Into the Metaverse

There’s no avoiding the word “metaverse” at CES 2022 – it is absolutely, positively everywhere. 

From games to mobility to personal assistants, the metaverse has taken hold on all fronts of tech futurism—even if the word itself might be hard to define. CES’s full embrace of the metaverse even inspired a few Twitter users to share photos of booths on the floor leveraging the silliest use— which is really just showing that everyone is genuinely excited to be a part of building the future.

Meta (formerly Facebook) and its Oculus gaming system is by far the market leader. The new PlayStation VR 2 headset and its VR2 Sense controller, as well as the HTC's Vive wrist controller for the Vive Focus 3 headset were a highlight for metaverse enthusiasts as demand for more experiences and hardware grows. 

One of the highlights of the show was the VR2 Sense controller, which features eye tracking and headset feedback that amplifies the sensations of in-game actions from the player. The company said in a press release that gamers can feel a character's "elevated pulse during tense moments, the rush of objects passing close to the character's head, or the thrust of a vehicle as the character speeds forward." 

One important part of the metaverse is augmented reality (AR). This isn’t just virtual objects being displayed in a physical space—it also includes spatial audio, project mapping, machine learning and any other technology that is augmenting your senses. 

Samsung took a deep dive into what it means to drive a connected, AR-enabled car with visual displays and voice assistants. It’s an interesting look at several features their computer vision engineers have been thinking through when implementing AR displays inside of automobiles.

Switching gears over to digital ownership and—you guessed it—Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Samsung came out with a new upgrade to it’s 2022 TV line that now supports NFTs. You can connect your own set of NFTs to their viewer and interact with curated NFTs from other networks like NiftyGateway. 

A setting on the TVs will automatically adjust the display “to the creator’s preset values, so you can have peace of mind that your work looks impeccable, with true-to-the-original image quality.” Consider it like DolbyVision for NFTs, where the creator of the artwork controls how it is displayed for the purchaser. This product will hit the shelves in mid-2022.

Implications: The metaverse should be on every company's long term tech map for 2022 and beyond as we see more sophisticated roll-outs and experiences on the horizon. All roads lead to the metaverse for brands in 2022,including beauty, wearables, home, gaming and more.