The future is coming upon us very quickly.
This is a concept that I tried to relay to people over the last few months. It simply is amazing how quickly things are moving ahead. In my regular research into different areas, I find things moving ahead at a faster pace than ever before.
A couple times, I put together posts about the Metaverse. This is a catchall phrase for the idea of our digital world becoming 3D. In such an environment, we will not be separate from the Internet. We will be a part of it and it will be within us.
This essentially combines all the newer technologies that we are following. Ultimately, it moves far beyond just computerization. We are going to see the virtualization of our world.
One of the companies pushing the ball down the field is Microsoft. This company just introduce the Microsoft Mesh.
Give this two minute video a quick watch.
This really takes us into the world of Sci-Fi. It is amazing the barometer for our technology is what we see in those type of movies or television shows. I recall when the flip phone came out, it was so Star Trek like.
Certainly, looking at the video, we immediately think of Jarvis from Iron Man. This brings computing to life. No longer is it something that is resident on a screen. Instead, it is a 3D digital image that is right in front of us.
With this technology, we see the combining of 2D and 3D. The online and offline worlds are coming together. This is mixed reality. We also see the fact that people are able to collaborate from different parts of the world.
Microsoft is marketing this technology to companies but try to envision how this could be used for social and interpersonal relations.
Here is another video that delves deeper into how the technology can help in the business environment.
We effectively saw components of the digital world meshed with the physical. What caught my attention is when they said they had to bring in more people, everything could be stopped at that point and the newer people could join the meeting where it left off, even if it was days or weeks later.
It is as if there is a recording of the timeline and life can be instantly halted. Of course, this only applies to the digital aspect of the meeting since the physical people will move on with their lives.
However, consider the potential when the extra collaboration with the newer participants can be started at the exact moment where the others stopped it. If we extend this potential to the social world, we could do this with games or interactions with have with friends and family.
One thing that must be pointed out is how none of this operates in a vacuum. I am sure Microsoft was working on this for a long time. However, as we can guess, the bandwidth on a collaboration like this across the Internet, with many different participants has be to rather large. Here is where the advancements in communication systems come into play.
Many are wondering why there are people working on 6G when 5G is not really rolled out yet? The answer is summed up in this technology. Companies are already working on developments which are going to require a lot more speed and bandwidth than even 5G can offer. Hence, the next generation communication system is in the works.
All this collaboration is also going to impact commercial real estate, both office and retail. Can you see how this could be a company's website, but on steroids? Already I can envision how a website becomes 3D. This could certainly penetrate the shopping arena. Who needs a showroom when I can "look" at the car in 3D on the website.
Of course, this is not full immersion, a technology that is also being worked on. This will require even more bandwidth than what is being shown here yet offers even great potential for disruption.
If memory serves me, these headsets are still rather expensive. That is why Microsoft is catering to businesses. I think they run about $3,000 apiece. That price will, however, come down over time. As the technology improves and the market grows, like all technological devices, price plummet. Once that happens, the ability to move into the mainstream can occer.
Is this going to be the winner? It is hard to say. However, in all likelihood, we are going to see many different winning technologies, focusing across the MR/AR/VR spectrum. Contained in there will be a host of companies, all forging a stake in this enormous arena.
This is all part of the pathway towards the Metaverse. Over the next decade, we can expect a lot more projects such as this one to roll out. Many technology companies such as Facebook, Samsung, and HTC are working on entering this arena. They all see the potential that exists when a digital layer is placed upon our physical world.
Bring the Internet "to life" is a major change. For the last 30 years, it was something flat and separate from ourselves. Now, as we can see from these videos, we are right at the edge of changing all that.
The guestimate is that we will see VR really taking off around the 2025-2026 time period. That is only a few years down the road. What happens when we are able to replicate most physical locations in a virtual format? How many industries does that affect?
People better start thinking about this stuff since coming very soon.
The digital world is going 3D whether we are ready for it or not.
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