Dubbed the most influential tech event in the world, CES 2023 will take place between January 5th and 8th in Las Vegas, and one Web3 technology will hold the spotlight: the metaverse. In addition to receiving a coveted spot in CES’s Central Hall — where much of the action goes down — the metaverse will be the subject of many side panels and booths.
CoinDesk, a popular Web3 publication, will host the exhibition in Central Hall. Over the course of the four days, the publication will interview influential Web3 voices and cover the latest trends in cryptocurrency and the blockchain at the show. CoinDesk recently broke into the mainstream with its coverage of the downfall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Building on top of CoinDesk’s Central Hall exhibition will be a bevy of other panels that focus on Web3 and related technologies: augmented reality, virtual reality, and the blockchain. Non-fungible tokens, which had a rough year in 2022, will make a comeback at the conference in the form of a dedicated space and some panels that will elaborate on real-world use cases of NFT technology.
CES 2023 expects to rebound from the past couple of years that have seen lower-than-expected turnout due to the lingering coronavirus pandemic. Companies setting up booths that canceled last-minute in 2022 include Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Meta, and more. Organizers expect over 3,000 companies to participate, along with over 100,000 conference attendees.
The metaverse remained a hot topic in 2022, with popular metaverses such as Roblox receiving millions of daily active users. Among the angles presenters will take regarding the metaverse are the push for the open metaverse, the metaverse and gaming, and metaverse technologies like AR and VR.
The Metaverse Makes Waves in 2022
The metaverse, digital worlds built for virtual and augmented reality, started as a trend in 2021 when Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta. In 2022, it boomed, as shown in our 2022 review of the top metaverse projects. Here are three news stories involving the metaverse last year.
First, on December 15th, British bank HSBC filed trademark applications relating to NFTs and the metaverse. If approved, the applications will protect HSBC’s name and logo in the metaverse, as well as prep it for offering financial services in this nascent technology space.
Next, in December as well, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced it was partnering with the Upland metaverse to bring virtual experiences to fans. The AFA said the project will include digital representations of teams in the league, as well as tickets, players, and games.
Lastly, also in December, Fidelity, an American asset management company, filed trademark applications, indicating its interest in the metaverse. With the applications, Fidelity hopes to launch an NFT marketplace, as well as offer financial services in the metaverse.
As the stories show, the push to enter the metaverse did not slow down in 2022. In fact, it sped up. Given the prominent placing of the subject in CES 2023, we expect that 2023 will be another banner year for this new technology space.