In an era where traditional marketing channels are oversaturated, the Metaverse stands out as a fresh, untapped arena for brands to uniquely engage with audiences.
Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) within these virtual spaces offers an even greater potential for authentic, dynamic interactions and community building.
According to John (Lux) Luxford, co-founder and CEO of Flipside XR, the Metaverse will rival the real world and traditional social media in potential, especially as brands seamlessly integrate virtual experiences with the physical world in a mixed reality future.
In an interview with agency directory DesignRush, Lux also talks about the current state and future potential of the Metaverse.
Who Is John Luxford?
John is the co-founder and CEO of Flipside XR where he previously served as the company’s CTO overlooking product development. His career includes projects for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Princeton, and Disney. He's a seasoned public speaker who has presented at TEDxWinnipeg and served as a speed mentor for multimedia programs.
Given that the Metaverse hasn't caught on as some have predicted it would have by now, I asked Lux what’s holding back this technology, and when he believes it will become mainstream.
Interestingly, Lux said he wasn't a big fan of the Metaverse:
“I feel like anyone who isn’t Neal Stephenson is being a bit cheesy if they’re saying it unironically. Second, it implies that there’s supposed to be one Metaverse, a winner-takes-all place where everyone goes to do everything virtual that they might want to do, and leaves every other would-be Metaverse dead in its wake.
In reality, there are and probably always will be many Metaverses.”
In Lux’s opinion, people often misunderstand the term "Metaverse" due to an inconsistent definition.
The concept originated in a science fiction novel, which was later embodied by services like Second Life and World of Warcraft, though not initially named as such. Eventually, Mark Zuckerberg rebranded this idea to fit his vision of a shared virtual space, ignoring its existing applications.
"Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox are examples of metaverses just as much as VRChat, Horizon Worlds, or Flipside. Looking at the massive success of those platforms, I’d say nothing is holding the Metaverse back from the mainstream because it was already mainstream long before we started calling it that,” he added.
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While the Metaverse hasn’t quite exploded, it’s easy to see its potential for brands.
In light of this, we asked Lux about the main advantages brands can explore in the Metaverse.
He says the Metaverse will hold as much potential for brands as the real world or traditional social media platforms. He believes the true potential is seen in a mixed reality future, where virtual brand experiences are integrated seamlessly into the physical world.
“Brands are already putting on sponsored events in various Metaverse platforms, and even creating worlds where you can peruse and experience their products, such as Fiat’s Metaverse dealership or TheMall, a full-blown Metaverse shopping mall,“ he added.
The Unique Capabilities of VR and MR
Next, we talked about Flipside XR, and the company is focused mostly on the VR version of a Metaverse, more specifically on the content creator side of the fence.
Hence, we wanted to know if Lux believes VR is essential to the Metaverse experience.
“I see metaverses being accessible through a variety of devices and technologies. People play complex games and traverse 3D worlds all the time on their mobile phones, and I think those are going to be a popular way to experience metaverses for a long time to come,” Lux says.
However, he also believes that Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies offer enhanced capabilities, such as immersion through being inside the world rather than viewing it through a phone's limited screen.
Lux noted that VR headsets, controllers, and hand-tracking technologies enable motion capture, allowing users to feel part of a shared experience by relaying their movements and expressions in avatar form within the same space.
“From the content standpoint, there are certain things you can only do in VR even compared to traditional motion capture studios, like being able to maintain eyelines while acting as characters that have exaggeratedly different sizes or proportions compared to the actors playing them.
It also enables you to work together over distances, both synchronously and asynchronously, which can substantially reduce production costs,” he added.
Lux notes that brands can utilize user-generated content to increase online engagement in metaverses, drawing parallels with traditional platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
This includes strategies like:
- Sponsorship deals with influencers
- Product placements in 3D content
- Traditional advertising
Lux explains these methods are already in use, but there is significant potential for evolution in how brands interact with creators. He finds the prospect of leveraging new technology for previously impossible experiences exhilarating, citing innovative game mechanics like time manipulation in "Super Hot."
“Due to the physical nature of the hardware used to immerse yourself in a metaverse, users want something they can engage with, so I think brands are going to have to find ways to be clever in bringing their brands into virtual worlds,” he notes.
AI as a Creative Assistant
Recently, we have seen a surge in AI-generated channels, and that seems particularly easy to pull off in the Metaverse, where avatars are all 3D models.
I was interested in discovering Flipside XR's take on this new trend:
“I think we see AI’s role in the Metaverse a little differently than others.
For us, AI is a tool to empower the creativity of the human user, not to replace it. It might substitute what would have been a second person if no one is available, but it will still be an obvious substitute for some time to come. You can spot a lot of AI content pretty quickly still.”
Lux points out that this doesn’t make AI as a creative assistant worse as those imperfections can serve as comedic elements and material for human creators to utilize and have fun with.
“In Flipside, you can generate monologues and dialogues using ChatGPT that get loaded directly into a virtual teleprompter for creators to follow, and we’ve integrated a service called Blockade Labs that generates virtual worlds from written prompts.
These become the backdrop for content creators making on the platform. We have lots of other things coming along these lines as well, but each of them aims to help users stay in the creative zone and keep those creative juices flowing,” he added.
Will Metaverse Replace Real-Life Events?
Given that we have seen several live events on the biggest Metaverse platforms like concerts, trailer premieres, and real-time interviews, we also asked Lux if he thinks Metaverse events can replace real-life events as technology evolves.
He believes that they are already replacing them to an extent, but the thrill of being in a large crowd will always attract people to real-life events.
“We’ll see more hybrid events as well, where people attend a real-world event but it includes things like augmented reality elements, projection mapping, aerial drone shows, or holograms. I don’t think one has to completely replace the other, but I do think those lines will blur more and more as time goes on.”
As more companies embrace remote workforce, Lux agrees that the Metaverse can be used to engage employees with virtual webinars and workspaces.
He tells me that, at Flipside, they’ve done staff meetups in social VR games like Walkabout Mini Golf, and it had been a great way to feel like the team is together and can get to know each other better.
“Lots of workplaces are already using metaverse platforms to conduct meetings, team stand-ups, and more. It’ll be one more tool to be used alongside Zoom and others to keep remote workforces connected, and people will naturally gravitate to them when they provide a clear differentiated value compared to existing tools."
Companies aren't only using the Metaverse to let users try products such as furniture and clothes but also to purchase virtual versions for their avatars. As Lux explains:
“Ready Player Me, an avatar maker that integrates seamlessly into Flipside, already lets users buy clothing options from brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Universal, and Adidas.
The fidelity of expressiveness through face and eye tracking will lead to much more uptake and satisfaction with metaverse experiences conveying human movement and emotion. We’re seeing this already with the Apple Vision Pro’s Personas due to the headset’s inclusion of face and eye tracking."
As the technology improves and becomes more widely available, users will demand more sophisticated and engaging virtual experiences.
