I remember back to dial up internet in the 1980’s, when it was all so new, so clumsy, so promising, so useless, and so unbelievable and we are at that same juncture in time now, staring at what will become the new digital interface of the future and saying that new, clumsy, useless and unbelievable.

This future space / place goes by many names, but perhaps is best known as the Metaverse

It’s the internet of the future, where space, humans, the built and natural environments and technology all intersect.

Where we can place ourselves, as an avatar, inside a screen and move around, do, shop, have, consume, try, travel and experience life.

But, just as often live in the real world and see real time ever changing hyper personalised overlays of digital images in our physical surroundings, that magically appear on the foot path in front of us to guide us towards our destinations; images of things we might want to buy, that we can extend digital arms to see, “touch” try, experience and buy using seamless gateways fuelled by blockchain and cryptocurrency and then have the physical object delivered to wherever we want.

I’ve worked this futurescape into my consulting, advisory, foresight strategy, workshops and presentations, with incredible results and new found possibilities for today.

Around the globe we’ve reimagined the cities of the near future, smart buildings, education, transport, education, hospitality, tourism and more and with the lived experiences of COVID forcing us to blend the real and digital worlds to create temporary oasis and possibility, it no longer seems as far fetched or impossible.

Listen in as Hong Kong 3’s Phil Whelan and I chat about the many possibilities and probabilities of a Metaverse.