XRLab@MCM Weblog.
News from XRLab:
ProfTHT’s First Encounter with the Apple Vision Pro
Elmar Schrage from Deutsche Telekom, one of our Lab’s most valued practice partners, provided ProfTHT with the opportunity to experience the Apple Vision Pro first hand for a full afternoon.
Here is his take away, based on the unique experience: “The Apple Vision Pro alias Hashtag#AVP is an exceptionally impressive device. It showcases outstanding craftsmanship and thoughtful design and offers capabilities previously unattainable in the realm of extended reality. However, as of now, it doesn't replace my Quest headsets not only for budget reasons, but also since none of my favorite uses are available on it—ranging from playing mini-golf with friends and relaxation to cycling, table tennis, meetings, attending exhibitions and Bratwurst parties and also watching movies together in VR. Additionally, I feel that some aspects are yet better addressed in the Quest metaverse compared to Apple's offerings (e.g., the Bigscreen VR Quest app versus the Disney+ AVP app).
Apple should consider providing interfaces to other highly immersive platforms (but, based on previous company decisions, probably won’t do that). Otherwise, the social capabilities that extended realities provide will remain significantly underutilized for quite some time.“
Click here to enjoy the 5-minute ‘ProfTHT’s First Encounter’ video about how some of the device's key features looked in "Münster Reality":
News from XRLab:
Introducing #SpatialMarketing at the American Marketing Association's Winter Academic Conference in St. Pete: How Market-Oriented Leadership Can Benefit from 3D Digital Spaces!
Spatial marketing, as the concept we envision, integrates insights from different fields and disciplines that all search for value when dealing with such digital spaces. In the session, inititated by XRLab@MCM academic director Thorsten Hennig-Thurau and XRLab@MCM associated scholar Sebastian Hohenberg, we had an illustrious group of scholars that shed light on several facets of the concept:
-- Stephanie Noble (from the University of Tennessee Knoxville) about avatars in digital spaces and close to us we want them to be;
-- Sushma Kambagowni (University of Pittsburgh) about augmented reality in mobile apps;
-- Michael Haenlein (from ESCP Business School) on the live streaming of digital spaces on Twitch and other platforms;
-- Sebastian Hohenberg and Patrick Wöhnl (University of Münster) on the "big picture" of Spatial Marketing and the uniqueness of spatial data generated in digital spaces; and
-- And of course Philo Freiboth and Thorsten Hennig-Thurau (University of Münster) on whether more presence in digital spaces is always better.
If we had not been excited about the potential that bring together the best of these perspectives, we would certainly be after this session. Thanks to everyone who participated, who contributed, and to all of those who attended in the chilliest hotel seminar rooms in the sunny state of Florida and listened to our three conference contributions:
Metaverse Marketing Research
by S. Hohenberg, T. Hennig-Thurau, R. Behrens, P. Wöhnl, and H. Pott
How Virtual Should the Metaverse Be? The Impact of Exposure to the Physical Reality on Consumers’ Perceptions of and Reactions to Virtual Experiences
by P. Freiboth and T. Hennig-Thurau
Adoption of Virtual-Reality Headsets: The Role of Metaverse Trials
by T. Hennig-Thurau, A. Herting, and D. Jütte
News from XRLab:
XRLab Member Nilusha Aliman Stars in the PwC ‘TechTalks’ Series Hosted by Thought Leader Jeremy Dalton!
On Thursday, October 19, Nilusha Aliman from our eXperimental Reality Lab participated in PwC’s global ‘TechTalks’ series, hosted by Jeremy Dalton, well-known thought leader and book author on immersive technologies along with fellow PwC XR expert Alex Ruhl, to present findings from the lab’s recently published working paper on meetings in the metaverse. On average, the 30-minutes episodes of the video podcast series reach an audience between 5,000 and 10.000 viewers.
At the podcast, Nilusha Aliman discussed a new study she has conducted and co-authored with Professor Thorsten Hennig-Thurau and André Henke from the German Ministry of the Interior and Sport of the German State of Lower Saxony. The goal of the study was to shed light on the value of team meetings carried out in virtual reality by comparing them with videoconferences. The results are available as a new working paper from the XRLab@MCM entitled “Meetings in the Enterprise Metaverse: How Virtual Reality Affects Scaled Business Agility”. The paper reports findings from two real-world studies in which managers of the ministry along with those from partner organizations (e.g., consulting firms) participated in parts of PI-planning events using state-of-the-art VR headsets.
In this particular TechTalks episode, Nilusha Aliman together with André Henke discusses findings of the second study, which compares a 45-minute meeting in virtual reality with a 45-minute meeting via videoconferencing as part of the ministry’s PI-planning event in December. Overall, findings of both studies show that meetings in the enterprise metaverse can benefit from the unique characteristics of VR technology, resulting in higher levels of scaled business agility as perceived by the participating managers, along with other desired outcomes such as a more positive view of follow-up meetings.
The TechTalk episode with Nilusha Aliman is available on https://www.linkedin.com/events/7118338518900199424
The new working paper can be downloaded at https://xrlab-mcm.space/workingpapers
News from XRLab:
One Seminar, Three Industry Experts
Münster's marketing students explored the value potential of the Metaverse, in virtual and physical worlds!
Thanks to Matti Pouhakka of Glue and Lance Powell of REMIO for talking about their VR platforms and addressing the questions raised by our students.
Also, thanks to Benjamin Keller from Meta for visiting the Marketing Center Münster and providing valuable insights on the latest developments in VR, AR, and the Metaverse from a company that is leading the way in shaping these exciting technologies.
Three truly inspiring talks for our students (and us)!
News from XRLab:
Artificial and Intelligent in Virtual Worlds!
In a special session of his seminar on metaverse & gaming economies, XRLab member Ronny Behrens invited the participants, 25+ Master of Science students from Münster University, to put on their VR headsets and practice teamwork in virtual spaces from Glue. Special guest appearance: Matti Pouhakka!
Key finding: The hypetrain might have left the metaverse station, but the value-creating substance has remained... ;-)
News from XRLab:
Münster Marketing MBAs, Assemble!
During a busy week full of world travelling between physical and virtual destinations, there was still time to capture the momentum - in Münster's Königsstraße, in the adventurous worlds of REMIO and the inspiring ones of RAUM virtual reality collaboration, and also in Meta's very own's Workrooms.
More on our MBA program: MBA in Marketing
News from XRLab:
The Münster MBA in Marketing Goes Virtual
When it comes to the metaverse, as a new sensual, spatial environment, experiencing is believing.
That’s why during a full five-day Digital Marketing course last week as part of our Münster MBA in Marketing, students spent only part of the time in the physical classroom (and zero via Zoom) – but used the afternoons (and one particular evening) exploring various virtual worlds. Not for “show”, but for some serious work activities, which ranged from preparing classroom presentations and listening to lectures to quite intense teambuilding tasks.
Here's a sneak peek from this very unique week.
News from XRLab:
The Metaverse - Megatrend or Marketing Hype? - Podcast with ProfTHT!
In search of what the Metaverse actually is, podcaster Michael Terhörst talks to Professor Dr. Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Head of the Department of Marketing and Media at the University of Münster in this episode of the Wirtschaft aktuell podcast.
As founder of the eXperiental Reality Lab in 2021, ProfTHT knows the various facets of the metaverse and virtual reality like no one else. This relevant topic, which not only affects the business community in the Münsterland region, is the subject of the current episode of the Wirtschaft aktuell podcast, of which a brand-new episode is published every 14 days.
Check out the full episode (German language) here - Or anywhere there are podcasts
News from XRLab:
The Last X Night Event in Altspace
On the last night of the Altspace metaverse's existence, XRLab members Alina Herting, Ronny Behrens and ProfTHT took the stage of the "Area X" in Altspace and presented their work on Moviegoing in the Metaverse: a scholarly research project that encompasses two empirical studies for which a large sample of consumers was equipped with Meta Quest 2 headsets to measure their reactions toward this new way of watching films in virtuality. Please enjoy a short summary of the presentation, but much more so of the unique atmosphere.
News from XRLab:
Virtual Marketing Center 2.0 Update
Working on the Virtual Marketing Center Münster, version 2.0. Some impressions from what will become our new lecture hall in the Münster metaverse. Watch the first question ever raised in the VMCM 2.0 and the first answer ever given there (by world builder Liam Mckill)! A smart one that is, of course! ;-)
This part of the new Virtual Marketing Center Münster, which will also be the headquarters of the eXperimental Reality lab, is located right next to the scenic Münster Aa lake.
News from the Industry:
Two Trends Driving the Metaverse
Björn Ognibeni, practical visionary and inspirational force at our eXperimental Reality Lab, has written a quite excellent text about the metaverse and why it is well worth (or even necessary?) exploring for us as consumers, but also as managers, politicians, and educators - now that the hype train is heading to the A.I. station.
Read the full article here: ognibeni.medium.com
News from XRLab:
Scholars of the Metaverse: Our Team Finds a New Home at RAUM
Our XRLab team travelled the metaverse to explore its new premises at RAUM.
The first task: take inspiring team photos, in which the everyone shows off their custom-designed digital shirts... ;-)
RAUM CMO Rolf Messmer couldn't resist to welcome the new inhabitants of RAUM's breathtaking "Scaramanga Island" world - and to take the photos himself!
Feel free to visit RAUM at raum.app
News from XRLab:
Virtual Marketing Center Münster 2.0
A first teaser trailer for our new Virtual Marketing Center Münster, Version 2.0. Soon to be visited in VRChat - where avatars have legs and can look pretty human-like, but don't necessarily have to...
Human or not human, we are looking forward to seeing some of you at our new Marketing Center and are excited for this new chapter.
The relocation from AltspaceVR to VRChat is in full swing - stay tuned for more updates on the project.
News from the Industry:
Microsoft´s Shift Away from Virtual Reality?
Recently Microsoft decided to shut down Altspace – its current metaverse application build around virtual reality experiences. Taking its place will be a new application called Mesh. So far, no one outside of Microsoft seems to have seen a working demo of it but it is speculated that Mesh will represent a shift from VR to AR and MR.
However, first mock-ups and other content found online, raise some questions about how Microsoft will manage to successfully implement AR and MR in their new application. Arguably, those questions might be the reason why Mesh, as envisioned and promoted by Microsoft, has not made any serious progress for the last two years.
News from the Industry:
Murder in the Metaverse.
Everyone who has been a regular visitor of AltspaceVR was aware how Microsoft had neglected the metaverse it had acquired in 2017.
Nevertheless, it is a pity that Microsoft decided to shut down their VR platform not only because we at the eXperimental Reality Lab have built our virtual Marketing Center here, but much more so for the many great virtual creations that will now be erased. And the many wonderful communities which will be destroyed by the touch of a button, including the X Night attendants.
It is hard to believe that no other company would have wanted to take over this metaverse hub which was full of potential. It's a bad day for the metaverse, which comes at a point in time when virtuality was just about to gain critical mass, and which hits the metaverse in the guts. What a shame.
For more insights read the following article: Mixed.com
News from the Industry:
Apple…verse?
Apple will embrace the metaverse, with billion-dollar investments. It just won't name it metaverse…
Job listings, personnel changes, and trademark filings, give a preview of some of Apple´s new mixed-reality headset.
The “Reality Pro” or “Reality One” – as it might be called – will likely cost between $2.000 and $3.000 and include mixed-reality versions of core Apple apps like Messages, FaceTime and Maps.
For more detail insights read the full article: bloomberg.com
News from XRLab:
The Day the Metaverse Came to Münster
200+ alumni of the Marketing Center Münster, now executives, managers, professors, or students, along with engaged guests, explored the economic and sensual facets of virtual worlds, in presentations, forums and exhibitions.
A great pleasure to have the speakers - which included Björn Ognibeni, Elmar Schrage and Deutsche Telekom team, Oliver Wöhler and PICO XR team, and Stefan Göppel - share their insights, critique, thoughts, ideas, curiosity, and openness. Let's continue the exploration of this metaverse - there's still so much to learn and do.
News from the Industry:
Metaverse Marketing
A lot of people argue that the metaverse might offer value for firms only in a far-ahead future. After having explored the metaverse quite a bit, in workshops, lectures, meetings, seminars, Christmas parties, virtual movie theaters and a lot of other activities, Björn Ognibeni and ProfTHT disagree vehemently.
In their new article on "Metaverse Marketing" published by NIM Marketing Intelligence Review, they take an applied perspective. Arguing that social value is the "killer app" of the metaverse that sets it apart from the 2D internet. Several use cases demonstrate how firms can benefit from the metaverse - as of today, not in some far away future.
You can find and download the article here: nim.org/martech-and-salestech
News from the Industry:
Metaverse or Not Metaverse, That is the Question
"[Roblox'] lack of Web3 tools and unclear distinctions from traditional video games have stirred up disagreement among marketers [whether Roblox is part of the metaverse] as they navigate the nascent world of Web3".
Ad Age essentially argues that the "true" metaverse can only exist if people don't have fun in it and if you can buy NFTs there – too simple!
Read the full article: adage.com
News from XRLab:
A Meeting in the Metaverse
Our Team took some time to explore the new features of Horizon Workrooms, Meta's collaboration app. They include the use of several physical keyboards (including the Logitech MX Keys, which we put to the test here) and a breakout room layout which lets teams split into subgroups while staying in virtual reach.
Here's a two-minute summary of what Alina, Marc, Jérôme and ProfTHT (all located at different places in the physical world and suffering from Zoom fatigue) found!
News from the Industry:
Time for the Quest 3?
"Comparatively, the Quest 2 has sold 18 million units while the PS5 has sold 24 million".
Not too bad for a headset that's bulky, heavy and causes cybersickness, according to "media experts" (and is not sold in China - and Germany).
For more information about the Quest 2 and why the VR Headset should not be replaced by a new model too soon, read the following article: https://www.androidcentral.com/gaming/virtual-reality/meta-was-smart-to-not-release-the-quest-3-this-year
News from the Industry:
A Masterpiece of Multimedia Journalism
Gabriel Rinaldi's article "Leben wir bald im Metaverse?" ("Will we soon live in the Metaverse?") published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, featuring the interview of ProfTHT and giving insight into a variety of metaverse worlds, including the virtual Marketing Center Münster in AltspaceVR, has now received one of the highest awards for digital journalism in Germany, being named a masterpiece of multimedia journalism („Meisterstück des multimedialen Journalismus“) by the jury. Congratulations Gabriel and keep up the great work.
The full article is available in our Media Mentions
News from XRLab:
X Talk: Around the Metaverse in 80 Minutes
Though Meta and some observers are saying that the Metaverse does not exist yet, world builder Liam Mckill took our team and many other attendants of his "X Talk" on a glorious trip to a number of quite spectacular virtual destinations.
X Talks are a unique speaker series format dedicated to the Metaverse that takes place every second Thursday of a month in AltspaceVR. The series is hosted by Thomas Zorbach and vm-people GmbH in cooperation with our eXperimental Reality Lab.
News from the Industry:
Life in the Metaverse
New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill explores the metaverse. And makes some discoveries, retiring at least some of her initial prejudices (which can be considered an essential, and rare, element of quality journalism). Now Mark Zuckerberg, it's high time to finally open the gates to your Horizon Worlds for the people in Europe too!
Read the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/technology/metaverse
News from the Industry:
It´s Lonely in the PC-Based “Metaverse”
This article by Cameron Thompson highlights everything that needs to be said about these PC-based "metaverses", in which some people (and their firms) spend a lot of money for "real estate" (or more precisely, "virtual estate"), but no one cares.
The 1000 active users of Decentraland already include observers Nilusha Aliman and ProfTHT, who reported their (be warned: quite depressing) user experience in a video early this year. Watch their video in our blog post from March 2nd, 2022.
Read the full article: https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2022/10/07/its-lonely-in-the-metaverse-decentralands-38-daily-active-users-in-a-13b-ecosystem/?outputType=amp
News from the Industry:
A Future of the Internet
Sascha Lobo, a thought leader of all things digital has shared his point of view on the metaverse:
"Personally, I think the metaverse is an important future of the Internet. "An important future" and not "the future", because the network and its functional landscapes are spreading wide, and some areas of the Internet will have little or nothing to do with the metaverse. But many other areas will, even those that one would perhaps not believe today."
Read the full article: https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/internet-was-dem-metaverse-zum-durchbruch-verhelfen-wird-a-bdeb1dae-7e58-42b3-827d-d1bbdb961da6
News from the Industry:
A Europe Fit for the Digital Age
“We will continue looking at new digital opportunities and trends, such as the metaverse.”
In the State of the Union letter of intent, European Commission President von der Leyen made clear that the EU is making the metaverse a priority for the 'digital age' of Europe.
Additionally, commissioner Thierry Breton announced the launch of the Virtual and Augmented Reality Industrial Coalition, bringing together stakeholders from key metaverse technologies.
While it is good to see that such initiatives are coming together, wouldn´t it be great if the EU would not only intend to have some CONTROL of a metaverse created by American and Asian companies, but made the European involvement in BUILDING it a priority?
News from XRLab:
"I Want to Ride My Bicycle - in the Metaverse!" ProfTHT Goes on a Virtual (Social) Ride...
Meta uses phrases such as "Someday" and "When that day comes" in their ad, where people train on their bicycles together with other people in virtual worlds.
However, we know that this metaverse is not at all a sci-fi concept, but very real as of today. Why do we know? Because ProfTHT trains on his bike together with other ambitious riders and does so in the virtual worlds created by the metaverse app VZFit. These metaverse worlds might not look as glossy as those in Meta's ads, but we find them still pretty impressive and inspiring - at least much more so than any basement, gym or wet winter road. All of this is happening in the city of Münster, Germany, today. Not "someday". ;-)
In case you are interested about the "sci-fi version" of cycling together in the metaverse, you can find Meta's ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97cR3RFLEuQ
Soundtrack by Queen: "I want to ride my bicycle".
Guest appearance by THT Jr.
News from the Industry:
Metaverse Advertising is Coming to the Roblox Metaverse.
Next year advertisers will be able to place banners on billboards, posters, vehicles, and on other surfaces within Roblox. Some ads have already been tried out with brands like Warner Bros. and Vans.
This is the company´s first significant effort to diversify its business beyond virtual goods in games.
Surely Mark Zuckerberg and his team are watching this pretty closely.
Read the full article: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/09/roblox-jumping-into-ads-in-effort-to-diversify-beyond-virtual-goods-.html
News from the Industry:
Horizon Avatars are Getting Legs – Finally?
New users of Meta´s Horizon Worlds are often irritated to find themselves floating around the virtual space without legs. A circumstance that is often ridiculed and made fun of online.
However, Meta’s chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth confirmed that the company is already working on a solution.
Great that Meta is listening to their community and implements change, but we think Meta certainly has many important projects to realize – the legs of their avatars are none of them.
Read the full article: https://mixed-news.com/en/meta-gives-avatars-legs-quest-pro-expands-vr-for-professional-use/
News from XRLab:
Say Cheese!
Proudly presenting the 2022 edition of the team of the one-and-only XRLab, as seen through the camera eyes of Andreas Loechte.
(Only Björn is missing …)
Stay tuned for the new team page!
News from XRLab:
When theory meets theory, the #metaverse wins!
Our eXperimental Reality Lab at Marketing Center Münster joins forces with the various XR enthusiasts at Deutsche Telekom!
To quote the official announcement:
Deutsche Telekom and Uni Münster join forces to explore XR and the metaverse.
As one of the world‘s first collaboration between an university and a telco in the growing field of XR and the #metaverse, we are proud to announce the formation of a partnership between the Deutsche Telekom and the University of Münster’s eXperimental Reality Lab at Marketing Center Münster, a forerunner with regard to the exploration of the metaverse in research and education. Together, the Deutsche Telekom and the XRLab@MCM will jointly study the possibilities of virtual and augmented worlds in relation to education, media, consumers and brands. Part of the agenda are events and cooperations with leading industry companies as well as a the creation of a "Metaverse Think Tank" to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas between and industry and marketing science.
While the topic is virtuality, the partners kicked-off their collaboration in the physical world with a meeting in Bonn. Sven von Aschwege, Elmar Schrage, Daniel Aslam, Ralf Lülsdorf, Dirk Edingloh, Frank Lamack and Marcell Rogmann and Verena Fulde-Abs represented the various parts of the Deutsche Telekom engagements in #XR and metaverse activities and pictured, among others, the Electronic Beats project Beatland (at Roblox), activities in Ifland, as well as the use of augmented reality in traditional media, while Professor Thorsten Hennig-Thurau and Nilusha Aliman summarized the XRLab@MCM’s learnings so far. There was no doubt among participants that XR and the metaverse are here to stay and will serve as an important field for both the telecommunications industry and marketing science.
Stay tuned for the next steps of the collaboration!
News from Academia:
Working in VR is Unproductive and Makes You Sick! Really?!
These findings come from a team of researchers, some from Cambridge and some from Microsoft.
So, what have they done? They put people "in VR for an entire week - for five days, eight hours each day", which is not a good idea for most things: eat all day, watching TV, sending WhatsApp messages, using social media. Yep, for most things in life, there's a threshold in terms of usage intensity, and that applies also to the use of the metaverse.
Besides, instead of comparing it to the physical world, we should use Zoom and other 2D internet applications which we spend countless hours with every month because this is for what companies (and people) consider the metaverse as a real alternative.
We think it is time for scholars to do serious research about the metaverse and ask questions that make sense and matter – luckily, we´ve got you covered ;)
Check out the full article (behind a pay wall): https://fortune.com/2022/06/21/study-working-in-metaverse-low-productivity-high-anxiety/
Or read our working papers instead ;-)
News from Academia:
Koen Pauwels on Where the Metaverse Will Be Heading.
Although we could argue about some of Koen´s positions and believe that scholars and managers should focus on HOW to make best use of the metaverse instead of debating whether it is there yet or when it will be, we definitely recommend reading his piece, as it stands out in the current sea of superficial opinion pieces, which either embrace or oppose the metaverse, leaving no room between the two extremes.
Read the full article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-needed-metaverse-prof-dr-koen-pauwels/
News from XRLab:
Virtual Reality Scholars, Aassemble!
The Marketing Center Münster was excited to welcome colleague Yvonne van Everdingen from Erasmus University Rotterdam. After a long intermission, Yvonne was the first in-person guest speaker in our Brown Bag research series. Now tell us: Can there be any better place for presenting her work on virtual consumer experiences than the home of the one-and-only XRLab@MCM? ;-)
Thanks so much Yvonne for coming over to Münster and for sharing your thoughts and insights!
News from XRLab:
Münster's Students and Professor on Their Trip to Spotify Island
Practice infusion on Spotify Island! This is how it looks when Münster's Brand Managers of the future explore the Brand Metaverse together with ProfTHT at the end their Brand Management lecture.
News from XRLab:
The XRLab Team at this Year’s EMAC in Budapest
On behalf of the XRLab team, Nilusha Aliman and ProfTHT had the honor (and pleasure!) to present our work on social interactions in virtual worlds at the European Marketing Association Conference in Budapest, one of the largest (and most ambitious) gatherings of marketing scholars from all over Europe and the world.
In case you couldn't attend, and the photos aren't enough to satisfy your curiosity, please feel free to head to our Research & Publications section and have a look at our working paper #1.
News from the Industry:
More Rumors Regarding Apple's Entering of the VR/AR/Metaverse Area
"(T)he first model will offer both VR and AR, and the company is also working on stand-alone AR glasses, codenamed N421, for release later this decade. Unlike VR, augmented reality overlays digital information and images on top of the real world.
The current device, codenamed N301, has been in development since around 2015. Mike Rockwell, a company vice president, has spearheaded the project, which is also overseen by Dan Riccio, Apple’s former head of hardware engineering. The company has about 2,000 employees working on the device as part of a team known as the Technology Development Group, or TDG."
Read the original article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news
News from XRLab:
People Say the (Virtual) Metaverse is Adhering Itself Too Much to the Laws of (real-life) Physics – Maybe They Just Looked at the Wrong Places
After a lecture on the theory of the metaverse in Münster's virtual Marketing Center, ProfTHT invited his students for a trip to those parts of the solar system where even Elon and Jeff won't get in their lifetime. Including a visit of the sun (and its inner life).
Thanks Niko Lang for having built this stunning world and for being so kind to give us a tour.
Solar System & Beyond: an AltspaceVR world by Niko – Altspace Code: YOA787
Music: Excerpt from David Bowie "Starman" (Lightyear version)
News from XRLab:
Deutsche Telekom Launches their “Beatland-“World in Roblox
With about 230 million active users, Roblox is one of the most important (non-VR) metaverse destinations today. The launch of the “Beatland”-World by Deutsche Telekom was a great opportunity for ProfTHT and Björn Ognibeni to join the community for some action research.
Main take away: it's a mad mad mad mad (virtual) world.
Click the link below to watch the serious and in-depth research by the two oldest avatars in Deutsche Telekom´s Beatland - Enjoy ;-)
News from XRLab:
A Very Special Brownbag Presentation in Münster's Virtual Marketing Center…
…A location that most of our colleagues from the “real” Marketing Center were amazed to see in this unusual environment – who knows, perhaps this could even become part of their future work environment? ;)
After a virtual tour of the premises, we shared our latest research insights and ended the exiting event with a discussion at the MCM beach.
Next stop on our “Welcome to the Metaverse”-Tour: EMAC in Budapest!
News from XRLab:
Our XRLab@MCM Celebrates its First Anniversary!!
We founded the eXperimental Reality Lab at the Marketing Center Münster in the spring of 2021. In our first year, we have...
-- created virtual worlds
-- held lectures and seminars in the metaverse
-- researched the metaverse
-- hosted and participated in events in the metaverse
-- met great people and built partnerships.
We thank everyone who accompanied and supported us on our journey of and through the metaverse. Among those who deserve special mention are Thomas Zorbach and his vm-people GmbH, Liam Mckill, Rolf Meßmer and Michael Gairing from RAUM virtual reality collaboration, Harley Krohmer and his team (and students) at Bern, Daniel Dyboski-Bryant from Educators in VR, Gabe Baker and FRAME by Virbela team, Carsten Vogel, Kai Lügger and Windmöller & Hölscher Gruppe, Gabriel Rinaldi, Matti Pouhakka and the team of Glue, Kabetec UG&Co.KG and their Cleanbox Technology, and last but certainly not least our Münster students of our MBA in Marketing, our MSc in Business and Marketing, and our BSc in Business!
This video features some of the moments we remember most vividly -- please enjoy!
News from XRLab:
How Companies are Approaching the Metaverse: Windmöller & Hölscher Gruppe Showcasing their Virtual Printing Machine
The metaverse is alive and kicking. And offers extensive opportunities beyond gaming...
The XRLab team visited our lab partner Windmöller & Hölscher Gruppe at its virtual headquarters. Dr. Kai Lügger, head of business development and Marketing Center Münster alumni, gave a tour of W&H's stunning virtual premises and their impressive printing machine.
Check out the video to see the breathtaking stunts we carried – will ProfTHT now become “Professor Hundred Thousand Volt”?!? ;-)
News from XRLab:
Can we Use Virtual Reality to be More Creative?
In case you wonder: The metaverse is...
... not about NFTs or Blockchains, but about social interactions.
... not a vision or a thing of the future, but very real and today.
This became again clear to us by attending an inspiring presentation about how to make use of the metaverse to stimulate creativity by Christopher Werth – about the metaverse and in the metaverse, at the latest X-TALK by vm-people.
See the whole X-Talk by Christopher Werth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwrvVIFaM4c
News from the Industry:
At Mobile World Congress the Metaverse was the Centre of Attention!
At this year’s MWC, which is the world’s biggest mobile trade show for the mobile phone industry, many companies made first steps towards the metaverse. “Spain’s Telefonica has even appointed a chief metaverse officer. Yaiza Rubio will lead a division aimed at bringing the carrier’s metaverse strategy to life, the company said. What that strategy will be is [yet] unclear. ‘We are thinking about [what] should be the role of a telco like Telefonica in this new evolution,’ Chema Alonso, Telefonica’s chief digital officer, told attendees at MWC. ‘We don’t know yet. But for sure, we are going to be analyzing this very carefully ... because we believe that this movement is unstoppable.’”
Read the full article here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/04/the-metaverse-stole-the-show-at-mobile-world-congress.html?fbclid=IwAR3Nih-knxqlVDT7hXLhz4Mj4r-_8fofqoOj9IIIwCvLEvWJUV7c6CumiSU#Echobox=1646416305
News from XRLab:
“The Metaverse Will Change the Retail Landscape at Least as Fundamentally as Online Shopping”…
… said Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hennig-Thurau at the Webcast of Deloitte and HDE.
Here, our professor in the orange hoodie and the practical visionary from our XRLab attempted to raise German retail´s awareness for the chances and risks of the metaverse. No one should say we didn´t issue a warning…
Thanks to Egbert Wege from Deloitte for the invitation to the key note at the German Future of Trade-event!
News from XRLab:
The XRLab on a Virtual Field Trip to Decentraland
ProfTHT and Nilusha from our XRLab team went on a journey through Decentraland, a browser based “Metaverse”, best known for its auctions of virtual property at astronomical prices, to take a selfie for their personal collection.
On this occasion, they also found an answer to the question – at least in our opinion – whether this virtual world deserves the hype it currently creates. Curious about this answer? Click the link and find out!
Spoiler Alert: In the end of the eight-minute-long adventure, full of hellish experiences, our Team members just wish to return to the “real” Metaverse, that is, in Virtual Reality.
News from the Industry:
Meta is Driving AI Technology as Means to Building the Metaverse
In his Keynote “Building for the Metaverse with AI”, Mark Zuckerberg talks about the necessary advances in AI that are needed to support the creation and exploration of worlds in virtual and augmented reality, as well as the latest progress Meta AI is making in this field.
A required watching for all metaverse scholars!
See the full Keynote here: https://www.facebook.com/zuck/videos/677947796579229
News from the Industry:
As our Students Correctly Predicted During the last Seminar: This Actually Seems to be the Future…
…especially when it comes to Meta’s 2021 financial results.
Meta´s Reality Labs, the division responsible for augmented reality as well as the Meta Quest and all VR related hardware, software and content, has been doubling their revenues over the past years, continuing this upward trend in 2021 by surpassing $2 billion in revenues: “We had a solid [fourth] quarter as people turned to our products to stay connected and businesses continued to use our services to grow.” said Zuckerberg about the positive growth.
Find out more: https://vrworldtech.com/2022/02/02/meta-promises-further-metaverse-investment-after-reporting-reality-labs-results/
News from Academia:
The Metaverse in 56 Seconds! Interview with Prof THT
For some time now, it's been hard to get around the topic of Metaverse.
That's why WWU asked Prof. Dr. Hennig-Thurau what the metaverse even is, what his favorite features in it are, and whether it represents the future of teaching.
And why did they do that? Well quite simply —> Especially in marketing, the metaverse opens up completely new perspectives.!
Check out the full Interview: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster | WWU Weiterbildung gGmbH auf LinkedIn: Prof. Dr. Hennig-Thurau erklärt das #Metaverse
News from XRLab:
Our Masters of the Metaverse: End of our First VR-Seminar
With final student-presentations, we just experienced the final event of our VR-seminar and said goodbye to our motivated seminar participants!
In this first-ever seminar ABOUT the metaverse that took place IN the metaverse, we combined theory with virtual practice at Glue, Meta Workrooms, VRChat Inc., and FRAME by Virbela.
The seminar was hosted by our eXperimental Reality Lab at the Marketing Center Münster, the academic gateway to understanding and experiencing the metaverse. A huge thank-you goes to our wonderful students!
News from XRLab:
“This REALLY is the future!” - Our Final VR-Seminar Session
One of our master students says the magical words again, on the final field trip through the #metaverse of 2022 as part of our social VR seminar.
This time, students and professors stopped at #FRAME, an application which allows people to meet virtually and chat and collaborate and do a lot more together. The big difference between FRAME and the previous stops on our metaverse journey is that this one is webbased -- so its various features (which include the easy embedding of 360 photos and videos: like in our 2nd picture in which we are located at Münster's Prinzipalmarkt!) can be accessed via a web browser operated on a VR headset, but also a desktop PC or even a smartphone.
We learned that this enormous flexibility currently comes with some limitations regarding graphics, avatars, and stability, at least when accessing FRAME via VR headsets like we did. But I'm sure that Gabe Baker, the man behind this metaverse destination, will find a way to address these issues pretty soon. Because -- this is the future! ;-)
Our seminar, which combines excursions with theory, is proudly hosted by our eXperimental Reality Lab at the Marketing Center Münster of the WWU, the academic gateway to understanding and experiencing the metaverse.
News from XRLab:
Second VR-Seminar Session: All Eyes on Horizon Workrooms!
On our journey through the Metaverse of 2022, the students (and professors and research assistants) of the Marketing Center Münster made a stop at Meta's Horizon Workrooms and worked there until their batteries ran empty (literally).
Conclusion: Certainly not everything is final in this part of the metaverse (e.g., a HP keyboard could not be recognized by the app), but it is already hugely inspiring and fun. Or as one student phrased it:
"This IS the future." ;-)
Our seminar on Social VR combines theory input with field trips to virtual destinations. It is powered by Münster University's very own XRLab@MCM: The academic gateway to understanding and experiencing the metaverse!
News from XRLab:
First VR-Seminar Session Organized by our XRLab-Team
During our first-ever social VR seminar which combines theory lectures with practical field trips to destinations in the metaverse of 2022, our interested students took us on an exciting trip into the virtual worlds of Glue and VRChat!
In a group of 16 people in total, all equipped with Occulus Quest 2 headsets, we solved group-tasks in Glue, flew around the world in a virtual plane, met people from all over the world in VRChat, and had countless other exciting experiences!
After Day 1 and our work sessions let us say only so much: the concept works. In an exhilarating way it does... ;-), like one of our students highlighted: “This is the future!”
News from XRLab:
The XRLab@MCM in Action: Making Sense of the Metaverse!
The Metaverse gets a lot of hype. But is this excitement justified? Is there value in shifting our social interactions into the virtual realm? These are among the core questions which we try to answer at the Marketing Center Münster's XRLab@MCM by applying our scientific tools and methods to the new computer-mediated environment.
This week, some of the XRLab team headed out to the object of investigation, namely the metaverse itself, and shared first insights from a series of five real-world experiments (doing credit to the name of our eXperimental lab's name...) plus an onboarding task. The venue, vm-people GmbH's stunning Area X, was packed with 70+ attendants (actually, it was SO packed that a second "dimension" had to be opened -- welcome to the physics of the metaverse... ;-)
So, what does the data tell us? That the metaverse is indeed unique and can offer value to those who come together to solve a business problem or just have a good time together. The magical term here is copresence -- the metaverse brings us closer together than Zoom and other 2D internet apps can, and our analyses show that this affects those who assemble in a positive way. But there are also barriers that cast some serious clouds over our metaverse meetings -- we find that those who use VR to gather in the metaverse report higher levels of exhaustion, which dampens our experiences. So, there's still work to do for the metaverse's builders. Mark Z., do you get the message? ;-)
But being exhausted or not afterward, the event also taught us something else, which is probably even more fundamental than our experiments: that by creating copresence, the metaverse can bring a diverse group of wonderful people together. It can bridge gaps between parts of societies (scholars met managers met "consumers") and also between regions of the world -- the questions and comments came from people who attended our presentation from the U.S., India, and Kenya. If the future of the metaverse can build on this, inspiring times await us!
Thanks to Thomas Zorbach for letting us take the stage of Area X and for everyone who came and shared their thoughts with us, including several colleagues. Paul Simon from Nairobi deserves a special notion -- his comment left a particular impact on us and will shape our next studies! We'll share a white paper soon!
News from the Industry:
"Google is getting just as serious about AR as Apple or Meta"
Time will tell us whether Google's attempt #2 into extended realities will be more successful than then #1.
See more: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/12/google-is-building-a-new-augmented-reality-device-and-operating-system/?fbclid=IwAR0u-mVPAvGsdG1EqBsEpGDm-rMO_q3yqIAl5xtMXe7wVAucp0N3QbjMpns
News from XRLab:
Can the Metaverse save Education? Join our Discussion!
Please join Educators-in-VR Founder Director Daniel Dyboski-Bryant and our XRLab@MCM's Research Executive Nilusha Aliman and Academic Director Thorsten Hennig-Thurau on Thursday when they explore the powers of using VR in education and share their insights on how teaching can benefit from a virtual dimension!
The event will take place in our very own Virtual Marketing Center Münster and is part of the "Immersive X" conference hosted by VM People.
The only thing you need to do is to register at AltspaceVR and create an avatar there. Please note that as this part of the metaverse is owned by Microsoft, you will need a Microsoft account to do so. And keep in mind that even in the Metaverse, space can be limited -- our virtual MCM lecture hall can host only 50 attendants!
To register, please follow the link on the AltspaceVR events page: https://account.altvr.com/events/1861692748814353215
News from the Industry:
“Disney wants to become the happiest place in the metaverse“
With all the I.P. that Disney owns, its part of the metaverse could be fun: “Our efforts to date are merely a prologue to a time when we'll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling, without boundaries in our own Disney Metaverse.”
See more: https://www.reuters.com/technology/disney-wants-become-happiest-place-metaverse-2021-11-11/?fbclid=IwAR1D79YfgGq2p75ajqCuFsA41wmNlp8j5q2mKTN8J-daQge6y7ViIrhsonc
News from the Industry:
Next Step Towards the Metaverse: Facebook Becomes Meta
‘It’s possible that we’ll look back on this Connect presentation in years to come as a staging post on the transition to a world where spatial computing is widely embraced. Meta has no shortage of money to invest in its project and looks set to gamble heavily on building this future world.’look back on this Connect presentation in years to come as a staging post on the transition to a world where spatial computing is widely embraced. Meta has no shortage of money to invest in its project and looks set to gamble heavily on building this future world.’
An excellent commentary about what "Meta" means for us all (and for Facebook).
Check out the full article: https://techinformed.com/facebook-becomes-meta-a-new-lick-of-paint-but-facing-the-same-challenges/?fbclid=IwAR37P7PIjwjHWYniolFlUmWIjXN-rhYaznW_6GER6cpy4VvPWL3v3a6ZOng
News from XRLab:
XRLab@MCM goes Youtube!
See the XRLab in action and check out our new Youtube channel! Don’t forget to suscribe so you don’t miss our latest insights into the virtual world! ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGto4weZn45230awI5NwNDQ
Film Streaming Meets Virtual Reality
A Netflix VR game has entered Facebook's Oculus world.
Horizon Workrooms
In case someone here has heard about Facebook's new Horizon Workrooms software in VR and wants to know more about it: here is more. A LOT more.
The Virtual Future and the Metaverse.
It is high time to take the Metaverse, the favortite topic of Mark Zuckerberg and co., seriously. Who does not do it will stay behind and have problems to understand the world.
Eike Kühl has written a highly recommended article about what one should know about the digital and virtual future.
Facebook and the Metaverse.
“Facebook is all in on the Metaverse.” -ProfTHT
A day at the beach.
VR makes it possible: A day trip from Bogota to the finest sand beach of Münster.
The Power of Augmented Reality
This is how it looks when our XR Lab at MCM from WWU Münster - Münster University gets on the road and travels -- to Deutsche Telekom AG headquarters to explore the powers of Augmented Reality (which include performing a duet with The BossHoss, believe it or not!).
Work with us!
We search someone who would like to build virtual worlds for us (and who is familiar with #Unity and ideally with #AltspaceVR).
Read more: https://www.marketingcenter.de/sites/mcm/files/downloads/the_mcm/vacancy/stellenausschreibung_studentische_hilfskraft_schwerpunkt_xrlab_2021-mcm-vacancies.pdf (German)
Those Who Have Tried VR LOVE it!
Two key insights here: Those who have tried VR LOVE it ("90% of those who have tried a headset say they’re likely to use one again, with two-thirds saying they will definitely do so"). But those who haven't tried are not excited. “That's what I would call a marketing challenge.” -ProfTHT
The World of XR Needs a Challenger to Facebook/Oculus.
The market for virtual reality headsets is rising and Facebook leads the market with its Oculus devices.
Room with a view…
Our seminar room is about to get ready for the Winter term. It's going to be a "room with a view".
Grand pre-opening event!
Grand pre-opening event at the XRLab@MCM with Morpheus teaching a wonderful group of 20+ students who teleported themselves from Bern, Switzerland to Virtual Münster.
Afterwards, one of them told us that we have added a new dimension to teaching, in addition to thinking and learning -- feeling, that is.
Quite a vision…
"You can scan your surroundings, not just a 3D object or something like that. You can digitize the world around you if you like. And do that in super high fidelity..., so anybody anywhere in the world can join you in that location and see it exactly the way you see it, in perfect color, with lights and reflections, and so forth.”
The power of social VR unleashed
A trip to GLUE in Cyberspace with colleague Prof. Dr. Harley Krohmer and his students!
"Worldwide Spending on Augmented and Virtual Reality Forecast…"
Why the Marketing Center Münster has launched the XRLab@MCM. Recommended Reading!
Read more: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS47012020&fbclid=IwAR0nS3RpYV9NsqZyCcOsR5dqiKok8xlf2oIJj3gQ6ke7PtxlqVBaPs9ulCY
MCM Beach
After the lecture at the Virtual Marketing Center Münster, we'll invite you for a trip to the MCM Beach .
Exploring the Virtual Reality with vm-people GmbH
#XTOUR at June 10
Our Academic Director is excited about a new feature that blends Virtual and Augmented Reality quite a bit.
"Amazing next step on the journey toward the best of all Virtual Realities: you can now integrate PHYSICAL objects in your VIRTUAL worlds in the Oculus Quest 2. It's still an experimental feature, but certainly an impressive move that blurs the distinction of VR and AR (I was even able to see my table and chair in the Glue app).
Have I told you that I love our XRLab@MCM? I do! ;-) Only at the Marketing Center Münster!" -ProfTHT
Never underestimate the power of Virtual Reality.
"Over 5,000 studies reveal that VR has an uncanny ability to diminish pain, steady nerves, and boost mental health—and best of all, it can be administered at home without a trained clinician."
The sun always shines in VR!
The XRLab@MCM team shakes hands with our cooperation partner RAUM and gets an exclusive guided tour of their inspiring workplace.
Looking forward to the upcoming joint scientific adventures and discoveries, Michael Gairing, Rolf Meßmer (behind the virtual camera) and team!
The power of eyetracking in VR!
Eye tracking could increase the realism and fun of social interactions in VR to unprecedented levels.
At the same time, it might drive companies knowledge about us to unprecedented heights.
Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's VR future
Required reading for everyone interested in VR and AR (which will become indistinguishable soon anyway). Mark Zuckerberg on what Facebook has in mind -- and why VR is so exciting. "It's pretty magical.". Yep. That's a pretty neat description of why we built the XRLab@MCM.
The only place it's easy to meet these days: in #VR - at the AreaX on AltspaceVR.
Ready for some exciting time in the virtual space while waiting for the Summer Sunday to arrive!
This unique event, with the help of XRLab@MCM Strategic Director Björn Ognibeni, was a great way to spend our Saturday!!
Next step on our scientific quest of Virtual Reality: X-Nights
The eXperimental Reality Lab at Marketing Center Münster alias XRLab@MCM will become a partner of Thomas Zorbach and his marvelous vm-people team for their monthly "X Night" events, which feature inspiring state-of-the-art speeches about everything XR.
We're excited and can't wait for the next events to happen!
Please reserve a spot for the "X Nights" in your calender each first Thursday evening of a month; the events start at 8 pm German time. They take place at the VR platform #Altspace, which can be accessed via an Oculus Quest VR device (100 percent fun!), but also in 2D via the Altspace Windows PC app (a little less than 100 percent fun).
Visiting Mozilla Labs and FRAME!
The exciting life of a VR scholar:
ProfTHT shares his learnings from a trip to Mozilla Labs and FRAME, two browser-based VR teaching environments.
Getting There!
The class room that turned into a streaming studio now turns into a VR lab.
Only in Münster!
Meet the virtual MCM!
Considering all the troubles in the physical world, the timing seems quite right for the Marketing Center Münster to build a virtual campus.
Now the team of the XR Lab at MCM made a first trip to inspect the state of its future home -- and to take some virtual group photos ... Can't wait to work and teach there in a few weeks!
So, will you visit? And dare to take a flight with us? No mask or social distancing required, btw! ;-)
All things come together.
All things virtually begin to come together: when Altspace (the Microsoft-owned social VR community) meets Mesh (Microsoft's VR initiative).
Read more: https://altvr.com/mesh/
The XRLab@MCM Team meets Immersive X.
The team of our brand-new eXperimental Reality Lab at Marketing Center Münster makes a trip to "Immersive X", a world where:
— Björn Ognibeni and Andreas Hube give a great speech about how Asian countries make use of the power of digitalization;
— nice people gather and have inspiring conversations (without masks!); and
— one can party all night long (or at least until their VR devices run empty 😉
Thanks Thomas Zorbach and your glorious team of vm-people GmbH for letting all this become (virtual) reality!
What a time to be alive! #xrlabatmcm is coming!
Visiting RAUM.
The XRLab@MCM team makes another trip to the Virtual Reality -- this time Björn Ognibeni and ProfTHT visit RAUM, a German start-up that offers room(s) for team work (and team relaxation -- there's also a party mode!) in a pretty inspiring setting that doesn't demand social distancing and masks. RAUM CMO Rolf Meßmer is an equally passionate selfie taker, btw!! 😉
We're excited and can't wait for the next scientific adventures, Michael Gairing and Team RAUM!
Facebook’s new avatars.
Facebook's new VR avatars (which will be made available for all apps at the Oculus Quest ecosystem) are the most lively ever seen in any Virtual Reality. ProfTHT can't wait to be created...
Learn more about it: https://youtu.be/62TSlMJjpwY
Let’s go shopping.
Two Münster marketing professors explore a good ol' record store in Virtual City, Cyberspace.
Will you join us on our next trip?
The first VR experience.
ProfTHT's first VR experience: talking to great people and learning a lot, discovering exciting worlds and sinking proper three-point shots. That and much more at the #XNight of Thomas Zorbach's vm-people. Yes, virtual reality definitely has a future.
The XRLab@MCM is coming.
The future will be eXtended. And we at the Marketing Center Münster will study this future pretty closely -- the eXtended Reality Lab @ MCM is coming!
Without going into detail, Kipman made it clear that Mesh will also be integrated with Microsoft Teams, the company’s digital hub for communication and collaboration. “Envision a Mesh-enabled Microsoft Teams, where colleagues from around the globe can collaborate as if they’re physically there,” Kipman said."
See the article: https://www.geekwire.com/.../microsoft-unveils-mesh.../