iF Trend Report 2023: Connectivity's biggest player is the metaverse

The following is the first of a series of exclusive brief excerpts from our brandnew iF Design Trend Report 2023. Read everything you need to know about the project in collabaration with the Zukunftsinstitut in Frankfurt here!

Metaverse - the 'next big thing'?

When the term Web 2.0 began to make waves at the turn of the century, the first masterminds were already wondering which innovation would become 'the next big thing'. In the meantime, hardly any concept seems as promising as the metaverse.

The basic idea of the metaverse sounds promising: people no longer visit individual pages or platforms, but virtual worlds that they enter with the help of avatars. So-called overlays of the real and virtual worlds, for example through hologram projections that are anchored in fixed locations and have temporal continuity, could become the next showstopper.

However, how will the metaverse unfold in the future: Is it a vision, or is the idea being over-hyped due to many marketing potentials? Brands such as Samsung, Hyundai, Bang & Olufsen, BMW or Xiaomi create new user experiences with the help of metaverses: Brand spaces, brand events or NFTs communicate the brand in an entirely new way.

Will we be simply copying real product worlds into the virtual or expanding them with additional digital offerings to bring corporate profits? Or will desig ners help make them an enrichement and give value for everyday lives?

Therefore, only those solutions that generate real added value through virtual worlds in products and services will be sustainably successful. Virtual solutions need a direct link to the real world - the application becomes part of a network and forms independent relationships with its environment.

Creating and shaping these relationships will be a central task of product design.

Interview-Excerpt: d'strict's Victor Choe on the metaverse

iF: A year ago, the South Korean government surprised the world by announcing that it would invest in the metaverse with a $170 million fund. For South Korean designers, it seems like it's never been easier to enter the metaverse. What should companies keep in mind when entering the realm of virtuality and the metaverse?

Victor Choe: Virtual reality and the metaverse have been garnering significant attention from the public in the past two years, but the concept has been attracting designers and companies worldwide for over a decade. In the past, VR technology's limited usability and high cost were obstacles to widespread adoption. However, recent advancements in technology such as blockchain and AI, as well as a gradual reduction in cost, have increased the potential of VR in various fields.

Despite this, there are still challenges to be addressed such as limitations in usability and cost. For success, the players need to focus on improving usability, accessibility and finding cost-effective solutions throughout the production and operation process. It is important to acknowledge that most of recent virtual reality/metaverse services lack a user-friendly interface and have a design and art perspective that is out-of-touch with the experience users expect.