GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY Words by Verity Butler A report from JP Morgan’s Onyx division reveals the potential of the metaverse. But most importantly, it looks to separate the hype from the reality
t’s strange to think that something as explosively world-changing as the metaverse was a term coined in 1992. Predictably, it came from a sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson called Snow Crash . In it, the metaverse was a place to escape a bleak reality… already it doesn’t sound too distant from the current model. You could actually date general thinking surrounding extended universes much further back. In 1838, for example, scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone developed the idea of binocular vision, combining two images to make a single 3D version – a theory that later led to the invention of stereoscopes. It is also a concept used in present-day VR sets. The connection to literary creations is also evident in 1935 sci-fi novel Pygmalion’s Spectacles by Stanley Weinbaum, where the protagonist explores a made-up land using goggles that harness all five senses. Humans have been toying with the idea of fourth, fifth or even sixth dimensions for quite some time. But now, technology has caught up, and the 21st century has seen humanity dip its toes in the metaverse ocean in ways those authors could only have dreamed.
However, in the past five years, it has drifted away from being a sector of pure technological discovery, instead drastically accelerating into a commercial market, bursting with opportunity. JP Morgan’s Onyx division is a segment of the global company that leverages cutting-edge technologies like blockchain to develop new products and platforms. It recently released a report entitled: ‘Opportunities in the metaverse: How businesses can explore the metaverse and navigate the hype vs reality.’ Central to our purpose at FEED is helping readers discover ways to build their brand. As we found at NAB Show, the latest to be added to the buzzword pool is ‘metaverse.’ We hope you can use the findings from this report to sort out the truth from the talk.
ABOUT ONYX A blockchain platform from JP Morgan
A MOMENT OF INFLECTION
Online, role-playing worlds like The Sims or Second Life have been around for 20 years – and its players average 20 hours each week. Recent equivalents like Minecraft or Fortnite have millions of users, with vast supporting economies. “We are now at an inflection point, where it seems that not a day goes by without a company
or celebrity announcing that they are building a presence in a virtual universe,” states the report. New technologies enabled this – AR, VR and MR. Most important of all is blockchain, which provided cryptocurrencies and enabled monetisation on a titanic scale. This, paired with Covid-19, acted as a catalyst for the capitalisation of the metaverse.
NAVIGATING HYPE VS REALITY Despite much excitement about the possibilities of the metaverse, in order to enable its full potential for engagement, self-expression, community building and commerce, key areas need to be developed and matured.
We see these as new opportunities for teams, projects, DAOs, businesses, technology providers and financial institutions to flourish and collaborate together in vibrant ecosystems, addressing the following:
Regulation, tax, accounting and social infrastructure
Privacy and identity
Technology
Commercial infrastructure
Workforce of the future
feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook