Metaverse gone wrong | Sunday Tech Revue

Metaverse gone wrong – at least in the eyes of many Twitter users.

Dear readers of today’s Sunday Tech Review,

The start into the year 2022 gave us an exciting week and I have prepared the most interesting news.

I would like to start with my personal highlight. This week, two of my tweets went viral. Please forgive me for this wording in the middle of a pandemic.

With over 11 million views, there were also many, many user interactions. A super opportunity to take a look at the current thoughts and feelings of the masses regarding the metaverse.

That’s why I’d like to take the opportunity to do a little recap in today’s Sunday Tech Revue.

Metaverse gone wrong

It wasn’t a shitstorm. But as you might have guessed from the headline, it almost was.

But let us start at the beginning. So, what happened?

I posted two videos on Twitter.

The first video dates back to 2017, and was created as part of a concept study by the company Mutual Mobile on behalf of Walmart.

This is how Walmart envisions Shopping in the #Metaverse.

Thoughts? 💭 pic.twitter.com/5l7KhoBse7

— Homo Digitalis (@DigitalisHomo) January 3, 2022

The video basically shows today’s shopping experience transferred to virtual reality. This was enriched with some ideas and gimmicks, such as taking into account the home stock of the shopper.

The second video is independent of this and was created by CEEK for H&M. CEEK is, according to its own website a developer of social virtual and augmented reality experiences.

What could shopping in the #Metaverse look like?

Here is a #VR concept store by CEEK and H&M 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/69xyFK75Iw

— Fabian Schmidt (@3BodyProblem) January 3, 2022

The Reaction

Now, what was the user reaction to the videos?

Of course, there were some strong reactions, as well as destructive behavior. But, there were some very humorous reactions as well.

However, many responses, regardless of the language used, expressed the same criticisms over and over again. And we can all learn from this on the way to building the metaverse.

So why did I write Metaverse gone wrong?

My personal opinion is, that both videos are a first step (the Walmart one is even 5 years old) and a good base for discussion. Yet the the absolute main point I read over and over again is, the following:

Don’t just take the shopping experience as it is today and make it “Virtual Reality”. This is by the way something I see often at many other examples when it comes to digitalization.

Many users stated, a simple website would do the job better. This cannot be the vision of the Metaverse.

Besides that I also read strong criticism of the “corporate metaverse” push.

So I think, we all had the unique chance to learn something from potential users. I think this is a good starting point to start building the next iteration.

By the way, related to the Walmart video, I was also in contact with a representative from the agency. He contacted me. And I simply had to ask him what the whole thing was doing to him. With his answer, he also got to the heart of my feelings: “It’s been a strange and fun experience!”

What is your vision of the Metaverse? Share it with us here or on Twitter.

Recommended Read >> The Metaverse – Besides the Hype >> Only on Homo Digitalis

Other Notable News

• Bitcoin Dividends: BTCS is a blockchain infrastructure company that announced it will offer the option to pay out dividends in Bitcoin. Following the news, the stock jumped nearly 44%.
• Panasonic VR Headset: Virtual Reality Hardware news from the CES2022. Panasonics shows the MeganeX, a steampunk inspired goggle like VR headset. Check out the images here.
• Chip Sector: Some time ago it became known that Samsung is looking for mergers and acquisitions in the field of automotive semiconductor companies. What is new is that companies like Texas Instruments are also being targeted. In our digital world today, however, chipmakers are not only of national interest to the United States. So we will also see political players here.
• Samsung opens Metaverse Flagship Store: More news from Samsung this week read that the company created a digital twin of its famous flagship store 837X in Decentralland. Is this just play money? What do you think?
• NVIDIA Omniverse distribution: NVIDIA aims to get more involved in the push towards the Metaverse. NVIDIA’s own toolset, NVIDIA Omniverse, which enables the creation of virtual worlds and Metaverse-compatible objects, aims to support content creators. To that end, NVIDIA has distributed free copies of the software to various artists in the Metaverse space.
• What is the best Metaverse approach today? According to 313 Twitter users: The Sandbox

What do you think is the best approach to the Metaverse today?

— Homo Digitalis (@DigitalisHomo) January 6, 2022

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