?

One major challenge is the lack of a standard protocol to connect different virtual worlds, similar to how HTML connects websites. Companies are working on new standards for 3D information sharing, such as Pixar’s Universal Scene Description (USD), which could become the metaverse’s equivalent of HTML.

How is the metaverse expected to change the way brands and entrepreneurs operate?

The metaverse offers financial opportunities for brands and entrepreneurs by allowing them to create immersive experiences and digital products. Platforms like Roblox enable developers to create virtual worlds, attracting millions of users and generating substantial revenue. Major brands are also using the metaverse to engage younger audiences.

What role does augmented reality (AR) play in the metaverse, especially in sectors like healthcare and the military?

AR is a key technology in the metaverse, enabling virtual images to overlay the real world. In healthcare, AR is used to assist surgeries by providing real-time guidance, improving accuracy and outcomes. In the military, AR devices help soldiers navigate battlefields with enhanced vision and situational awareness.

What are some of the potential limitations of the metaverse in terms of computing power?

One of the significant limitations is the immense computing power required to support the metaverse on a global scale. Intel estimates that a thousand-fold improvement in computing power is needed to fully realize the vision of the metaverse, along with advancements in hardware and software to handle the complexity of virtual environments.