Artificial intelligence helps metaverse, says executive – 04/05/2023 – Tech

Co-founder and CEO of one of the world’s leading companies when it comes to the metaverse, “The Sandbox”, Arthur Madrid says he believes that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a great role in the sector by facilitating the production of content on platforms. He also cites the connection between different systems as a challenge to be overcome. The executive participates in the Web Summit Rio, which takes place this week in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

The concept of metaverse refers to a large umbrella that encompasses services that provide a more immersive experience of consuming online content, with the creation of virtual worlds.

Sandbox is a platform with virtual spaces (like digital terrains) for users and brands to build their 3D worlds with games.

For Madrid, AI can be a useful tool in the developers’ arsenal by facilitating the production of content —an area in which specialized robots have been standing out—to be explored in games with virtual worlds. The need to create things to keep users engaged is one of the challenges on the horizon for the industry.

In addition to the ability to process images, voice and text, AI is seen as a core technology by helping services that create 3D models of existing spaces in the physical world from photos to then be explored in virtual reality systems. Another application can be in the operation of cameras that map the area around the user and include virtual objects there.

Interoperability is a major thorn in the side of the metaverse. In order for users to experience multiple interconnected virtual worlds, something like this must work. The challenge in this case is to make an existing item on one platform compatible with others —by, for example, transporting a virtual outfit purchased in one game to another, preventing the user from having to obtain it twice.

This sharing goes through the creation and adoption of protocols that allow the connection between the services of different companies. At this point, Arthur Madrid criticizes Meta. “It seems they are not interested in interoperability,” he told Sheetciting that the tech giant’s Horizon Worlds platform doesn’t communicate with external systems like the Sandbox.

In a note, the owner of Facebook mentions that the metaverse will not be built by a single company. “That’s why, since June 2022, Meta has been part of the Metaverse Standards Forum, which brings together leading organizations and companies for industry-wide cooperation on the interoperability standards needed to build the Metaverse,” says the note.

In a text published on its official blog in May last year, the company cites the importance of interconnection between different systems and highlights the need for rules, given that the bridges will not necessarily respect the borders of countries —a service in Brazil can connect to one from Belgium, for example.

FAITH

Arthur Madrid recognizes that the metaverse theme surrounded by expectations, in particular because it is an idea coming from science fiction, and that its practical implementations should take some time. “I don’t think it’s something that blew up too soon, it’s just that our imaginations move faster than technology,” he said.

He remains optimistic about the industry’s progress, however, citing Apple’s rumored launch of a virtual reality headset and the success of games like Roblox and Fortnite, as well as the Sandbox pre-launch.

In recent months, however, the concept has lost ground in technology discussions as artificial intelligence has gained prominence. For comparison, ChatGPT had 100 million users two months after its launch, and in its most recent public test in August of last year, Sandbox recorded 360,000. Madrid attributes the AI ​​tool’s rapid success to its easy access and ability to address immediate needs, while the metaverse currently focuses on a specific but engaged community.