At CES 2023, agencies outline progress and potential around the metaverse, podcasting and sustainability

As CES closed last week, the topics of sustainability, emerging podcast channels and the metaverse were discussed. (Catch up on day one CES highlights.)

This year’s tech and gadget fest seemed to focus a bit more than usual on audio, video and spatial devices and immersive gear. It’s no surprise that companies are shifting their priorities to more communication, virtual and video tools ever since the pandemic irrevocably changed the workplace and social activities.

All things metaverse and Web3

As expected, Web3 and metaverse technology and activations represented some of the biggest highlights in products and programming this year at CES. Several agency and media executives told Digiday that there seemed to be more AR and VR products compared to previous shows.

The activations kept agencies thinking about use cases for the metaverse and Web3, said Josh Campo, CEO of Razorfish, an interactive agency within Publicis Groupe. Compared to recent years in which agencies were still trying to understand what the metaverse is, Campo believes clients and agencies are now focusing on practical applications before they experiment — especially as businesses step gingerly into an uncertain economy.

“Now the conversations are evolving from just doing something cool [in the metaverse],” Campo told Digiday.

But there is still a long way to go before any form of a metaverse is developed, if at all. Campo also noted that consumers are not quick to adopt some of these devices and technologies due to the high costs. Plus, many headsets and VR devices are “still clunky,” he added.

Provided by Dentsu

Even so, there are firms working on metaverse initiatives that don’t have anything to do with AR or VR specifically. It is commonly misunderstood that metaverse means using AR and VR, but accessing some of these virtual platforms simply requires an online browser — headsets are optional for an immersive feel.

That’s the case for Dentsu’s metaverse campus, the Dentsu NXT Space, on productivity platform HeadOffice.Space. The metaverse space was unveiled this week at CES as new buildings and areas continue getting built out and updated on the platform. The initiative is part of Dentsu’s experimentation in the metaverse and helps the agency guide clients in their testing and research.

Val Vacante, vp of solutions and innovation at Dentsu, said the NXT Space is still growing as the agency develops additional VR features at South by Southwest later this year. Dentsu also recently built a new Microsoft Retail Education Center and LinkedIn Lounge inside Moon Valley. Microsoft is the agency’s partner in launching the NXT Space, and many of the tools used within the platform are Microsoft products.

The showroom was designed for clients to easily access the tool. For example, consumers can scan virtual items in Dentsu’s metaverse showroom and retail lab to get product details and have those products delivered in the physical world.

“We want to work with [clients] on their vision and prioritize from there,” Vacante …read more

Source:: Digiday