A journey into the metaverse 📺
A journey into the metaverse 📺
Exploring the early days of future worlds of work.
Thinking about the metaverse makes me dizzy – not only because of my motion sickness (just thinking about VR goggles makes me queasy) but also because I don’t fully understand what the metaverse is.
Now that robot-slash-human Mark Zuckerberg1 has popularized the term with the renaming of Facebook to Meta, I am forced to learn about this stupid new concept taking the world by storm.
Here’s the thing, though: it’s not stupid.
While it might be easy to brush the metaverse off as the latest fad in tech, I’m sorry to say the metaverse deserves more than an eye roll.
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is essentially a “place” parallel to our physical world. It’s a virtual world defined by virtual experiences like digital avatars, NFTs (not even gonna touch that one), and cryptocurrency.
In a Facebook earnings call in 2021, Zuckerberg defined the metaverse as:
…a virtual environment where you can be present with people in digital spaces.
and
…an embodied internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at.
First of all, is “embodied internet” not the most terrifying idea? I don’t need Charlie the Unicorn, Salt Bae, or the Harlem Shake all up in my body (that’s what “embodied” means, right?).
The Metaverse & the Workplace
It turns out the metaverse isn’t only for gamers and digital natives. It’s actually relevant to the world of work. You’re probably already familiar with tools like Zoom and Slack and Discord and Webex (also known as #theworst). These are all gateways to the metaverse.
According to economics and technology advisor Mark Purdy, here are some of the major ways the metaverse will (re)shape the workplace:
1. New virtual workplaces and forms of collaboration 💻
Think virtual offices (or what Meta calls “the infinite office”) where avatar-based employees work in virtual offices in real-time.
Gather, for example, is a video chat platform where people can build their own custom spaces – including virtual offices.
Another example is NextMeet, India’s first virtual reality metaverse platform designed for remote working and collaboration, distance learning, and networking events.
2. Digital, AI-powered colleagues 🤖
You know how Google finishes your sentences? Well, the metaverse is kicking it up a notch.
Say hello to your new colleagues: super realistic, human-like bots – or, as New Zealand-based tech startup Soul Machines calls them, “Digital People.”
As Purdy explains:
Emotions are the next frontier in the metaverse. Soul Machines…is bringing together advances in AI (such as machine learning and computer vision) and in autonomous animation (such as expression rendering, gaze direction, and real-time gesturing) to create lifelike, emotionally-responsive digital humans.
Working with brands like IBM, Sony, Air New Zealand, Mercedes-Benz, Ogilvy, and the World Health Organization, Soul Machines’ Digital People have served as customer support agents, product consultants, educational coaches, virtual realtors, and healthcare assistants.
3. Faster learning 🍎
Rooted in gamification, the metaverse will redefine the way we learn. Purdy says:
In the metaverse, every object – a training manual, machine, or product, for example – could be made to be interactive, providing 3D displays and step-by-step “how to” guides. Virtual reality role-play exercises and simulations will become common, enabling worker avatars to learn in highly realistic, “game play” scenarios, such as “the high-pressure sales presentation,” “the difficult client,” or “a challenging employee conversation.”
In the UK, Metaverse Learning worked with the UK Skills Partnership to develop a virtual reality training program for nurses on the frontline, using 3D animation and augmented reality to provide training in specific scenarios and reinforce best practices.
Purdy adds:
The visual and interactive nature of metaverse-based learning is also likely to appeal particularly to autistic people, who respond better to visual as opposed to verbal cues. Virtual reality tools can also be used to combat social anxiety in work situations, for example by creating realistic but safe spaces to practice public presentations and meeting interactions.
4. A brave new world economy 🌐
Just as the Industrial Revolution had factory workers and the 21st century has social media managers and cybersecurity professionals, the metaverse will also introduce new roles to the world of work – from ecosystem developers and avatar conversation designers to metaverse planners and world-builders.
IMVU, for example, is a virtual social networking site world with more than seven million users per month. Thousands of avatar-based creators make and sell virtual products (outfits, furniture, make-up, music), generating around $7 million per month in revenue.
Decentraland is another platform where users can buy, sell, and build businesses on virtual land, and earn digital money called “Mana.”
These “metaverse-native” enterprises are bringing new jobs, new roles, and a whole new economy.
A Peek Behind the Meta-Curtain
As you can imagine, the metaverse brings an array of opportunities – and challenges – to diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI).
While it could serve as a safe space for self-expression (experimenting with gender in a virtual world, for example, can enable people to explore identities more safely), many of the challenges we face in the real world – equal rights, identity expression, racism – have understandably followed us into the metaverse.
The metaverse already has reports of groping and sexual harassment, digital blackface (using a black avatar as a non-black person), and identity tourism (choosing an avatar or character outside of your own identity).
As American rapper Fat Joe – who is participating in the world’s first marathon in the metaverse2 – said:
People are bringing the old world into the new world.
I believe the primary way we can tackle DEI in the metaverse is by starting with the people who are creating it – which, right now, are mostly white male developers.
When it comes to gaming and tech – the dominant players and creators in the metaverse – DEI is almost non-existent.
In the US, the tech industry is roughly made up of 25% women, 75% men. In terms of race:
In order to create a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive world, we need a diverse, representative group of people who can create and develop virtual experiences free of bias, harassment, and inequality.
Here’s how Stanley Pierre-Louis, President & CEO of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), put it:
You can’t put blueberries into the muffin after you bake it. That’s the same with respect to accessibility by design. Just thinking about who the potential players are at the beginning of the process just changes your mindset.
Final Thoughts
While the metaverse can create unlimited opportunities for self-expression and empathy, ultimately it – and any other world we build – will only be as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as the ones that build it.
If we look at the diversity of the biggest companies building the metaverse – Facebook (sorry: Meta), Epic Games, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple – I’m not sure how hopeful I am.
But, when it comes to things like remote and hybrid working, the metaverse could be a real game-changer. Here’s Purdy again:
While still in its early stages, the emergent metaverse provides an opportunity for enterprises to reset the balance in hybrid and remote work, to recapture the spontaneity, interactivity, and fun of team-based working and learning while maintaining the flexibility, productivity, and convenience of working from home.
For now, I’m going to keep my eye on the metaverse and see how things progress. I’ve worked with many people who can’t even operate their calendars or basic email subject lines, so I’m doubtful the metaverse will enter the mainstream just yet – what with all the buttons and clickety clicks.
I tease.
Take It Away 💃
The metaverse is a virtual world, parallel to our physical one.
The metaverse could reshape the world of work in four major ways: new virtual workspaces and offices, the introduction of AI-powered (robot) colleagues, faster (more visual-based) learning, and a new economy with metaverse-native businesses.
As with most things, the metaverse comes with opportunities (self-expression, safe spaces, empathy) and challenges (harassment, racism, inequality).
The key to creating a flourishing, inclusive metaverse is to work on DEI behind the scenes – building diversity, equity, and inclusion in the metaverse’s creators (who, currently, are not so diverse).
A Big Caveat
I only examined the metaverse in the context of the future of work and diversity, equity & inclusion – but it is highly worth noting that the metaverse has serious privacy and ethical implications.
Experts have cited concerns such as general data privacy, eye tracking, capturing users’ biometric data, subliminal advertising, and human rights violations.
Remember IMVU, the avatar-based virtual world I mentioned earlier? The platform is rife with (underage) abuse, stalking, and racial and sexual harassment – and it’s not the only one.
This is not my area of expertise, so I recommend checking out the following resources if you want to learn more:
Life, the Metaverse and Everything: An Overview of Privacy, Ethics, and Governance in Metaverse
Why Is No One Taking Sexual Assault In The Metaverse Seriously?
As with any other trend or emerging technology, it’s very easy for brands to hop on the bandwagon without understanding the bigger picture and potential consequences. Further research and investigation need to be done before we fully embrace the metaverse and let it redefine the way we live and work.
DEI Win of the Week 🌈
This week’s DEI win goes to Everywhere is Queer, an interactive map showcasing LGBTQ+ businesses around the world! You can also check out the Everywhere is Queer Instagram page, which highlights some of the businesses listed on the map.
Even with my limited geography skills, I took a scroll around the map and found all kinds of queer-owned businesses, from a cocktail bar in Hong Kong to a scuba diving school in Hawaii to an events management company in South Africa. There are currently more than 500 businesses listed – and you are welcome to submit more queer-owned businesses to the map.
Happy exploring! 🗺
80% robot, 20% human.
I’d be down to run some virtual miles.