The Metaverse, Like Life Itself: Tinder Dating, Ralph Lauren Clothes, and Work Meetings

There are years left for the necessary technology to be developed on which the metaverse sits. However, this is not posing a problem for many companies that, intoxicated by a potential that does not stop growing, have already announced your foray into these virtual worlds. For those who are more impatient, knowing what the work meetings or fashion brands will be like can make the wait a little more bearable.

In the case of business meetings, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicts that you will only have to wait two or three years to be able to celebrate them in the metaverse. Gone will be the squared video calls in two dimensions. This virtual space will make workers, through their 3D avatars, feel that they are meeting with other people as if they were in the same room. This will require tools that accurately capture the user’s body language, voice, and facial expressions while in the metaverse. Microsoft has announced that the products of its Office pack for the corporate version of the metaverse will be available in 2022.

According to the recent Bernstein Research report on the metaverse, “The combined annual volume of the most relevant markets is 2 trillion dollars and it will continue to grow”. A powerful claim that companies like Ralph Lauren have already turned to. Specifically, the fashion firm has partnered with the 3D avatar platform Zepeto to launch its first virtual collection, made up of more than 50 unique garments. Some of those clothes are already sported by avatars of TXT, a popular K-pop group.

The dream factory, Disney, has also announced its future foray into these virtual worlds by creating its own metaverse. In an interview on CNBC, In the interview, the CEO of the company, Bob Chapek, said that the three-dimensional canvas will allow Disney to offer new kinds of storytelling, which could involve some of the most beloved characters in the house, from Mickey Mouse to Snow White, through Iron Man and Luke Skywalker.

Another company that sees its future go through the metaverse is Tinder. The application to flirt arises create a Tinderverso with the aim of “blurring the boundaries between offline and online”, according to its CEO, Renate Nyborg. While this is happening, the company is testing a currency within the app with which users can pay for premium services.

Meta opens Horizon to the world

Meta, responsible for lighting the fuse of the metaverse last October, has announced that it will open Horizon Worlds, its virtual reality world of avatars, to those over 18 in the United States and Canada.

Horizon Worlds is an animated virtual world accessed through Meta’s Oculus VR headsets. Once inside, users can create a legless avatar to walk around, play games, and interact with other participants. When the beta version was released in 2020, it was only accessible by invitation. Hereinafter, users can freely access, provided they are of legal age.

Meta’s commitment to the metaverse is total. In October, the company assured that it will spend throughout 2022 about 10 billion dollars in the development of the technologies on which the metaverse will be based.