Is the metaverse “where it’s all going?” Designer Mark Rolston, a pioneer of the digital transformation, hears this question a lot. Many of his customers want to know, and in his brief but insightful DLD Munich talk, the founder of argodesign gives his take on the next pattern of computing.
By renaming itself Meta, Facebook “changed the conversation”, Rolston notes. But the name metaverse should not be our main concern, he argues. What’s more important is the concept of creating a “computing layer on top of life”.
Even though digital devices have become ubiquitous, and are designed to be immersive, they tend to take us away from the world, Rolston explains. The next pattern of computing “needs to really work with the world”, he says.
He also makes clear that this vision “of an overlay on the world – spatial computing – isn’t about one particular piece of hardware”.
Wearing VR goggles to move around in a world of digital avatars may seem outlandish right now, but what counts, Rolston argues, is the idea of making the next wave of computing truly immersive.
Spacial computing could facilitate factory work as well as telemedicine and “basically everything”, he explains.
“This is the metaverse I want you to pay attention to – and believe is coming, and coming quickly.”
