We’re seeing brands take massive steps in the Metaverse: Amer Ahmad, Blink Digital

Blink Digital offers Metaverse retainers as well as one-off Metaverse activations for brands. For Yashoda Hospital Blink helped create the entire experience end-to-end, Blink has previously worked on Metaverse activations for Amazon and OnePlus and have a few more in the pipeline, says Amer Ahmad, Director of Technology at Blink Digital. In this interview with Adgully, Ahmad dwells at length on Metaverse, its potential, and other related aspects. Excerpts:

Could you explain your association with Yashoda Hospitals in building a Metaverse platform? Are any more such associations in the pipeline?

We offer Metaverse retainers as well as one-off Metaverse activations for brands. For Yashoda we helped create the entire experience end-to-end, from conceptualising and design to building the structure in the metaverse and allowing for the users to book appointments. We even facilitated the land acquisition for Yashoda in Decentraland. We've previously worked on metaverse activations for Amazon & OnePlus and have a few more in the pipeline, however, can't disclose any details till the activations are live!

Did you face any technological/ logistical challenges in building the platform and how did you overcome them?

There are several metaverse platforms out there - your Decentralands, Spatials and Sandboxes of the world, we have the capabilities to create experiences on each. Each platform has its own pros and cons and depending on the client's requirements, we recommend the platform that would work best.

Metaverse is only emerging and we are yet to explore its full potential of it. How it will shape up in the days to come, in terms of its application in entertainment as well as non-entertainment fields?

Metaverse as we know it today is fairly nascent with little to no interoperability between platforms and clunky user experiences. However, we can already see the impact it has created. In both the entertainment and non-entertainment fields, we're seeing brands take massive steps, not just as digital activations but also in tandem with real-world events. Live events such as Coachella are already taking place in the metaverse and drawing crowds of 20,000+ people from over 100 countries! If at this early stage we're seeing such numbers, it's clear that the potential to grow is massive.

How will metaverse change the way we enjoy entertainment, in terms of personalisation, interactivity, etc.?

The metaverse is a wholly different ballgame compared to existing platforms, for both users and brands. As it is not bound by pesky things like the laws of physics - you can fly over the seven wonders of the world in a Panda avatar or time travel with your friends to go walking with dinosaurs, all in the same afternoon from the comfort of your home. Users can experience new immersive worlds, and brands can launch personalised and innovative campaigns. 

What are the strengths and weaknesses of India as a country in the adoption of metaverse? How evolved are we in terms of its application in various fields?

Our biggest strength is our young population. We notice that people in the age groups of 18-24 and 25-34 account for over 90% of the web3 users in India. It's these cohorts that will drive the adoption of the metaverse on a large scale. The biggest weakness at the moment would be infrastructure, with high speed internet and hi-spec devices only available to a subset of the overall population. We're at a stage now where anyone, brands especially, entering would have a significant first mover advantage.

One of the challenges is that India lacks regulatory clarity with regard to Metaverse as a technology. Is this aspect impeding its growth? Are there any global examples worth emulating in the regulatory framework? What are the other challenges?

Most definitely. Law is typically a laggard, more so in India. Many brands approach us and the main concerns are not on the activations, but mostly on the regulatory and compliance fronts. This is a massive hindrance to the space as a whole and hinders innovation. UAE and Singapore are countries from which India can take cues. Another major issue is more tech based - for example most metaverse platforms are not compatible with mobile browsers which creates a big issue, especially in a mobile-first country such as India. Server management, device compatibility and interoperability still have a long way to go.

How will the monetisation possibilities of metaverse evolve in the days to come?

The principles of Web3 are focused on decentralisation and user empowerment. Monetisation in the metaverse will follow these principles. It won't just be a situation where brands are selling their goods and services and paying large sums to platforms to advertise. It'll be digital economies where users are rewarded for their time and attention and brands can build loyal and engaged communities.

For experiencing the immersive nature of metaverse, one has to wear VR headsets such as Meta’s Quest, which are costly and not widely available. How can we overcome issues like low VR penetration and other issues?

This is where platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox come in, they're open and free to us metaverse platforms, available on desktop browsers, no hardware required!

Data in the metaverse will invite privacy concerns with organisations needing sensitive personal data, biometric identifiers, health info, etc. Will it clash with data privacy laws being passed by different countries?

Most decentralised metaverses do not store, process or share personal data. Which is why organisations are cut-off from any such sensitive data from the start. Data privacy is at odds with the vested interests of organisations and lawmakers - so it would be interesting to see how centralised fare versus decentralised metaverse platforms. Ultimately it's on the users to demand their privacy, boycott platforms that exploit their data and push lawmakers to pass data privacy laws that actually have impact.

How regulations will apply in the metaverse is another pertinent question. Will we see metaverse-focussed privacy laws being passed by governments to deal with transactions/ interactions happening in the metaverse? 

Well, for starters lawmakers need to understand how these platforms work, what creators are building and how users are using them. Legislating without in-depth knowledge is a recipe for disaster. That being said it is inevitable that we shall see aspects of these digital ecosystems be covered in laws to come.

With an amalgamation of tech needed in the metaverse, cybersecurity risks might increase with hackers devising new methods. What else will be the other potential challenges the metaverse will face? 

Every system has its vulnerabilities and bad actors but from a user perspective it's imperative to DYOR (do your own research) before sharing any data, access or funds with any third party. Another challenge is the infrastructure but at the rate at which innovation is taking place I don't see it to be a challenge for too long.