The rise of the Metaverse has irrevocably shifted the priorities of global firms to new objectives and targets as they adapt to the rapid changes in the global market. Immersive innovations sweeping across the world’s numerous business verticals have prompted many businesses to asset their brand amid fierce competition to establish a presence in the spatial communications platform.
- Vishal Shah and Sol Rogers will speak at the inaugural XR Summit on 20 September to discuss how businesses can shift their operations to the Metaverse.
Following Meta Platforms rebranding in October last year, several firms have stepped up their efforts to enter and settle in the Metaverse, including Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Ford, ENGAGE XR, and others, in a bid to populate the successor to the Internet with a thriving ecosystem of technologies and new products.
XR Today held a panel discussion with Vishal Shah, General Manager of XR and Metaverse for Lenovo, and Sol Rogers, Global Director of Innovation for Magnopus, on enterprise use cases and considerations as they adopted metaverse solutions for their business operations.
Ready, Player Firm?
When asked what most enterprises required when integrating their operation on metaverse platforms, Shah explained how it was more about outcomes, not technologies, used in the solution.
Citing the ongoing global labour shortage, due to “new and relatively untrained” hires, Shah stated,
“Customers are looking for these return on investment (ROI) solutions and look at VR as a great way to train employees to collaborate in 3D environments, and to create some of these solutions that will really help upscale and train these new employees”
He added business continuity was a major issue for global enterprises, namely for remote guidance procedures such as engine and turbine repairs in remote places.
Shah explained that remote experts or artificial intelligence (AI)-based servers that offered step-by-step instructions on preventative maintenance procedures for workers, provided assistance “at a much lower cost and also with a [better] impact on the environment and safety benefits.
“Instead of flying five people over, you’ve got a semi-expert there who can fix the problem with remote assistance,” he concluded.
From Gaming to Global Metaverse?
Rogers stated he believed consumers would “become part of the Metaverse,” with many previously experiencing global metaverses in gaming with titles like World of Warcraft and Fortnite.
He continued, stating,
“Anyone playing Fortnite has already considered themselves a digital native […] Enterprises that want to use it to improve their operations, their business, they’re experienced internally and then [consider how they can] then communicate and reach people through a new platform or even create digital products”
He also noted enterprises mulled converting the consumer end of a physical product line to digital product lines, adding: “Can I empower that? With NFTs, can I not sell just any sneakers in the real world, but can I sell [physical] sneakers in the virtual world?”
Rogers stated it was an “incredibly complex thing” as firms had to build a “construct for these objects, assets, and products.” Demand for methods to create new virtual spaces had risen sharply due to instant sales opportunities to global audiences with no warehousing costs, he added.
The Lion King, Reinvisioned
Speaking on Magnopus’ experience with filming The Lion King, Rogers explained that Disney wanted to shoot the movie completely digitally, but had an “incredible talent base of experts.”
Explaining further, he said,
“We gave them in a virtual environment — the director, the digital light processing (DLP), the cinema turn, cinematography — all wearing headsets with traditional camera technology, and were now standing on Pride Rock, shooting the movie as if you’re really there. So we’re flipping those tools around and providing similar utility to create content experiences”
Concluding, Rogers stated that novel XR tools were “really exciting” as they determined how the industry would evolve over time.
- Vishal Shah and Sol Rogers will speak at the inaugural XR Summit on 20 September to discuss how businesses can shift their operations to the Metaverse.
The first-ever XR Summit is set to take place from 20 to 22 September with a host of major multinational firms, startups, and organisations speaking in a series of panel discussions and fireside chats. Kindly visit our website for more information and to register for the event.
