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DIAMONDS IN THE NEW DECADE

JEWELRY IN THE METAVERSE:
THE COMING TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION (PART 1)

 

On October 28, 2021, the world’s largest social media company, Facebook, changed its name. The company that also owns the Instagram and WhatsApp platforms – connecting 3.6 billion monthly users who together represent more than 45 percent of the global population –announced that henceforth it would be known as Meta. Analysts pointed out that this was not simply a case of rebranding, but rather a fundamental change in direction.

“When we got phones with cameras, the Internet became more visual and mobile,” wrote the company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in a letter to shareholders. “As connections got faster, video became a richer way to share experiences. We’ve gone from desktop to web to mobile; from text to photos to video. But this isn’t the end of the line.”

“The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build,” Zuckerberg continued.

In Zuckerberg’s opinion, and he is not alone in the assessment, the world stands on the cusp of the next technological launchpad, on a par with the introduction of the World Wide Web, the smartphone and the social media. The metaverse, as it is called, will change the way we communicate, the way we are entertained, the way we recreate both physically and intellectually, and way we do business.

Indeed, the Facebook founder is so convinced in this outcome, he is prepared to bet the future of his company on it.

Immersed in the metaverse, using a virtual reality helmet and hand-held sensory devices.

EXISTING A DIGITALLY-CREATED WORLD

So what exactly is the metaverse? Essentially, it is a shared virtual platform that people will access via the Internet, and in so doing become fully immersed in a digitally-generated environment.

In the metaverse, people will have a “virtual presence,” meaning that they will not be observing life in the digital dimension through a screen from the outside, but they will feel that they actually exist within it, as one does the real world. In the metaverse, they will be able to communicate with others in the same space, as one does physically in regular life.

Immersion in the metaverse will be complete or partial, and this will rely on the devices that are being used. Full immersion will require virtual reality technology, such as such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors, which allow three-dimensional images or environments to be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way.

Partial immersion will rely on augmented reality technology, which superimposes computer-generated images on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. Ultimately, augmented reality may be multi-sensory, meaning that other senses may be enhanced, like hearing, touch and smell.

It sounds like science fiction, but elements of the metaverse already exist, and are being used daily in both the entertainment and scientific communities. Computer gamers are donning virtual reality helmets and are entering fantasy worlds, where they collaborate or compete with one other. Medical doctors are examining and even conducting actual surgery on flesh and blood patients located elsewhere, sometimes thousands of kilometers away. They, too, use virtual reality helmets, which put them directly alongside the patient, and they as if they were actually in the operating theater, although their field of vision is enhanced by the equipment they use. They conduct the surgery using remotely controlled robotic devices, which they activate with their own hands and feet.

A variety of the world’s largest technology developers are working on augmented reality glasses. They include Microsoft, who HoloLens glass can display 3D holograms overlaid on the real world. Google’s Glass Explorer also overlays the computer-generated or digital information on what the user is seeing, and can retrieve information from computers, smartphones, or other devices that support WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

In the opinion of Zuckerberg, in several years’ time augmented reality glasses will be as commonly used devices as smartphones are today.

THE VIRTUAL BRAND EXPERIENCE

What does this mean for the jewelry industry? It is a subject that will be examined in more detail in the second of this two-part article. In the meantime, consider the following.

Today only a handful of places are home to the world’s most famous brand-name jewelry boutiques. Indeed, the decision to open a Tiffany & Co. store, or a Cartier or Bulgari maison is indicative of a location’s status as a major retail hub. For most people, it is necessary to travel to a city like New York, London, Paris or Hong Kong to be able to shop the full array of jewelry’s leading brand names.

In the metaverse, however, this experience would be available to anyone with the requisite equipment. Wearing a virtual reality helmet, consumers will be able to walk through the front door of any store they choose, speak face to face with a salesperson, view an array of items, and hold and manipulate the jewelry wearing special sensory gloves. Then they will be able to select what they want, and complete the transaction.

Augmented reality, using Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 glasses, in which digitally generated images are superimposed over what you see in the real world. 

“This is already possible,” you say, “on Net-a-Porter, for instance.” But not quite.

Purchasing the jewelry on an e-commerce website is akin to buying from a catalog. It works, but it is 2-dimensional. Major luxury retailers typically claim that to experience their full brand appeal you need shop in their brick-and-mortar stores. In the metaverse that can be done digitally, and the consumer base will be exponentially larger.

 

Part 1 of a 2-part article

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