In the studio, we've been working toward better understanding cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse. To date, cryptocurrency is the easiest to understand because trading wise, it's a similar set-up to a traditional stock exchange.
NFTs have proven to be way more elusive to get amongst. Connecting between devices, wallets and currencies is anything but smooth, and just trying to buy one has made me nostalgic for the olden days where I spent my cash where I wanted, on what I wanted, and got it right away.
The metaverse proved the trickiest one to grasp in the sense of identifying what's different about it and the regular internet? From afar, they look a little similar. But our impression is that it will be the introduction of personal avatars (rather than just a profile), that will be the differentiator in the online experience.
Our digging around also lead us to the question - did the metaverse launch and we missed it?! Turns out - not really - but it's complicated. Different platforms seem to be lined up to launch this year, but technically, games like Fortnite have been a metaverse-experience the whole time.
All of our research is driven by our desire to understand how our clients need to be prepared for what's coming next, and how their retail presence IRL will need to be cross-supported with online.
It's tempting to dismiss these developments as a beat up, but we all saw how popular the internet has become - so we know this next phase of online has legs...