“AR Is Considered A Cornerstone Of The Upcoming Metaverse Hypergrowth”
November 24, 2021
Ever since Facebook opted to change the name of its parent company to Meta in recent weeks, the world has been buzzing with discussions about the metaverse and how it is going to soon be affecting our everyday life.
Its impact on the business of sport has been one of the under the radar discussion points for many tasked with looking at the tech challenges that the industry is going to be facing in the coming years.
It is a question with no certain answer, but it is sure to transform the industry moving forwards. With brands such as Nike recently applying for a ‘virtual goods’ trademark, this illustrates just how seriously these major organisations are taking this.
“Although virtual reality is another key component of the metaverse, it is a more singular exploration and journey versus AR which is social and global in its delivery and experience.” – Alen Paul Silverrstieen to Proactive.
In a recent conversation with Proactive, Alen Paul Silverrstieen, CEO & President of ImagineAR, discussed the role that augmented reality will play in this growth.
“AR is considered a cornerstone of the upcoming metaverse hypergrowth by delivering interactive and activations by overlaying digital content through your mobile phone. This content would be specific to a GPS location for the individual to directly engage,” Silverrstieen explained.
Innovations like augmented reality, virtual reality and non fungible tokens are taking the world into a far more digital space, but Silverrstieen told Proactive that there is a key differentiating factor between AR and VR.
“Although virtual reality is another key component of the metaverse, it is a more singular exploration and journey versus AR which is social and global in its delivery and experience,” he commented.
“Participants will engage with the metaverse via virtual reality or augmented reality headsets – with some predicting that AR, rather than VR, so that the metaverse becomes an overlay to enhance our real world experiences, will become the dominant form.”
Sports teams are now more regularly trying to find ways to utilise this new technology in order to enhance their fan engagement.
One of the ways they are looking at doing this is with new visual innovations, such as the Carolina Panthers using technology to place a Panther around Bank of America stadium.
Organisations such as ImagineAR are using different methods, by making AR technology available at a much more simple level for clubs who may otherwise have difficulties and teams that aren’t big enough to fully embrace this technology.
“AR should be part of every company’s strategy today and beyond as the metaverse grows globally and digital interaction and engagement drives revenue,” Silverrstieen added. “Companies should be looking today at leveraging mobile augmented reality to engage their audience and grow new market opportunities to build a foundation for their ultimate metaverse strategy.”
“AR is a requirement for companies to become active participants in the metaverse. Although ImagineAR has focused on the sports and entertainment marketplace, we expect to expand into other vertical markets including retail, healthcare, education and any other AR opportunity.”
iSportConnect will be holding a Virtual Round Table on Tuesday, December 7th at 2pm GMT looking at: The Next Chapter of the Internet: Engaging with the Metaverse via Augmented Reality.
This is an open event for limited attendees, if you would like to register interest to join the discussion, please email bethany@isportconnect.com