MetaYeda #10 The Augmented Reality (AR) Future is NOW.
How is the Gaming Generation driving the Metaverse revolution? And What are the five cool things you can do in the AR future?
Our first 2023 MetaYeda Weekly issue opens with my working definition of the Metaverse. Then, we'll dive into the first disruptive trend of the Metaverse: The Augmented Reality (AR) Future. Next, we will clarify the difference between AR and XR (extended reality) and see the five cool things you can do in the AR future.
Featuring the latest AR highlights innovations from CES 2023 conference; You will see how The Gaming Generation is driving the Metaverse revolution in unexpected ways. But, most importantly, you will see how the Metaverse redefines community, commerce, culture, and society.
MetaYeda Weekly Reflection (human) Prompt: Are you overloaded with Metaverse 2002 summaries and 2023 prediction lists? Feel free to go off the grid, but not for too long!-)
Recently, I shared with the honorable Israeli Supreme Court Judges my knowledge and insights based on Life in the METAVERSE: Applications, Impacts, and Trends.
I concluded my keynote talk by saying, "We should have a Metaverse working definition to lower the white noise. We must criss-cross the Metaverse's disruptive future landscape. Much like the ancient sailors in the pacific ocean, we should build compasses to navigate the currents wisely: The Augmented, eXtended, Immersive, and Ludic future."
What is the Metaverse? a Working definition
The Metaverse is a seamless and frictionless combination of the physical and synthetic worlds, where people can communicate and create communities, commerce, and culture. At its core, the Metaverse is an extension of man through immersive and ludic experiences based on the convergence of augmented/ extended/ virtual reality, gaming, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies. As a result, the Metaverse will change how we think about place and property and redefine how we interact, socialize, learn, work, shop, and leisure. (Gazit, 2023).
*Life will be like in Umberto Eco's and Jean Baudrillard's Hyper Reality Simulcara
. It would be inhabitable to distinguish "The Real" from the "Synthetic" signifiers.Let's dive into the first disruptive trend of the Metaverse: The Augmented Reality (AR) Future.
The Augmented/ Extended Reality (AR/XR) Future
The future will be much more augmented. The boundaries between the synthetic world, Web3, 3D virtual worlds, extended reality platforms, and our physical world will melt and blend.
Definition: What is Extended Reality?
Extended reality (XR) is the overarching term for a spectrum of technologies that link or integrate the digital world and the real world. These include augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) technologies, all of which provide different degrees of sensory immersion and interaction between the real world and digital content. (Botwell & Chung, 2022).
Life in an AR/ XR future will be like living in a "Minority Report" Sci-Fi movie.
Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D.
Created by Keiichi Matsuda in 2010, the Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop movie is a visionary look into the Hyper-Reality future, where physical and virtual realities have converged.
Credit: Keiichi Matsuda
The latter half of the 20th century saw the built environment merged with media space, and architecture taking on new roles related to branding, image, and consumerism. Augmented reality may recontextualize the functions of consumerism and architecture and change how we operate within it.
Keiichi Matsuda, January 2010.
5 things you will be able to do in the Augmented reality future?
1# You can choose your own Car’s “AI Skin” Color and shape
BMW rolled out at CES 2023 its digital, emotional concept car i Vision Dee. The futuristic vehicle features AI, full-screen augmented reality, a color-changing e-ink, and more.
Don’t be silly. You’re a Car. You can’t hug me. - Arnold “Arni” Schwarzenegger.
Video Clip credit: BMW Group
What are Virtual Skins?
Skins (cosmetic add-ons that customize the look of game characters) have become a staple of modern video games like Fortnite, and 85% of U.S. gamers ages 13 to 45 are aware of them. In addition, Newzoo and DMarket 2020 research shows that U.S. gamers love virtual skins and in-game cosmetics. (Source: Dean Takahashi for VentureBeat).
In 2022 gaming skins became a $50 Billion Industry. (Source: Caleb Naysmith for Yahoo Finance).
The Gaming Generation is driving the Metaverse revolution.
Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D.
2# Magic Leap AR will redefine the way you work.
3# Your eyesight will get Augmented with AR Contact lenses.
4# Traveling to Japan? With TCL's AR Glasses, you can translate conversations in real time.
5# With L'Oréal Brow Magic, the first AR eyebrow printer, you will get the best professional-effect, quick micro-blading results at home.
5 things you will be able to do in commerce by using AR in 2030
AR will afford more interactive and engaging shopping experiences. Customers can take virtual tours of stores from anywhere and check out 3D products. You will better understand what the products and goods look like and how they function.
Brands will be able to create AR showrooms. As a customer, you can virtually try on clothes and accessories before buying them, enabling you to select the perfect fit.
AR will allow for more targeted advertising and marketing. Customers receive real-time personalized product recommendations tailored to their individual preferences, including RL (Real life) NFTs representations.
Businesses will be able to provide more immersive customer service experiences, allowing customers to access product information and troubleshooting guides more easily.
With Augmented holograms, you can virtually attend conferences and meetings with colleagues and clients worldwide.
My upcoming keynotes talk:
The METAVERSE: New Businesses Opportunities beyond the Hype.
What is Metaverse? Following the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, will the hype around it subside, or is the underlying business potential real? What is the market value of the future Metaverse, and why do people like virtual goods and products? Who drives the experience economy, and will we only use digital currencies in the future?
Dr. Elhanan Gazit shows us the Metaverse future trends that disrupt the economic order and why businesses should now take advantage of new opportunities to remain relevant.
The Future of Payments Conference, Shibolet & Co. Law Firm, Tel Aviv-Yafo, ISR., January 2023 (invited, in Hebrew).
What Next?
On our following issues, we will teleport to the other future trends of the Metaverse: The Disruptive Complexity, The Immersive, and the Ludic future.
The Metaverse will redefine community, commerce, culture, and society.
Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D.
BONUS for you, our dedicated reader
Video clip Credit: Ready Player Me
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🕹Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D., is a Gaming and Metaverse Strategist, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, Lecturer, Video Games Scholar. Founder at juloot, Ex-Founder & CEO @ MetaverSense Ltd. GAME-ON!
Baudrillard, J. (2019). Simulacra and simulations (1981). In Crime and Media (pp. 69-85). Routledge.