- What shape and format the metaverse is going to evolve is going to be very interesting to see, Enjinstarter says.
- AI will be a very crucial plugin to what happens in the metaverse.
- Singapore-based startup aims to be the launchpad and incubator for metaverse, gaming, and entertainment experiences in the UAE.
- Startup gets initial approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to offer its services in the region.
Will some big tech companies’ apparent withdrawal from metaverse plans paint a grim picture of the future of virtual worlds and will artificial intelligence (AI) emerge as a frontrunner in the tech race?
Metaverse is not dead, Vasseh Ahmed, Managing Director at Singapore-based Web3 launchpad and advisory company – Enjinstarter MENA, told TechChannel News but what shape and format it is going to evolve is going to be very interesting to see.
“We clearly know that Meta’s recent pivot away from its metaverse ambitions has led to raise critical questions about the concept’s viability. It is also important to understand that the metaverse is still in the early stages of development. It is like the internet in early 2000 compared to what the internet you see now,” he said.
The industry has just begun to create a fully functional metaverse right now, he said and with better hardware, better ideas and more development and especially funding, it will continue to grow.
“We are seeing a lot of adoption in retail and other sectors as well. It came from gaming and a very different kind of user base. We feel that there are plenty of opportunities to grow,” he said.
Enjinstarter, founded in 2021 by three entrepreneurs, primarily focused on gaming and entertainment metaverse projects and has done more than 70 projects to date. Out of that, 50 projects have used their platform to raise capital as well.
Sustainability initiatives
The startup is also exploring real utility space for the metaverse, with a focus on impact and sustainability initiatives to complement the UAE’s outlook toward building a strong sustainable future.
“Whether Meta wants to do one centralised platform for the whole world to participate, that is probably not going to happen. It will be several interoperable metaverses and you can have your metaverse,” Ahmed said.
Industry behemoths like Google, Apple and Amazon are prioritising AI-driven innovations toward the development of smarter, more efficient products and services and will that impact the metaverse?
Ahmed said that it is true that big tech giants are prioritising AI-driven innovations for a very long time and it has now come to the foray and the shift to AI is primarily driven by the recognition that AI has the potential to transform industries and add significant value for businesses and consumers alike.
However, he said that AI is a concept and has been there for a while and it wasn’t very hyped years ago and what brought AI to the mainstream has been ChatGPT or similar product.
“What has been the key to the success of ChatGPT is the easiness to use for anybody. What metaverse means a ChatGPT moment as well, if not into the mainstream? I feel that AI will be a very crucial plugin to what happens in the metaverse, in terms of education and awareness, etc.,” he said.
When asked whether startups can play a key role to strengthen the adoption of the metaverse, he said that think of OpenAI, a startup bought by Microsoft, and the age of experimentation by startups has not gone away and “we feel that good creative ideas will come out a lot from the startups who continue to experiment to build products. Eventually, if someone hits the jackpot, immediately it is bought by some big firms and it comes to the mainstream.”
Dubai: A strategic hub
Not all Web 2.0 companies are Web 3.0 savvy right now, he said and added that Web3 and Web 2 companies need to go hand in hand and “we call it Web 2.5. Things like ease of adoption, awareness and how to fund my wallet become easier, adoption can become better and mass adoption will take place.”
Asked why the startup has selected Dubai to be the regional headquarters, he said that the key reasons for them to come to Dubai are the focus from the government on a strategic level towards the adoption of blockchain and Web 3.0.
The Dubai Metaverse Strategy aims to turn Dubai into one of the world’s top 10 metaverse economies as well as a global hub for the metaverse community. The strategy aims to attract more than 1,000 companies in the fields of blockchain and metaverse and also promote Dubai’s ambitions to support more than 40,000 virtual jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate’s economy by 2030.
“There is a clear metaverse strategy around regulation and Dubai already has a strong regulatory regime around virtual assets. For us, it is important to be a regulatory institute to create trust and have our process in such a way to help protect our community from many things that happen. Once we get our licence, we hope to become the first regulatory launchpad in the world,” Ahmed said.
Regulations
Enjinstarter MENA has been granted initial approval by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), while it undertakes the in-depth process of applying for a full licence, in accordance with VARA requirements.
For the metaverse to be proactively and collaboratively addressed should there be a global regulatory body, for that he said regulations are coming everywhere.
In Europe, there are Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) to govern the digital assets now and in the UAE, there is Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) while the US, Hong Kong and some other countries are working on it.
“When there will be mass adoption, there will be some kind of consolidation towards it. The good thing about Web 3 is that all the data are available publicly on the chain and becomes very easy to track and trace,” Ahmed said.
According to McKinsey & Company, the metaverse is estimated to generate up to $5 trillion in global market impact by 2030 and already in 2022, investments into the metaverse doubled compared to the previous year, reaching over $120 billion.
“The mass adoption of metaverse will happen when regulatory framework and ease of adoption tools come in,” Ahmed said.
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