The Metaverse is well and truly underway, and not just because Mark Zuckerberg said so. In October 2021 Facebook’s CEO announced a rebrand, bringing together all their apps and technologies under one name, now known as Meta. But the Metaverse is a lot bigger than just one company.
Leaders across a wide range of industries and regions are currently pursuing their slice of the Metaverse, preparing for a future where technologies such as VR and AR will play a vital role in how we live, work and play. It’s an industry Epic Games Inc. CEO Tim Sweeney recently said a technology conference could “become a multitrillion-dollar part of the world economy”, while a report from Grayscale estimated that revenue from virtual gaming worlds could soar to $400 billion by 2025.
In a similar way as we came to understand the internet 30 plus years ago, the Metaverse is still in its infancy. The building blocks of what it will become are currently being assessed and assembled. An article from The Information published in March 2021, stated that nearly 10,000 of Facebook’s 58,604 employees were working on mixed reality technologies. That’s close to 20 percent of their workforce.
So, what exactly is the Metaverse?
Essentially, it’s the future of the internet where AR and VR will allow users to interact in a digital world. While some ideation of the Metaverse already exists in bulky VR headsets and goggles, the digital infrastructure needed for it to reach its full potential has yet to be achieved. Companies like Meta, Google, Apple and Valve are already building out the hardware and software that will power the next generation of virtual interaction, but in order for it to truly take hold, a new way of thinking will have to be adopted.
That’s where CG Tech and Niall Carroll come in.
“The biggest challenges this technology faces are also its biggest opportunities: creating synergies across a wide range of technologies and building a coherent cross-world ecosystem,” says Carroll.
As Chairman of the UK-based investment holding company, Niall Carroll has cultivated a portfolio with interests in traditional industries but with a disruptive twist; giving particular attention to technologies that will play a vital role in the Metaverse. Carroll believes the right technology is only part of the equation, and that the Metaverse will only be successful when the right people with the right approach are involved.
“It’s not enough to have the technical capabilities,” says Carroll. “It’s really about shifting your mindset around people and products.”
With a unique ecosystem approach to investing, CG Tech has become recognised in using the latest innovations within traditional industries to help power completely new solutions. Whether it’s oil and gas or construction, Niall Carroll and his team are proving that technologies, used in the right way, can produce favorable results.
But for Carroll, it isn’t all about the tech.
“We have a variety of businesses within the CG Tech portfolio that utilise the same technology but in very different ways. For us, the most important piece of the puzzle is our people. While technology powers interesting products, it’s your people who ultimately enable success,” says Niall Carroll.
Serious International is just one CG Tech subsidiary using technology to challenge the status quo in the entertainment industry. Through the use of drone and VR technologies, Serious is proving to be a player in the design of custom sound stages for the likes of Disney and Warner Brothers. By embracing the latest in technology, Serious is transforming traditional processes such as surveying and utilising rapid construction capabilities to deliver projects in a much swifter time frame.
Also under the CG Tech umbrella is Prommac, an oil and gas services company in South Africa that has transformed to become an industry leader by leveraging advanced VR technologies to train engineers who regularly perform in high-risk scenarios. Learning in the virtual world allows the Prommac team to be better prepared for every eventuality they might face on-site, allowing them to practice and perfect dangerous scenarios in a safe and protected environment. The results are increased confidence, safety and a better awareness when entering high-pressure situations.
For Niall Carroll, the approach for Serious and Prommac have been the same – empowering people from across the CG Tech portfolio by posing interesting problems and giving them the space to come up with new solutions. Some refer to this as servant leadership. It’s a method Carroll definitely subscribes to and he actively encourages the executives of his subsidiaries to do the same. Believing this approach to people is the first step in linking to an innovative product.
The second step is a good product roadmap, which Carroll believes has allowed CG Tech to move into new areas of innovation and disrupt markets with relative ease.
“We have also developed clear product roadmaps of systems for the Metaverse that can play a role in many different industries,” says Carroll.
Putting together the new approach, people and the product enables you to not only explore the role of your organisation in the Metaverse, but also to take steps towards building a coherent ecosystem.
Niall Carroll explains how it all comes together by giving a simple answer: “Virtuworx.”
Powered by another CG Tech subsidiary, The Virtulab, Virtuworx is a platform that allows people to live, work and interact from a simple PC all the way up to a fully immersive VR environment - bridging the gap between current video streaming platforms to much more immersive VR solutions.
What began as an in-house productivity solution pre-pandemic, found solid global footing as the world shut down due to COVID-19 . As people were forced to stay home, those searching for new and exciting ways to connect for work and play quickly recognised the potential in digital platforms like Virtuworx.
“Initially, Virtuworx started as an interesting product by our technical team that could be used within the group,” remarks Carroll. “Through the work we have been doing while empowering people and building clear product roadmaps, Virtuworx has risen to something that’s useful way beyond CG Tech.”
While many aspects of the Metaverse remain unknown, those involved in these early stages are creating the roadmaps that will lead to its future.
“It’s an exciting time and we look forward to seeing what our team and our peers will come up with,” says Niall Carroll.
