Meet me in the metaverse.
It’s in the name of big social media companies; the gallery wall for million-dollar digital art and the venue for huge music festivals, all feeding the buzz about what might just be the next iteration of the internet, the Web 3.0, or the birth of a digital continent—the metaverse. We wanted to find out what it means for business IT, and we didn’t have to look any further than the end of our nose for answers. Put on your smart glasses, enter JoinXR, and we’re here with Dr Mara Ortner, Modern Workplace Consultant AR/VR at Bechtle Karlsruhe, and Carina Kaiser, Product Manager Microsoft Surface and HoloLens at Bechtle, to talk about where the journey is taking us, and how companies can get in on it.
Mara Ortner: The metaverse is already open for business 24/7 (laughs). We’re all here, after all, meeting face-to-face across a distance, yet in the same three-dimensional space. It’s something that more and more companies are taking advantage of, when they leverage augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) technology to enhance presentations, for ideating designs, or to tour the digital twin of a production site. The ability to eliminate geographies and also the boundaries set by the systems we use is playing a decisive role here. The way people engage becomes much more natural and memorable—with all the real-life benefits this brings.
Carina Kaiser: The market for AR/VR technologies has come a long way and is reflected in an ecosystem that’s also very much alive. HoloLens 2, for instance, is the result of Microsoft channelling years of R&D into a device that can bring added value to a very diverse range of applications. The metaverse is far from being a mere gaming trend or confined to the consumer market. Every step forward in the so-called Web 3.0 is a step forward for the industry as a whole. That’s what’s making it such a versatile and exciting topic to explore.
Mara Ortner: When we look at the most common use cases, number one on the list is smart glasses for remote assistance. This allows instructors and other specialists far away to support users on the ground with the precise knowledge they need, because they see what the users see, in real time. This is a great benefit for service technicians working for global plant manufacturers, just as it is for companies that provide services to private customers. It’s really easy to achieve better quality in less time. In professional education, too, learning in a virtual environment is also highly effective and easy on resources. It’s also an exciting solution for onboarding new employees—and not just when we’re struggling with a pandemic—and also for virtual events and meetings in general.
Dr Mara Ortner
Carina Kaiser
When we look at the most common use cases, number one on the list is smart glasses for remote assistance. This allows instructors and other specialists far away to support users on the ground with the precise knowledge they need, because they see what the users see, in real time. This is a great benefit for service technicians working for global plant manufacturers, just as it is for companies that provide services to private customers.
Dr. Mara Ortner, Modern Workplace Consultant AR/VR, Bechtle Karlsruhe
Carina Kaiser: Both are important and work together. The growing number of applications specifically designed for virtual environments make investments in new kinds of hardware such as smart glasses more attractive and worthwhile. At the same time, popular business apps such as Microsoft Teams can nudge user behaviour closer and closer to the experiences that are possible in virtual reality. The vision of a metaverse and the gateways to this new world hence include a large variety of different devices—PCs, laptops, smartphones, and of course AR/VR glasses—all connected in virtual spaces that will increasingly become “natural” workspaces.
Carina Kaiser: Microsoft is indeed working on making Holoportation a reality—the complete visual transmission of our body in real time, including facial expressions and gestures. But for the time being, we’ll be moving through virtual reality as three-dimensional avatars or similar representations of ourselves, which will, bit by bit, become more “personal”. And in terms of in-person experience, visualisation and focus, we’re well on our way.
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Mara Ortner: The trend towards more flexible models of collaboration has been gathering pace for years. SMEs and large organisations are all active on a global stage, time to market is shrinking, and customer expectations are increasingly diverse. Still, the pandemic has certainly had a catalysing effect, as digital solutions have become indispensable in connecting companies and employees. This year, we’ve seen a spike in demand for AR/VR consulting, and since the summer in particular, our inspiration workshops have been very popular.
Mara Ortner: Both. Some companies want to explore what the hype is all about and what’s in it for them, others have a very clear-cut idea of what they want to tackle, such as staff training or service delivery. In our experience, we can quickly establish the possibilities that exist in either case. For instance, it didn’t take long for a recent inspiration workshop to formulate the very concrete idea of a fully walkable virtual production line. Plus, we’re offering a special metaverse starter pack, enabling customers to trial the HoloLens remotely, assisted by our experts.
Microsoft is indeed working on making Holoportation a reality—the complete visual transmission of our body in real time, including facial expressions and gestures. But for the time being, we’ll be moving through virtual reality as three-dimensional avatars or similar representations of ourselves, which will, bit by bit, become more “personal”.
Carina Kaiser, Product Manager Microsoft Surface and HoloLens, Bechtle
Carina Kaiser: There’s certainly more weight given to demos and a first-hand experience of the technology as customers are less familiar with the devices and applications compared to traditional IT solutions. After that, though, an AR/VR project evolves much like a digitalisation project—from planning and a proof of concept, to delivering the technology, onboarding users, and the eventual option of operating services.