Adios 2022! Here are my TOP 5 Milestones in The Metaverse

I’ve been keeping score in my head all year of what would make the top 5 of this year. As each of them happened, I recognized them, and they haven’t changed.

Whether or not this catchy, identifiable marketing phrase “The Metaverse” sticks around, the Immersive Medium is on the ascent. Mediums build on each other as the tech that facilitates them evolves.  Photography, Cinema, Television, and the web Internet are all building blocks, and now we’ve invented 3D content that we can be inside of, and project onto our surroundings.  This is the beginning of a new era of content. Most of the tools and products and brands we know now will adapt or perish, if they don’t learn to leverage immersive content, for education, for marketing, and for everyday utility. 

Apple will have a lot to say about consumer adoption of immersive tech. Meta has made big investments and taken huge risks to put itself out in front as a leading brand in this space. But whether Apple will adopt the name “Metaverse” or “Appleverse” doesn’t really matter. What matters is utility. Easy to use, low friction, affordable technology that fades into the background is what will succeed, no matter how long that takes, it is inevitable. We’re living in a time of accelerated progress because today’s tools build tomorrow’s, faster.

The early 2020s, will be looked back upon as quaint, and cute, the way we remember 8-bit graphic archaic arcade games from the 80s. Trying to create scarcity out of a resource everyone knows is infinite and is already being mocked like an emperor with no clothes. So, let’s work together to build a virtual universe we want to share. Let us remember that what makes this medium empowering is its next-level potential for fostering human interaction. Let us be cognizant that we need to build equity and human agency into the DNA of this new infrastructure, so we don’t build a future of digital haves and have-nots. Let us be proactive in building policies that govern this landscape, to prevent bad actors from exploiting its vulnerabilities.

Here are my TOP 5 Most Significant Milestones in the Metaverse of 2022

5 - Journey ringing the bell at the NASDAQ and in The Metaverse

Symbolism is important, and 2022 had no event as symbolically ahead of its time than Cathy Hackl and Andrew Zimmerman being the first to ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ in real life and in the Metaverse. Like Hollywood, #WallStreet is getting in front of the Metaverse, and that is significant because big money is taking notice. Journey is a well-funded startup that isn’t publicly traded yet, but it reached into the future and plucked the bragging rights from anyone else who would have done this first. As Cathy Hackl said in her remarks “a new creative renaissance is upon us”…”it is important for everyone to know that this future is for all of us, so let’s seek not to define the Metaverse, but let’s build it and create it together”. These sentiments we should all keep top-of-mind as we collaborate and cooperate on building this virtual universe.

4 – The Creation of Chief Metaverse Officer at CAA

The fact that a top Hollywood talent agency created the position “Chief Metaverse Officer” tells us one important thing: the creative arts recognizes that immersive is the next medium, enough to get in front of it. Once upon a time, not so long ago, #Hollywood figured out that the Internet was a thing and started investing in it, whilst the rise of user generated content democratized the common person’s ability to become famous. The major media conglomerates have one thing in common, they need talent, and along with WME | William Morris Endeavor and United Talent Agency , Creative Artists Agency are the de-facto deal-making powers behind the entertainment industry that provide said talent. Joanna Popper was an excellent choice to be the first appointed to this groundbreaking post, and it is what her post represents that makes this a most significant event of 2022.

3- Mixed Reality Passthrough

Don’t mistake #Passthrough for a consumer killer app, that’s not what it’s for. It really isn’t very good, and it doesn’t have to be. It’s a stopgap measure to provide hardware to developers to create the software stack that will make the content that will be used on future devices. Solving for the physics of light, heat, and power to put a compact computer that fits in the stem of your glasses is hard. It will be another 3-5 years, or even longer until the dream of all-day wearable #AugmentedReality glasses will come to fruition, and this buys us that time by giving us a legit high quality, #stereoscopic device to invent and test software on.

2- The Rise of Generative AI

It’s hard to deny that AI came of age this year, or at least reached adolescence. It has been years Deep Mind beat the Go world Champion and has long been used to solve design problems through iterative testing. Now, it’s a tool for the common person to use, and not without controversy. Machine learning models are trained on copyrighted content. Right now, popular image generation tools like Mid-Journey, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion are making stunning art. Chat GTP can give you intelligent responses. But watch out, AI is already being taught to build 3D worlds. And yes, this Robot probably will take your job, unless your job is to operate this Robot. I for one welcome our Robot overlords.

1 – Formation of the Metaverse Standards Forum

And lo, Neil Trevett came upon the state of #interoperability in the Metaverse and saw that it was bad. Lest we not make the mistakes of previous iterations of the Internet, in his capacity as President of The Khronos Group, he formed the Metaverse Standards Forum. He saw the need for a “meta-standards body” and brought over 2000 entities together to foster cooperation on building the “Constellation of Standards” take to achieve the Metaverse. One of the great mistakes in the evolution of technology is territorial protectionism of standards, which slowed adoption and industry growth. This represents a new opportunity to learn from that mistake.

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In summary, 2022 was an extraordinary year on so many levels, but it won’t be long before tomorrow’s accomplishments blur the important steps we just took. Change is constant, and change is accelerating, so don’t expect the next decade to move at the same pace as the last. And finally, let’s remember, the Metaverse is a lonely place without each other, so be excellent to each other, and party on…

I would like to thank my team, dear friends who have become family over the past few years and for all we have accomplished together. May all that pale in comparison to what we’re about to do. Julie Smithson , Terry xR. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘳 , Sophia Moshasha , Karen Alexander , Daniel D Bryant , Christi XR Fenison , Cause XR (Austin Caine) , and Alan Smithson . The work we do together is fun, but it’s our personal connection that makes this moment we share so joyful and meaningful. And to my wife Helen Lundström Erwin, who has made me so proud this year by becoming important events and exhibitions in her virtual world “The Foremothers Café”, I’m so proud of you and what you do.

I’d also like to recognize and thank the amazing leaders I’ve had the privilege of working with this whose impactful work is making the accelerated adoption of the immersive medium happen: Dulce B. , Amy Peck , Tony Parisi , Ori Inbar , Sonya Haskins , Christopher Lafayette , Rolando Masís-Obando Jacquelyn (Jacki) Morie , Damon Hernandez , , Lucas Rizzotto , Richard Ward , Chris Madsen , Athena Demos , Doug Jacobson , Terry Proto , Paige Dansinger , Antony Vitillo , Tom Ffiske , Arome Ibrahim Briar Prestidge Xiaoyu Hou , Keeley Turner and Daria Fedko . with special shoutouts to Lauren Moulder🔜CES , Steve Lewis , Linda Ricci Jacobs , Evo H. , Neil Trevett , and to XR Women and the more than 200 guests of the WebXR Summit Series, MetaTr@versal, Ready Player Golf and The Polys – WebXR Awards.