XR Today’s Big News series has begun exploring the topics closest to the extended reality (XR) market, where daily headlines constantly shift and transform the landscape of the technology world.
XR Today spoke to Dr Dmitry Mihaylov, Chief Scientific Officer of Farcana, a Dubai-based decentralised metaverse platform for events and gaming. Dr Mihaylov is also a Contract Expert at the United Nations and a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore.
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When asked about the key emerging technologies needed to develop the enterprise, Dr Mihaylov stated that AR and VR worked differently for training. Enterprises needed to use each immersive solution based on the training style or industry.
There was no “universal solution” to fill all industries and data flows differed across verticals such as industrial or medical use cases.
Speaking on the reluctance to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), he explained,
“There will be more and more niche solutions because you need huge amounts of big data to train your AI to make image recognition better and make your solution really fit industry demand. So far, there are experts afraid of losing their jobs and reluctant to adopt new technologies, unfortunately. You have to really [persuade] them [on AI] with its level of accuracy and the fact that their job will become easier”
Emerging technologies also faced problems attracting talent and upskilling across industries, allowing AR solutions to support specialists remotely. Citing the medical sector, firms tapped AR to remotely guide first responders and hospital workers.
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Speaking on Japan’s adoption of AR for first responders using Vuzix M400 smart glasses, Mihaylov added that such solutions addressed the talent shortage and boosted skills while in emergency scenarios.
Despite this, data channels remained a blockage to the industry as there were inconsistencies with transferring big data across cities.
He added,
“There is no problem with data channels and sending all this big data about adoption in different countries with lower network capacities will be much worse”
The conversation also discussed 5G coverage in rural settings, leading to concerns over 5G network penetration consistency for using such AR devices.
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Companies rebranding as Metaverse firms have irrevocably reshaped the tech landscape, with brands such as Meta Platforms, NVIDIA, Nextech AR, RealWear, and others leading in such measures.
When asked about his views on RealWear’s recent move to become a platform solutions firm, similarly to others rebranding as Metaverse enterprises, he stated that many companies could potentially use the Metaverse to create hype by adopting carbon credits or environmental social governance (ESG) plans.
He said,
“It’s something that people speak about and of course, nobody wants to be out of this trend, but most solutions that companies provide [are too] immature to be massively adopted”
Such plans were problematic and to improve the quality of available products. Firms needed to work with very focused and niche problems, along with greater investments with money and time, or risk “taking part in this hype and later, just forgetting about it.”
“Unfortunately, we see a lot of a lot of things like this happening on the market,” he added.
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Many companies have begun developing metaverse platforms to create future infrastructure for the spatial communications platform, with Meta Platforms Horizons Worlds, NVIDIA’s Omniverse, Stageverse, Delta Reality, and many others developing their own virtual tools to facilitate the sector.
Dr Mihaylov explained that it was a “very good strategic idea” that Ilman Shazhaev, CEO of Farcana, had previously discussed. The executive focused on popular AAA games on the platform, with winners receiving Bitcoin for reaching top spots in the competition.
“To provide new products, you have to communicate with your clients [and] understand what they want. This is how Farcana develops its AAA games, step-by-step, in the Metaverse. One should remember that companies registered in Dubai and the Emirates are very supportive of many Metaverse projects, and we already are in communication with a lot of government bodies who want to see how they can be represented in the new economy”
The Metaverse was “very open to all these trends” but Farcana’s executive leadership believes it was core to its strategy that “the winner in this competition will be companies who attract more users through gaming, which is a very smart move.”
The Metaverse: Open or Closed Source?
Explaining further the benefits of open-source technologies, Mihaylov agreed they would help build global standards and the Metaverse.
The Chief Scientific Officer noted that Farcana did not favour the approach of larger corporations, but rather open source and blockchain approaches.
Other methods used to build the Metaverse included larger industrial firms such as Google, NVIDIA, and Microsoft, leading to two major trends in the industry.
“I think at some level, they will merge in a way that the blockchain community wants it to merge […] I think there will be some kind of voting system or community will become more involved. We see how, for example, Bitcoin is evolving, and that its stacks-to-zero project is basically a smart contract layer over Bitcoin. It takes time to introduce thse smart contracts, but the whole community is involved. New standards have evolved with the whole community, and I think these two trends will emerge after some time”
The expert spoke on XR Today’s XR Big News Series, which explores the top headlines for the month in the virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) industries across verticals.
For more information, kindly visit Farcana at their website.
