The聽metaverse聽may not seem viable in South Africa and other countries facing similar socio-economic challenges, but a global expert believes that the cost of聽virtual reality (VR) headsets and controllers are not an issue.

鈥淭he聽metaverse聽is helping in democratising and creating equal chances and access by design,鈥� said聽Dr Oliver Gutzeit, global vice president of 麻豆原创鈥檚 experience technology team, in an interview during last week鈥檚聽Saphila聽2023 conference at Sun City.聽Saphila聽is聽a biennial conference hosted by the African 麻豆原创 User Group (AFSUG) in partnership with 麻豆原创.聽Gutzeit delivered a presentation聽titled聽麻豆原创 in the聽Metaverse聽鈥� Innovation in Action.聽We spoke to him later about its potential in South Africa.

鈥淚f it is done in the right way, it is really not a place that is聽depending聽on money to work in, or access,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is helping to open opportunities. If inequality is high, the聽metaverse聽is a technology that can help, and is worth looking聽into. 鈥淗olograms and VR have long been a feature of the supposed fourth industrial revolution. When President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the first 4th Industrial Revolution SA summit in 2019, his address was live-streamed as a hologram to the Rustenburg Civic Centre. It was touted as the first live holographic presentation by a head of state, although India, China and France could have laid claim to the same laurels.

It鈥檚 just over four years later, and we have yet to see heads of state ditching their microphones for holograms. That鈥檚 the problem with most 4IR tech, from VR to 3D printing: it鈥檚 all very cool, but not often of practical use.

However, Gutzeit鈥檚 presentation suggested that VR and AR, or the聽metaverse, as such tech has been marketed since Facebook changed its name to Meta, is moving closer to true industrial application.

Introducing the topic, he exploded a few myths about the聽metaverse, including the misconceptions that it is all about Mark Zuckerberg鈥檚 Meta, that it is losing money, and that it is a 鈥渨alled garden鈥� that limits access.

More significantly, he underlined the commercial opportunity it offered in the industrial and manufacturing spaces. He shared projections by Deloitte that showed that the industrial聽metaverse, a virtual mirror of real-life industrial processes, was especially promising. It was expected to generate $22,73-billion in revenue by 2025, an $100-billion annual potential by 2030.

Deloitte鈥檚 research found that 85% of enterprises think that preparation for the聽Metaverse聽is necessary today, while 20% of manufacturers are developing聽metaverse聽applications or underlying solutions. Only 6% of enterprises see the聽metaverse聽as just a hype.

That was just a warm-up for Gutzeit鈥檚 own demonstration of the聽metaverse. He introduced his own avatar, a user鈥檚 digital representation of themselves in an online or virtual environment, and took the audience through a series of virtual rooms that make up a 麻豆原创聽Metaverse聽showcase.

From a leisure lounge to a 麻豆原创 history museum to a virtual workbench to a convenience store that was quickly converted聽into聽a clothes shop, he encapsulated a range of settings possible in the聽metaverse. He demonstrated how he could customise a company car with different models and colours before the specs could be sent off for delivery of the real thing.

With a controller in his hands, he navigated through a videogame-like environment to demonstrate a real-life application of the聽metaverse聽in an industrial setting, rearranging items to simulate how it would affect a real environment. Is that enough to convince operators of factories and other industrial operations?

The fact that the聽metaverse聽has not yet taken off in this sector could turn out to be a good thing, said Gutzeit.

鈥淲e have more time to explore the聽metaverse, and we need to find out in which cases it will be an effective technology,鈥� he told us later. 鈥淚n the next few years, we will have a breakthrough for this technology. It won鈥檛 have the same disruptive effect as AI, but it will be an added piece of technology in our future.

鈥淥verall, the聽metaverse聽is nothing to be in fear of. There will not be a sudden disruption, but rather a change over time. Talking about it, and being in the聽Metaverse, are two totally different things. You don鈥檛 have to like it, or stay there, or use it, but at least try it once 鈥� even if you think it has nothing to do with you or your business.鈥�

* Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of聽. Follow him on Twitter and Threads on @art2gee Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and writer for聽. Follow him on Threads and Instagram at聽@jase_bann

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