Caribbean Diaspora Take Note: The Metaverse isn’t Coming, It’s Already Here

Many of us in the Caribbean diaspora are increasingly aware of the hype around the ‘metaverse’. Large companies like Facebook and Hyundai are staking enormous amounts of resources on this virtual future. But what exactly is the metaverse?  

LMG Entertainment President Woodie Lesesne about to enter the JoyTown virtual space. According to an article written this past November by Peter Allen Clark of Time Magazine, the metaverse is “…the idea of a centralized virtual world,” one that operates in parallel to our physical reality. Excitement around this concept has grown as people around the world have broadened their perceptions of ownership and money, investing in digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Research firm Strategy Analytics predicts that the global metaverse market may reach $42 billion US dollars by 2026. One Caribbean country didn’t delay. In November of 2021 the island nation of Barbados established the world’s first digital embassy by signing an agreement with Decentraland, a leading blockchain metaverse platform. Barbados’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade declared it an opportunity to “pioneer the evolution of global diplomacy beyond the physical world”. 

If the Caribbean diaspora doesn’t want to be left behind, it needs to get ready for the likelihood of a virtual future. 

Woodie Lesesne, co-founder and president of LMG Entertainment, recently attended the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES) for 2022 with her team. Of course, the metaverse was one of the hottest topics of the event.  There Euisun Chung, Exec Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, shared his vision for how the metaverse will change the way we connect and interact with robots and how we operate vehicles. 

At CES, Hyundai designed a virtual space called JoyTown where users could design their own avatars. Lesesne did just that, designing and loading her avatar into the JoyTown virtual world. There she was invited to a festival by a virtual friend. She hops into her Hyundai Mobis vehicle. 

Wait, Woodie hops into the Mobis virtually or physically? This is where Hyundai plans to blend community travel solutions with social interactions in a virtual space. Woodie both virtually and physically enters a Mobis M-VISION model, merging her avatar's interactions in the metaverse with her physical reality. Hyundai’s Mobis M-VISION model.

This is the thinking behind Hyundai’s Mobis, an all-electric vehicle. Coming in two sizes, 30 kilowatts and 50 kilowatts, it features an external LED that can display images, messages, graphics and information to those outside. It’s designed for commuter travel and other vehicular activities like delivery services and ride sharing

Imagine, you request a ride from a ride sharing service and you’re able to differentiate it from other drivers because of a message displayed on the external LED. How cool is that? It easily gets rid of one popular ride sharing annoyance, knowing which car is your actual driver. The Mobis can also be ridden autonomously, making it perfect for commuter cities. 

As you move around your real-world city, your virtual avatar also moves around in a virtual mirror of your city. The actions and movements continue to be shared through metaverse connectivity. 

Caribbean countries and those in the Caribbean diaspora abroad need to take note, the applications this technology has are infinite. Let us follow in the footsteps of Barbados and become some of the first pioneers of this new technology, because the world is changing and we must adapt with it. 

You can read all about Woodie Lesesne and her experiences at CES 2022 here: https://www.infocustv.online/post/the-metaverse-hyundai-s-vision-for-metamobility

You may also find a YouTube video on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbx6YhN-eiU