The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced at its 2023 annual meeting in Davos the construction of a metaverse designed to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. The building of the purpose-driven metaverse is set to become the virtual meeting ground of over 80 stakeholders from the worlds of business, finance, and NGOs.
The WEF is calling its metaverse “The Global Village.” It will feature meeting halls, locations where discussions can take place, and simulations that use virtual reality technology to provide insight into global issues. An example of a simulation is one that looks at marine coast life and how that life impacts both the ocean and dry surfaces.
In addition, the WEF released a report stating that the metaverse will first have business uses, before a consumer-facing metaverse will follow. This “industrial metaverse” has the possibility of creating better efficiencies for business, such as through the use of digital twins. Renault, a car manufacturer, is one of the companies involved in the implementation of an industrial metaverse.
The WEF metaverse will use technology from Microsoft, most notably Microsoft Mesh, which is the company’s upgrade to Microsoft Teams. Accenture and Microsoft are the two main partners for WEF’s metaverse, though ultimately dozens of stakeholders will use the technology to meet.
Although the WEF announced the construction of its metaverse at the 2023 annual meeting, it may take some time to get it up and running. And the organization states that it won’t replace in-person events, simply serving as an adjunct. Still, it believes that the metaverse has the potential to transform society and further interconnectedness.
New Year Rings in with Metaverse News
While the WEF’s metaverse is big news, the organization is not the only one experimenting with metaverse technology in the new year. Already, we have written many stories about the metaverse, from metaverse horse racing to community gatherings in these virtual worlds. Here are three.
First, the Dubai Verse Cup and Dubai Racing Club announced a partnership to bring horse racing to the metaverse. The goal for the two organizations is to create a Play-to-Earn game built around the collecting, breeding, and racing of horses. Users will be able to own the horses as NFTs.
Next, McDonald’s shared that it was partnering with digital content creator Karen X Cheng to serve up art and culture in the metaverse. The event will take place on January 25th in the Spatial metaverse. On February 2nd, users will even get an opportunity to meet the artist.
Lastly, popular NFT collection Azuki revealed it was introducing its own metaverse to celebrate its one-year anniversary. The company is calling the metaverse “Hilumia,” and it will have a toy haven, greenhouse, fitness center, arcade, and art hub.
WEF’s Global Village metaverse will be interesting when it launches and should provide a nice meeting spot for representatives of worldwide organizations. We’ll keep our eyes open for any further developments in the story and report back.