Media fair SXSW: The metaverse as a puzzle

Status: 03/17/2022 5:38 p.m

What exactly is this metaverse? At the SXSW trade fair in Austin, Texas, people look for an answer – and find out: It’s impossible to say with certainty.

By Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Studio Los Angeles, z. Currently in Austin

More than forty lectures deal with the metaverse at the digital and media fair South by Southwest (SXSW). But if you ask around in the audience, many still don’t quite know what the metaverse is supposed to be: “I think it’s a digital landscape that you can immerse yourself in, with avatars and stuff – but otherwise, no idea,” says the Event manager Carole. Game designer Connor works in the field of virtual reality, but is skeptical: “I haven’t seen it yet, it sounds like a buzzword. I need more background as to why it should have meaning for us,” he says. “We have a great planet – recreating more of these experiences that we have in real life on the internet – I’m not ready for that yet.”

Zuckerberg keeps a close eye on the business

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, on the other hand, is ready for the metaverse. Just a few months ago, he renamed his company Meta to signal: This is the future. At SXSW, he made a relatively short-term virtual appearance and once again presented his vision of the metaverse. “I think the metaverse is the next chapter of the internet. What defines it is that you feel really close to other people or to a somewhere else,” explains Zuckerberg, and also clarifies, “Meta isn’t building the metaverse, we’re building the technologies for it — we’re contributing to bringing it to life.”

Among other things, the Facebook founder speaks of developing virtual reality glasses that can be used to make real eye contact. It’s about interactions – less about the game aspect, emphasizes Zuckerberg with regard to gaming worlds like Minecraft or Fortnite. But above all, Zuckerberg talks about new business models: people who move around in digital space as avatars could, for example, buy different items of clothing and use them everywhere in the form of so-called non-fungible tokens – NFT for short.

Experts see data protection risks

Amy Webb, whose lectures at the fair have cult status, deals with our future and creates scenarios; the metaverse is also an integral part of it. Their analyzes show that it consists of virtual spaces and wearable technology – such as smart glasses. In addition, everything will become “more sensual”: “You can move with gestures, some will wear devices that emit scents. Instead of keyboards, we will use our bodies,” predicts Webb. “The metaverse is part of the Web3, the third revolution in our digital infrastructure. It also means that we will reveal more data about ourselves and there will be more opportunities to access this data on unthinkable dimensions.”

That’s why it’s critical to talk about data security and privacy, Webb said. Not only she warned that greed and deceit will also play a role in the metaverse. Speaking at SXSW, economics professor and podcast host Scott Galloway said he believes Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse will fail. Instead, he sees another company ahead in this race: “It’s Apple. With their app store, they have what comes closest to a metaverse. I also don’t think it will be visual like in video games, but auditory: The Headphones that we use every day to talk on the phone or listen to their podcasts: that creates a level of intimacy that drives the metaverse more than the visual.”

Conclusion: The metaverse is also a term for the South by Southwest that everyone can define for themselves – but we will hear more about it in the future.

Everything revolves around the metaverse

Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Los Angeles, currently Austin, March 16, 2022 5:38 p.m

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