News hardware Metaverse: these 4 giants are building the virtual world of tomorrow
We are witnessing the beginning of the Metaverse, but it is already the subject of large-scale capital penetration, which does not necessarily represent the reality of the sector. With an estimated market representing 5,000 billion euros in 2030, many players are interested in the opportunity of the future virtual world of 3D – and this, despite the current skepticism of most people. . Here are 4 giants who have already made it their hobbyhorse for years to come.
If the project of a 3D digital environment was just a film script a few years ago, since Facebook changed itself Meta, the project has become more tangible. In fact, almost a year ago, the group proudly showed their ambitions for the metaverse by changing the name.
With this ambitious approach, Meta wants to be the forerunner of the metaverse. A not small initiative when you know that the social network has a total of three billion users.
There are many methods around the famous metaverse. Concretely, Meta wants to develop this world from the angle of social interactions. Thus, Meta’s goal is to create a 3D internet, augmented by virtual reality. With the acquisition of the VR headset company Oculus, the guide seems to have been found.
“You can think of the metaverse as an internet incarnate, where you don’t just look inside, you’re there… It’s a new round of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual reality and reality increased, explained Mark Zuckerberg.
In this digital world, people can meet and exchange. Horizon World, Meta’s metaverse already offers many virtual reality activities. With it, it is possible to work, play or even chat in a 3D VR space.
However, despite the many possible interactions, the metaverse is often the target of criticism regarding the graphics…
Nvidia’s mission is to make the metaverse more realistic to convince more users. After all, who better than a company that specializes in graphics hardware to give the virtual world the realism it needs?
Through these graphics cards, the company can be the ideal candidate to provide the computing power needed to create a large realistic virtual world – which constitutes the main argument of a future that metaverse.
In this logic, Nvidia has already seized the opportunity of the metaverse through several initiatives.
With the Nvidia Omniverse graphics collaboration platform, the company launched a host of new tools aimed at helping develop immersive 3D spaces. These programs, intended for creators and developers, will further make it possible to make the digital world more realistic.
In this Omniverse kit, there are tools to meet the expectations of metaverse users, namely the quality of avatars and their interactions. According to Nvidia, with its tools, developers will offer users the possibility of creating real “exact digital twins”. Specifically, the kit makes it possible to create an immersive experience by improving the animation of faces during social interactions in the metaverse. Thus, users are able to show their emotions as faithfully as possible through their avatar in the virtual world.
Also, the company is close to other metaverse giants. Nvidia is mainly lending hardware for the Meta: Research SuperCluster (RSC) supercomputer. In this sense, it seems unlikely that a synergy will be exploited regarding the future metaverse.
When talking about the metaverse, it’s hard not to mention the case of Epic Games. With its battle royal Fortnite, the publisher has been able to create many immersive experiences, especially through virtual concerts. So it is certain that Epic Games will not remain on the sidelines of the development of a metaverse.
First, the video game giant has always invested in the sector. Earlier this year, Epic Games raised $2 billion from big names to fund the development of the upcoming metaverse. Recently, the company also participated in the fundraising of Hadean, a London startup specializing in metaverse infrastructures.
Furthermore, Tim Sweeney has made no secret of his ambitions around the metaverse. Last August, the boss of Epic Games expressed his desire to create a common platform for brands. The CEO’s vision speaks of a metaverse that has emerged from the monopoly – ubiquitous in the web2.
Therefore, Epic Games can participate in the development of an ecosystem that allows all developers to create a virtual world according to their rules. This idea of a “metaverse of metaverses” theoretically offers the possibility of having gates between digital worlds as well as the interoperability of elements.
The company founded by Bill Gates has revealed a more technical ambition regarding the metaverse. The solution proposed by Microsoft mixes reality and the virtual to provide tools to companies. In other words, Microsoft’s metaverse allows industrial companies to increase their efficiency in production or repair chains.
To do this, the computer giant relies on augmented reality embedded in HoloLens helmets – Microsoft’s VR helmets. For example, this type of functionality allows employees to be guided virtually without having to leave the assembly line of a product.
The project is in a more advanced stage because Kawasaki is one of the customers of the “Industrial Metaverse”. Holosens augmented reality headsets provide additional tools for employees when assembling robots. Companies like Heinz and Boeing also use Microsoft’s industrial metaverse.
The metaverse project represents a huge construction site. Despite the giants working on it, not all aspects of it can be managed by a single entity. As a result, these four giants are part of a collective of many companies working to develop standards for the metaverse of the future. Called the Open Standards Forum, the organization aims for a global agreement on the metaverse of the future. Among this alliance, there are many giants such as Nvidia, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Epic Games, or Adobe.