What is the Metaverse?
Impact on Business and Society Panel Discussion
December 2022
The Metaverse has attracted a great deal of attention and investment over the last 2 years, fuelled in part by coronavirus restrictions on face-to-face contact, and the opportunity to enrich the internet virtual meeting experience.
The fact that the global social media giant Facebook acquired the virtual reality headset developer Oculus and has now changed Facebook branding to “Meta” gives some indication of the business potential of the Metaverse.
Watch the video below:
For many people in business, the Metaverse is not yet in use as a business tool or a vehicle for improving their internet presence with a Web 3.0 immersive (3D) experience. This panel brings together a selection of leading Metaverse solution providers with a diverse range of approaches and business applications. Each expert panel member has been asked to provide a short (60 second) video to illustrate what their Metaverse looks like and what it is designed to do for business.
This diverse set of Metaverse uses and approaches will set up a panel discussion designed to explore what the Metaverse is today, how it is being used, its value to business and how it is likely to evolve in the future.
The types of metaverse application covered in this panel discussion include: –
- Conferences, Exhibitions and Social Networking
- Brand Identity and Consumer retail experiences
- 3D virtual meeting spaces
- Mirror worlds and NFTs (non-fungible tokens)
Our speakers will share their thoughts on these business applications and what are the next likely developments. To join the discussion, add your questions and comments in your chat facility.
Moderator
David Wortley, Virtual Conferences Director, IORMA; Vice President of the International Society of Digital Medicine (ISDM); Founder and CEO of 360in360 Immersive Experiences
David Wortley is the Founder of 360in360 Immersive Experiences and the Virtual Conferences Director at IORMA. In his previous role as Founding Director of the Serious Games Institute (SGI) , David was a Metaverse pioneer and hosted the world’s first hybrid conference in the launch event for the SGI in 2007. At the SGI, he also explored the potential of the Metaverse for mixed reality and integrating real and virtual worlds.
His areas of special interest are technologies for preventative healthcare, collaboration, virtual reality and interactive rich media knowledge sharing. He is a professional virtual event facilitator, webinar host and publisher.
Hanene Maupas, CEO of MEXT B2B Metaverse
Hanene is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the semiconductor and internet industry. Skilled in Management and Sales & Marketing, Strong business development professional graduated from Ecole centrale de Lyon, PhD.
Jennifer Drury, Founder, BrandLab360
In 2016 Jennifer co-founded the company with brand owner Dan O’Connell. BrandLab360 is an innovative digital software solution designed to streamline the wholesale fashion industry, consisting of an intelligent omni-channel back office, bespoke virtual reality showrooms and an immersive digital trade show and fashion network.
BrandLab360 was one of the early adopters of Metaverse technology, using platforms which enable companies of all sizes to elevate their business using virtual reality and gamification.
Stephanie (Hoffmans) Palomino, CPO and General Manager of @Room3D
Stephanie is CPO and General Manager of @Room3D, a @TMRW Foundation Company. She was the former CEO of redlab.group, one of the Top 50 German creatives, according to Business Punk magazine, Author of ‘The Lean-Back Perspective’ and Art Director of logic iOS game Queenrulesgame.com.
Andrew Grant Super, MD Berkeley Rand
Andrew is a Web 3.0 entrepreneur, Corp Advisor, investor, strategic & tactical Commercialisation expert for novel projects From Asset management & derivatives to SME & corp’s @c/suite level planning.
Leading investment, strategic development & deploying tactics for fast-track growth and acceleration within WEB3.0, through NFT initiatives, Metaverse initiatives, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence/ Machine learning/ Data Science, Immersive technologies.
Entrepreneur/ founder with numerous exits. Investing, represent Family offices in advising in SME funding & series A investment, lead investment strategy & representation.
Member of IORMA Advisory Board