By Ruth Levi Lotan, VP of Sales and Marketing at ClearX
Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding of Facebook as Meta, the Metaverse has entered the mainstream lexicon. Many could be forgiven for thinking that the Metaverse is an entirely new concept, spawned by the cryptoworld and the NFT mania that has consumed it over the past years, but the truth is, on a conceptual level, it existed before Bitcoin was even born, going all the way back to Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash. Economic analysts from Grayscale claim the Metaverse industry will blossom into a trillion-dollar market in the not-too-distant future.
So when will that market produce a product that lives up to the expectations of shaping the new internet and creating a VR wonderworld the likes of which humankind has never before seen?
Lagging behind
One of the reasons the Metaverse is more bark than bite right now is due to VR and AR experiences that require high bandwidth and low latency to run properly. Our current networks aren’t able to process these immersive experiences between users, instead creating an unbearably frustrating experience.
Let’s visualize this: Imagine joining an AR-powered guided tour of the Louvre in Paris, and approaching the famous Coronation of Napoleon painting only to have the connection disrupted—the audio from the tour guide continues describing this miraculous piece of art, but all you see is some grainy footage cutting in and out. This is not an ideal museum experience.
If the Metaverse is to encompass the future of connectivity, as commentators love to claim, it will have to depend on the ability to seamlessly connect users to each other and their content, regardless of location.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the Internet’s infrastructure simply doesn’t allow for the building of the Metaverse imagined by most of us. Just how no one wants to play an online multiplayer video game when it's lagging, no one will want to invest their time in a Metaverse experience that freezes every other minute or resembles an early 2000s computer game.
Edge and 5G low latency is the only possible infrastructure
In order to tackle this challenge, a decentralized global pool of Edge servers could be leveraged to perform the computation needed to handle such large quantities of data. End-user devices utilizing them will have to rely on connectivity provided by low-latency 5G slices. Lack of 5G connectivity is part of the reason why the Metaverse experience is unenjoyable. Regardless of how fast the network is, if user devices aren’t connected to ultra low-latency 5G or fiber, any VR or AR experience will still suffer from latency issues.
A global network of Edge servers capable of connecting instantly with one another and with users—while handling a colossal amount of data traffic—is possible without compromising on speed or security. This should be the long-term game plan for those with skin in the Metaverse game.
Additionally, rollouts of 5G networks have been rather slow. It is estimated that by 2023, four years after its debut, only 32 percent of North American mobile connections will be on 5G. Global coverage is much lower.
Edge servers and 5G networks must play a key role in the process. But how can this massive undertaking be organized in a way that enables rapid deployment in a cost-efficient and collaborative way?
Forming a DAO and tokenizing communications assets
The best way to facilitate this ambitious plan of deploying a vast quantity of Edge servers across the globe working in unison with 5G low-latency networks is through the establishment of a worldwide Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Supported by an open-source protocol, the DAO would encourage and promote collaboration among all parties with a vested interest, with the joint goal of improving global connectivity and providing distributed computational power.
The open-source protocol would allow developers to optimize latency to order and deploy their applications across multiple sources around the world.
Since individual telcos and platforms can’t generate returns for these assets alone, tokenizing the connectivity services paves the way to create a new revenue stream from the application developers and platforms. Combined with liquidity, this will allow the further acceleration of investments and enable faster global reach, benefiting both end users and developers.
Under this plan, competitors can join forces to work together and grow their businesses. Participant ownership and governance through the DAO will create a neutral environment where innovation and partnership will help advance the industry’s shared agenda. Only through collaboration can a multi-cloud, multi-Edge infrastructure be built and deployed quickly and efficiently.
The demand for high-quality Metaverse experiences, as well as other latency applications like gaming, content, and analytics is only going to rise.There are plenty of innovative startups, and Big Tech players outside of Meta, pouring resources into this work-in-progress concept. But they are simply not focusing on the underlying infrastructure needed to support the industry.
In order to reach the potential surrounding this budding industry and deliver on consumer expectations for a smooth and truly immersive experience with no latency issues, many missing pieces to the puzzle will need to come together. Collaboration on this scale, with so many moving parts, will be a great challenge, but if the Metaverse is truly a trillion dollar industry, there will be no shortage of willing volunteers.
About the author:
Ruth Levi Lotan is the VP Sales and Marketing at ClearX, a leader in creating a decentralized commerce infrastructure for the digital era. She has a background of more than five years in business intelligence and strategic management consulting, and over three years in finance innovation and impact investment.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.