Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily news and commentary show, hosted by Cloud Wars Founder, Bob Evans. The next three minutes are packed with insights and perspectives around the “reimagination machine” that is the Cloud! Today’s Topic: Microsoft Enters the Retail Metaverse.
Highlights
00:25 – Guest host John Siefert tees up the subject of today’s video: the metaverse. While this concept may not be widely known outside of the tech industry, the metaverse is gaining major traction and becoming less niche by the day as investment pours in and innovation kicks off. John defines what the metaverse is and offers a quick overview.
01:05 – One way to “access” the metaverse is through a smartphone that pulls data from the internet into the real-world environment, creating an augmented reality experience. But where John and the team sees the trend going is towards augmented reality headsets and virtual 3D environments.
01:35 – The metaverse is getting less niche. That’s because big-time tech players like the Cloud Wars Top 10 leader Microsoft have started driving innovation in the space, and venture capital funding is flowing in. In 2021, $10 billion in VC funds went to metaverse products and solutions. Meanwhile, Microsoft is introducing “the retail metaverse.”
02:00 – Microsoft’s entry into the metaverse can be seen as an extension of what the company has been doing in the Industry Cloud space. Clearly, there is a huge opportunity in the retail space to bridge the physical and virtual worlds for shoppers, and Microsoft is going after it.
