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Imagine a virtual world where people live, work, shop and interact with others – all from the comfort of their couch in the physical world. Welcome to the metaverse, one of the most hyped technologies of the coming decade. Sethu Nair, Business Designer at ThinkPLace, outlines why good design will be key to securing the benefits of the future of the metaverse.
At ThinkPlace, we help our clients solve some of the world’s most complex challenges using design-centric and human-centric approaches. Our work is rooted in demystifying what the future of technology looks like – which increasingly includes metaversions.
Our approach to the metaverse space is proactive and preventative. It’s about getting on the front foot and exploring the potential—good and bad—of this emerging technology. We do this so that we can ensure good design as a means of ensuring that inclusion is a priority as we embrace this new world.
For example, ThinkPlace recently hosted the Mega Events Discovery Forum together with the Australian National University (ANU) on behalf of the MegaCRC. Here, we explored what a metaversion might look like in the context of large-scale events.
The forum explored how we can use new technology to unlock the potential of mega-events – events with more than 10,000 people. In the run-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, we have explored how we can integrate virtual reality or augmented reality to enter new forms of experiencing massive events. The fundamental focus is – how do we ensure that we go through the metaversion in an inclusive, fair and accessible way?
Leaps in the integration of new technologies have historically been led by large technology companies. Take smartphones for example and how they have evolved to extend our daily routines. Through them we have a relative idea of what social transformation and social consequences might look like. This presents an opportunity to learn from systems already in place and back-analyze them to make them more human-centric.
We can use comprehensive systems design to lay the foundations for a human future in the metaverse.
In our practice of visioning the future, there are futures that are preferred and futures that are likely. Sometimes they line up – and when they do, great! But in cases where this is not the case, our work is about facilitating cultural and social movement from state to state by building awareness and changing regulations.
In collaboration with the 3A Institute, we explored cyber research, looking at the interface between people and technology and understanding how systemic change can shape what our future looks like. To preserve a lasting legacy of integrated large-scale events, it is necessary that our approach addresses the intersections of both human-centered engagement and the deployment of technologies that serve connectivity, security, engagement, and user optimization.
We recently held a workshop with the Singapore Government’s Open Innovation Partnership in response to the question “How can we use virtual reality or augmented reality to improve safety, productivity and training in the workplace? The workshop served as a springboard for addressing how we could effectively implement and realize augmented and virtual reality technologies in the built environment space.
Meetings of this nature bring people from different fields together to envision a future that takes into account their respective experiences and interests. This enables collaborative thinking that pushes the boundaries of possibility while creating a more holistic representation of our current landscape.
Similarly, in collaboration with the Han Bao Bao restaurant franchise, we conducted a workshop on the question “What does the restaurant of the future look like?”. Delve into the opportunities, limitations and potential technologies can have at different levels of business practice.
The future is something we aim for by bringing people together, but it’s also something where we have to keep our eyes open for everything that happens. We keep our approach broad and adaptable to uncertainty.
As we approach what is often promised as a revolutionary part of our future, the metaverse, it is important to keep these principles in mind. We must continue to work towards the preferred future and do all we can to make it probable as well.
The fact is, no one knows for sure what the future will look like. But the future doesn’t just happen – we can (and should) be active participants. We have the power to strategically prepare for different possibilities and adapt accordingly, with the ultimate goal of participation for everyone, everywhere.
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