Srikanth
5G is around the corner, but there are many logistic hurdles which need to be cleared before that happens. We need to build different infrastructure which will support 5G connections, and that’s going to take time in a country as big as India.
Additionally, we are at a very exciting horizon for gaming and gaming applications in industry. There’s the prospect of widespread rollout of 5G, leading to the rise of web 3.0 and, eventually, much cheaper headsets and devices to access virtual reality.
There are a lot of highly specific applications for 5G in gaming, where gamers will be able to stream games over the cloud and experience faster loading times, better graphics without the need for a graphic card, and advanced gameplay.
There are advanced concepts currently under development in the dev and gaming community, like Web GPU, a map for a future system where Web GPU API will facilitate accelerated graphics and computing power.
A scale rollout of VR and MR will come a little later, because as you rightly said, the metaverse is also heavily dependent on 5G to make it truly ubiquitous. Currently, the technology and internet coverage in less populated, more rural areas in India does not support a full-fledged metaverse. It does however support AR and WebVR enabled solutions which work over lower bandwidth and across mobile devices. So, for children in rural areas who do not have access to, let’s say, qualified chemistry teachers in person, AR apps on smartphones can provide guided lessons covering an array of complex topics in easy-to-understand visuals.
XR Central is a start-up based out of Gurgaon. We specialize in metaverse creation for a diverse array of industries, as well as creating interactive design content using immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR).
The company was founded by Anshul Agarwal and Shrey Mishra. The organisation’s vision is to democratize the way XR technology has been used to solve real world problems. As such, XRC is rapidly expanding its footprint in the Metaverse and Web 3.0 spaces to enable individuals and organisations to be metaverse-equipped. We are doing so with our in-house product called MetaQube, a metaverse builder powered by a gaming engine which will enable individuals and companies to build their own metaverse within minutes.
The fact that there will be near-infinite applications for the metaverse. Our near future plan is to build use cases around fan zones (especially sports), brand experience centers, learning & training rooms for corporates and the ed tech industries, and art galleries and fairs (provide artists a new platform to showcase work). The core of our platform will be immersive collaboration and community for the developers and creators. We are really looking at democratizing the way immersive solutions have been architected and consumed. Cost, time to market and infrastructure of the entire metaverse (XR solutions) will be disrupted with our platform MetaQube.
And you can have all kinds of other applications – students across the world can go to any university they want without having to be physically present, automobile engineers in Holland can collaborate with designers in Brazil and develop a virtual concept car which they can proceed to drive in virtual environments. And in situations, such as the pandemic, scientists and doctors can collaborate in real-time across continents to solve problems and figure out solutions faster and with fewer errors in an immersive setting. Digital twin technology, holographic projections, AR filters for complex machinery, AR try-on filters – we could go on. Not to forget, Metaverse can actually be a huge marketplace for the entire Art and culture industry and an opportunity to disrupt the buyers’ market. Big tech companies have already put Metaverse on the strategy table and are looking at it as a new revenue stream and a new economy all together.
5G is going to transform all industries, especially gaming and gamified experiences in enterprise settings. It’s going to come more slowly than we’d like because of logistic challenges, but we’re going to have to be ready to adapt to 5G powered Web 3.0 once it does. Training, learning and customer experiences especially will be transformed by the gamified experiences in store. For example, doctors in training could have advanced games wherein they will learn to diagnose illnesses and learn more about their field.
Regarding finances and monetary compensation, an open-source, gamified world helps to minimise biases and encourage innovation, bonding creators tightly with their creations in a way which monetises their gameplay and translates into real-world assets.
Ideally within the metaverse, gamers’ time will be properly compensated through game finance systems which will make liquidity a central component of any game world.
Gamification is also well known to increase knowledge absorption and retention in users, and is a valuable tool in edtech at the moment. Easy customisability makes it likely that any learner from any walk of life can use learning systems to become better at their chosen field. For example, we’re seeing instructors create detailed study plans and teach coding via both Minecraft and Roblox, with students reported to engage more and score higher using a gamified approach.
Authored by: Shrey Mishra, Founder, XR Central
