Page 15 - EngineerIT June 2022

FUTURE ICT

screen time. Also, given the pervasive If you look back at any historic technology - from the typewriter to the iPhone, they
messaging around personal data, drastically and dramatically altered people’s behaviour and delivered clear and obvious
consumers have serious reservations benefits. The same is required for the metaverse now and the key to unlocking this is the
when it comes to ownership of the killer application - the Google to the internet or the internet to the iPhone.
metaverse - who’s controlling it, who’s
behind it, and what’s happening The Holy Grail of convergence
to everything I do in there A thriving That’s what makes this particular period so alluring. The holy grail that is
which, by the way, is all metaverse is being sought is convergence - when the hardware meets with the platform
being tracked, recorded reliant on consumers and applications, all combining to improve lives. That’s the point at which
and possibly shared. the world will jump in and those companies that made the early play can
As a result, we’re buying into the hype. bask in the glory of their vision. It goes without saying that there needs to
seeing a real disconnect And that’s a long be a monetization model for all this although companies tend to find ways
between the rate at which way off. of making money. If several years ago you’d have said you were setting up
consumers are embracing the a site where people can comment up to a 140-character limit you would have
metaverse compared to business. been met with total indifference. Now Twitter is the subject of a $43.4bn hostile
The key question is, ‘what is required to takeover bid.
bring the two closer together?’ But despite the prevalence of technologies like AR and VR that are providing a
window to this future, we’re still a long way from that moment. Not least because the
The killer application types of connectivity that will be required to deliver on the potential of the metaverse
That’s not to undervalue where the will require 6G technologies. Even considering the speed of change in the last decade,
metaverse is to date. For applications this is still a long way in the future.
like gaming or eSports, where it is
almost tailormade to fit, it is having an FOMO or JOMO (Joy of Missing Out)
enormous impact. Supersocial raised There is no doubt that elements of technologists, businesses and consumers alike can
$5.2 million to make Games on the all see some potential in the metaverse. But right now, it’s opaque with more questions
Roblox platform and in 2019 10.7 million than answers.
users participated in Fortnite concerts Above all else, the last couple of years have reminded us that people still need
online. But away from gaming, for all people. We don’t want to be tucked away connecting virtually but rather together, with
the limitless potential the metaverse a personal and human touch that the metaverse simply cannot offer. It means that, for
has, none of it will be realised until it the time being at least, while we’ll continue to see businesses jump in through FOMO,
can justifiably claim to improve human consumers will remain content to be on the outside looking at the metaverse through
endeavour. the lens on JOMO (joy of missing out). n

EngineerIT | June 2022 | 13