Is your network ready for the Metaverse?
October, 2022
Your next computer may be a VR headset.
This is not going to be an article that pumps up some buzz-word, tech concept for the sake of sounding cool. No one knows what the “Metaverse” is going to look like, and many think it will be a fad similar to the virtual world Second Life. For what it’s worth, I was an early subscriber to the virtual world known as America Online back in the late 1980’s. I’ve seen these developments come and go.
Last week I attended the Meta Connect conference staring Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook Meta team. I watched the conference streaming to my standard computer, and I also attended from within the metaverse with my Quest goggles. I was both impressed and disappointed with the experience. The metaverse as a gaming and entertainment platform is here, today and ready for primetime. The metaverse as a world changing technological advancement is not here... yet. 2022 is not the year, however, I think 2023 or 2024 will be looked at, in history, in a similar way as 2008-2009 are remembered for the introduction of the iPhone. More accurately, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January of 2007, but no one remembers that because the iPhone ecosystem had not been introduced until later. I remember Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone in 2007 and I got the same feeling again last week was Mark Zuckerberg’s moment.
The most important moment from the Meta Connect conference was the announcement that Microsoft, Adobe, and many other primary software developers are launching their products on the Meta operating system. This means that your MS 365 account will be accessible on Meta’s Quest goggles, as will your Adobe Creative Cloud. To help envision what this means, look at your workspace around your computer. Do you have a second screen? Do you have your phone visible or maybe a stand for your iPad? Imagine all of that hardware replaced by a small headset. Let’s look at productivity. Is your font size larger so you can read better? Do you use that second monitor and iPad for always visible email, streaming video, accessing tool panes, analyzing a spreadsheet, or comparing data from one document to the Word document you are working on. Now, imagine having all of that screen real estate spread out in front of your eyes, sized for the best productivity and imagine being able to interact with your whole body or with only your eye movements. Picture any future movie that shows transparent, floating screens where the actors make wide swipes with their hands to move from screen to screen. That’s actually real now, with and without the dramatic hand gestures.
What we do know is that the hardware empowering virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and the more generic mixed reality (MR) involves a wireless computer that places a ‘screen’ in front of user’s eyes. It’s not all that important to define the screen but it is safe to say that some kind of goggles, eyeglasses, or heads-up display (car windshield) must be involved. There are two concepts that I’m trying to expose about the Metaverse, it will require a wireless computer with mobile interaction.
In a larger sense, MS, Adobe and others writing their software for the Meta operating system means the metaverse will be more than a gaming and entertainment platform. Businesses are now pushing the demand curve. Zuckerberg has positioned his company to be very similar to Apple and Google with a hardware computing platform. Your next computer may be a VR headset. And similar to your phone, this headset computer will allow you to move around. But, unlike your phone, the connectivity required to simultaneously run multiple programs will demand high quality (not just fast) access to the Internet. This means that building Wi-Fi access points, Internet circuits and internal infrastructure need to be better than they are today. And, similar to your phone, you will need to be connected to a single network with a single set of log-on credentials. We don’t even think about our phones automatically logging into our cellular account as we move from tower to tower and provider to provider. That same network ubiquity we have with our phones is needed for the metaverse.
Thankfully, Fibernet Capital is ready for the evolution. Our Smart Fiber to the edge infrastructures can manage far more data than standard copper. We design our Wi-Fi networks with “residential gateway” that allows people to move around a property with a single set of credentials. And our Smart Fiber environment is programmed to deliver higher quality and more secure connectivity.
Full Disclosure: In my spare time, I do a lot of hiking. On these hiking outings, I bring a 360-degree video camera that allows me to film and post my adventures for VR interactivity. I have over 1,000 public VR videos mostly found on YouTube. Pico Immersive has paid me to license some of my videos for use on their Pico VR platform. I also post videos for Meta’s Quest platform. Find me @SwissCheeseTrails and @Hike360VR
About FiberNet Capital
FNC is a managed service infrastructure company that operates a Network as a Service (NaaS) business. FNC’s NaaS business model is built to:
• Deploy a robust infrastructure to optimize the end-user network services
• Finance the infrastructure and network applications
• Manage and support the infrastructure and network applications
The complexity and speed at which technology is advancing requires new financial thinking that mitigates capital risk while still allowing for proper technology investment. FNC’s NaaS begins by deploying a Fiber-to-the-Edge, Software-Driven, Multi-Purpose Infrastructure. This “Smart-Fiber" Infrastructure supports all the end-user network services as well as additional applications and systems that FNC will continue to introduce. In this way, FNC creates a dynamic asset and manages this infrastructure for current and future demands.
Additionally, FNC shifts infrequent, independent capital investments to standard monthly operating expenses via an operating lease. FNC’s holistic approach provides a base ROI and builds on that return over the life of the contractual period. Property owners mitigate their capital expenditures, technology obsolescence and operating risk while creating a superior digital ecosystem within their properties. FNC recuperates their investment with a recurring, monthly fee tied to a 10-year operating lease and service agreement.