It’s never talked about, because this meta-universe may only be virtual, but it attracts the big names in technology as well as the big traditional brands.
THE INTERNET OF TOMORROW
A whole new world, this is what the metaverse represents. You can do everything there, meet, meet, make purchases and even do business. All Silicon Valley gurus are excited about the prospect of a $5 trillion market by 2030.
REAL WORLD OR Imaginary BUBBLE?
The metaverse offers very real services and very concrete applications. At the last Vivatech show, there were many questions from French business leaders about the real usefulness of this innovation. For the convinced, the metaverse is already there, it is THE future of the internet.
The offer is currently still confused and mixes different concepts such as augmented reality, NFT, cryptoassets or futuristic video games. Nevertheless, very concrete interests are exposed by the experts. The first is obvious, being able to reach a younger target group, the second is classic, the metaverse is also a media, a marketing tool to improve the attractiveness of a brand or a product.
A point that luxury brands, already present in this universe, have integrated to monetize their products, real and virtual. Finally, another argument from the pro-metaverse, the ability to collaborate, create together thanks to much better remote collaboration.
APPLICATIONS ALREADY IN PLACE
Companies are already planning to bring fitness classes online with much more immersive technology than today thanks to augmented reality headphones. For the payment of a subscription or a ticket, it is enough to buy a token/token to take a course as if you were there.
Others imagine remote training or assistance facilitated by avatars. They speak and perform specific gestures to instantly visualize what needs to be done. Tutorials and medical consultations already exist, but the metaverse allows you to take efficiency to the next level. Tourism is also an ideal place for metavers, how can you resist when you literally see yourself in the waters of Bora-Bora? He is lucky, the avatar who walks in the most attractive parts of the world. Another sector that immediately projected itself into the metaverse, events and concerts.
Jean-Michel Jarre has always been a fan of new technologies and, like many French DJs, has already made an official plea for a French metaverse. He is excited about the idea of creating shows in virtual reality, but would like to do so on a platform made in France. HR, who are still involved with people, is also concerned. Recruitment interviews have already taken place on the metaverse.
The Havas company has, among other things, proposed to create interviews of a new kind in which the anonymity of the candidate would be fully guaranteed. The latter would indeed be represented by his avatar, a man who can choose to go to the image of a woman, nothing forcing the person to take on a character that physically resembles him.
THE SANDBOX, MADE IN FRANCE
The company born in France in 2011, thanks to two creators, Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget, is an international player that sells virtual plots to its customers who can express themselves in this way about their “properties”.
With over 2 million registered users, Sandbox is a hit. To develop it had to find financing, it was a shareholder from Hong Kong who eventually bought SandBox, Animoca Brands. This blockchain specialist helped the company to the next level, but France lost a national nugget in capital terms.
Several hundred brands are already present, such as Casino, which currently offers a test game on its site, which allows participants to win vouchers or Club Leader Price discounts. Axa Assurances has also announced its country, with no specific project except to create a meeting place, but this allows it to communicate as the leading French insurance group present on the metaverse. Havas, Ubisoft, Arte and France Télévision have thus followed the example of the luxury and fashion brands that were the first to invest in these areas.
CARREFOUR HAS BEEN TESTED ON SANDBOX
The company is France’s largest employer, but is not known for its advanced technologies outside of logistics or trade. The first experience involved about 15 interviews with data scientists. A test that was not very successful visually, but which had the advantage of drawing attention to the brand whose president, Alexandre Bompard, does not want to miss a technological revolution that could completely change the activities of the group.
FRENCH EXPANDERS
Minsar is a no-code collaboration platform used to create and share virtual augmented reality experiences. This solution can be used in commerce, urban planning, tourism, culture, etc.
Soraya Jaber, co-founder of minsar had already founded the startup Opuscope in 2015 with Thomas Nigro. She was still studying (art history) when the concept of Minsar was introduced. From the beginning, the startup was noticed by Microsoft and today offers an application, Wanderland, that allows you to create content right on your phone. A sprout to follow closely.
Kinetix is another example of French creativity. The latest $11 million fundraiser will enable the launch of its NFT platform to monetize content. The concept is initially based on helping create 3D characters for the metaverse from a no-code platform. Henri Mirande, Yssaine Tahi and Philip Belhassen thus enable companies to develop advanced characters on the metaverse.
In the same vein, we find the startup omi and its modeling tool. Hugo Borensztein and his brother Paul offer in-house technology to brands that want high-end 3D images in the Metaverse, or simply on current internet sites and applications. This service was created as a monthly subscription. Competition in this sector is fierce, but the market is booming. The investors believe in it, they have just put 6 million euros into the company.
Even more recently, jamespot has created a universe that resembles old video games (in 2D) with a very specific purpose, to create its Jamespotland metaverse in which the forty employees spread over different areas can meet.
Claudio Flouvát
