Reality as we know it is undergoing a historic transformation. Our world today stands at the threshold of a profound technological revolution that is taking the ‘real world’ we inhabit far beyond the limitations of physics and time.
Welcome to Extended Reality (XR), a new frontier of converging technologies shaping the metaverse of tomorrow – an immersive, interconnected 3D world in which Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies will redefine how we live, work and socialize.
The promise of XR is fueling predictions for an array of some once-unthinkable possibilities within the fast-emerging metaverse. By 2030, we could be spending more time in the metaverse than in the real world. People will be applying for jobs, earning a living, meeting with friends, shopping, even getting married using the virtual capabilities of the metaverse.
In the coming decade, higher education and job training may increasingly be provided in virtual 3D settings, along with boardroom and workplace meetings. Businesses and governments will rely on the power and reach of the metaverse to share information, provide services and collaborate as never before.
Say goodbye to your traditional workspace. You will likely be surrounded by surfaces that provide new interfaces and a new realm of instantaneous virtual connections to people, places and work settings. Modern tools will let you forge connections and manipulate 3D objects intuitively within the lifelike virtual space you are occupying.
By 2030, we can expect to see the emergence of brain computer interfaces (BCIs) that enable human thought to be tracked, recorded and shared. These XR capabilities may literally enable us to experience moments and memories from someone else’s life. Synthetic data generated from simulated worlds, meanwhile, will likely guide robots to problem solve and replace humans performing high-risk work.
As technology advances and converges immersing us in new virtual worlds, we believe the industry is at an inflection point. We are seeing investment and technological advancement soar as more businesses wake up to the vast realm of emerging opportunities. Facebook, for example, has changed its name to Meta and committed US$10 billion on metaverse technology development1. Microsoft meanwhile has announced a record-breaking US$69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard, makers of popular multiplayer online games2. Make no mistake – as the metaverse continues to emerge, many businesses will find opportunities for change.