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The scale and scope of the Engineering Our Dreams project signals the arrival of the Metaverse into our lives. What was probable is now certain. What was imagined is now reality. We are witness to this modern-day Gutenberg Moment, and the profound impact it is going to have on humanity.
The Project itself is massive, but necessarily so. We took 1,079 experiential volunteers and over a 6-month period, had them spend a combined 2,369,520 hours immersed completely in virtual environments. Impressive? Absolutely. But not nearly as much as the results.
How else could we expect see the power, the control, the parallel, mixed reality world is likely to have, particularly over a sustained period? Or be able to gauge its ability to alter every aspect of our daily lives – our relationships with brands, indeed, the entire business world? Questions requiring answers, mostly about adaptation. How will our brains rewire in order to intuitively navigate this new world? And contextually pertinent to you…why some brands are destined to succeed, yet others will fail.
The point of any experiment is to use observations to draw conclusions. Our goals included being able to identify what potential ethical obstacles companies and NGO’s might encounter and be forced to confront, for instance. How to safely predict the future of hybrid work. Which industries are more likely to succumb to the economic benefits of AI - and what that means to a future human workforce.
To find out, we took an insightful leap into the future.
We placed our volunteer group in mankind’s future world, some 12 years from now. Using AI, AR and VR, we simulated as close as possible how people are going to interact in a mixed reality environment. A projection into a screen-based, virtual existence, if you like. We monitored all common-placed human behavior. The mundane tasks of making breakfast, deciding on what to wear, to the more complex conducting business, socializing, interacting with colleagues, customers, and even the family pet. A typical day in the life of an adult. From the extraordinary volume of data collected, the experiment yielded fascinating, often unexpected results. Scroll to any section of the site to learn what we discovered, as well as what we can now confidently infer.
Martin Lindstrom is one of the world’s leading Mixed Reality™ experts. He advises such leading tech companies as Uber, Google, and NIKE on innovation in Web 3.0. Martin has co-founded several multi-million dollar start-ups, including YellowPages.com and Hitwise (today a division of Connexity). For 10 years running, Lindstrom has been featured as one of the world’s top business thinkers by the prestigious Thinkers50 list. TIME Magazine named Martin one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People,” and in 2021 LinkedIn identified him as the #1 business influencer in the United States.
Martin Lindstrom pioneered how to build brands on the internet in 1994 when he published the first international bestseller on the topic. He has coined terms such as ‘clicks & mortar’, ‘contextual marketing’ and pioneered the term ‘texting’ in his 1994 best-seller: Brand Building on the Internet. Lindstrom has published eight New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, which have been translated to more than 60 languages.
In 2022 Lindstrom launched the “Engineering our Dreams” Project – the largest metaverse experiment ever conducted, moving more than 1,000 people into the metaverse environment for a full six months. The experiment had multipronged purposes: understanding human behavior (in daily lives as a normal person as well as a consumer); and the role of businesses, brands, work environments, and ethical standards in virtual worlds. Backed by highly reputable international companies and experts, this $22 million experiment is widely anticipated to set standards and global conventions based on tomorrow’s metaverse, evolving business models, and ethical standards – as well as how businesses, governments and NGOs will successfully adapt to them.
Consider this: if today the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen, what is the likelihood of mass adaptation to virtual reality come 2030? Viewed against Global consulting company McKinsey’s forecast of the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion, financial intuitions need adaptation strategies now to allow for an impending change in consumer behavior.
Blockchain continues to become the undisputed future of banking security. A network of data collection, aggregation, storage and distribution via mass-interconnected computers, means investments small and large will have found a safe haven from hacking and manipulation.
Blockchain represents a monumental paradigm shift for banks no longer concerned with fraud risks associated with digital files and hard copies. It will become an integral component of extended reality.
Imagine you are about to purchase an apartment. Every piece of data related to the property – since construction – has been stored on a blockchain. Its purchase history, records of repair, damages and insurance claims, renovations, and every legal documents – all permanently stored and immediately accessible to the lending bank. A transparent ledger as readily available as a medical file is to an insurance company.
What does this imply for banks? For one thing: certainty. Banks will benefit from accuracy of information they have never had before. Which in turn will allow them to calculate an asset’s value way more precisely, and help facilitate a much faster loan application turn-around time. Net result: a consumer-friendly reduction in transaction costs.
This B2C example is just one side of the banking coin. Extended reality is poised to have an identical effect on B2B commercial enterprise. Take the aircraft industry for example.
The world’s aircraft will be parked in a Blockchain hangar. Every piece of data related to every single aircraft will be immediately reachable as and when needed. Stored in a secure database, the data will facilitate buyers and sellers a reliable and more cost-efficient resource to make more informed decisions. Isn’t this the way things should be?
And it’s not just about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies (though they do play a part). The very premise of banking and financial institutions is shifting, heading towards a Metaverse enablement of decisions, aiding consumers in their quest for transparency – and all driven by one word: immersion. A virtual integration of infotainment, edutainment and entertainment, all provided by virtual reality glasses, holds the key to our banking future.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Martin Lindstrom and his team of accredited experts will examine the good, the bad, and the ugly.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the banking industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for banks to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how financial institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges banks may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other financial institutions have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where banks are heading.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the banking industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for banks to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how financial institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges banks may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other financial institutions have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where banks are heading.
Today, the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen. Global consulting company McKinsey forecasts the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion – equivalent to the world’s 3rd largest GDP.
This pivotal change in social and consumer behavioral patterns will compel insurance companies to overhaul their product portfolios, to be able to offer consumers relevant, valuable services. This next example demonstrates how a virtual world will profoundly influence the global insurance industry.
Tragically, Jill was the only member of her family to survive a horrendous fire. Their apartment was on the 11th floor in a large apartment complex, making it imperative to know exactly where all the fire exits were located. It appears Jill was the only one to memorize the emergency exits, and also study the evacuation procedures. But there is a twist to this tragic story.
It never happened.
It was, in fact, a virtual test designed by Jill’s insurance company, to see whether she was fully prepared in the event of a real emergency. By determining that Jill was able to comply fully with the prescribed procedures, the company assessed Jill as being eligible for a reduction to her premium.
Jill’s story illustrates exactly how business and consumers are going to interact using extended reality. But it’s already begun. Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently released a study showing that 58% of consumers have already indicated a preference for interactions using extended reality with their health care providers. The numbers are soaring.
Just imagine. As mass adoption of augmented reality (AR) and VR glasses begins to soar, insurance companies will be able to extract an unprecedented amount of human consumption data based on eye tracking, facial expression recognition recordings. This will help them to better understand how individuals respond to – and are influenced – by different mediums. This is the future, right here.
Insurance companies can now use data to simulate risks based on consumption patterns. How? Consumer behavior is replicated over and over and compared with the behavior of thousands of peer consumers. The result is predictive modelling with far lower opportunities for error. As any insurance company knows, it’s all about risk.
As a patient toggles on a VR headset and begins to breathe, a virtual tree will appear and either flourish with green leaves or wither with autumn leaves or broken branches, depending on whether the person is breathing correctly or not. This dynamic tree will help the patient to enhance their breathing while also reducing their insurance premium, as the risk of heart problems and infections in airways will presumably decrease.
However, the negative consequences of using extended reality must also be considered because the high dopamine levels that people experience in virtual worlds might lead a significant proportion of the world’s population to permanently migrate their lives into digital realms. This will entail significant increases in health-related challenges both psychologically (e.g., depression) and physically (e.g., diabetes).
This is why it is instrumental to explore how insurance companies can create valuable and commercially successful services using extended reality tools.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Martin Lindstrom and his team of accredited experts will examine the good, the bad, and the ugly.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for insurance companies to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how insurance institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges insurance companies may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other insurance firms have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where insurance companies are heading.
Virtual medical innovations will usher in breakthrough possibilities and developments at a pace never seen before.
Using augmented reality, and virtual reality (VR) glasses, the process will include a live broadcast of a patient’s lungs to be able to almost watch the medication at work. Yet asthma medication is only one example. Imagine the same ability to treat Parkinson’s, or chemotherapy for cancer treatments. Even surgical procedures will benefit from virtual reality. Armed with a new level of information accuracy, pharmaceutical companies will gain the confidence of the medical community – and most importantly – the patients they treat.
Our brains hold the key to everything. In the world of innovative medical science, we have thought our way into saving lives through surgery, medication, even rehabilitation. Now, new studies show just how the immersive world can both stimulate, and trick the brain, into believing staged scenarios.
Jill’s story illustrates exactly how business and consumers are going to interact with extended reality. But it’s already begun. Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently released a study showing that 58% of consumers have already indicated a preference for an extended reality interaction with their health care providers. The numbers are soaring.
Just imagine. As mass adoption of augmented reality (AR) and VR glasses begins to soar, insurance companies will be able to extract an unprecedented amount of human consumption data based on eye tracking, facial expression recognition recordings. This will help them to better understand how individuals respond to – and are influenced – by different mediums. This is the future, right here.
Insurance companies can now use data to simulate risks based on consumption patterns. How? Consumer behavior is replicated over and over and compared with the behavior of thousands of peer consumers. The result is predictive modelling with far lower opportunities for error. As any insurance company knows, it’s all about risk.
He’ll also explore how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
Today, the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen. Global consulting company McKinsey forecasts the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion – equivalent to the world’s 3rd largest GDP.
No country can afford to be without a world class education system. Yet many systems are limited because of inadequate funding. Ironic, given its fundamental need in society. “Baumol’s Cost Disease” is the contributing issue: a disparity in wages where certain sectors experience a rise in salaries due to a corresponding increase in productivity, whereas others lag behind. Extended Reality, however, is about to challenge the imbalance in education systems.
The education system, by comparison, has experienced limited productivity gains—but to compete for qualified personnel and make scholarly jobs attractive, the salaries in the industry have naturally risen. That’s why this sector will be one of the first to be completely reshaped by extended reality. In fact, the most future-oriented governments and universities are already retooling and transforming their institutions. Let’s explore how.
The days of needing books to learn history, or videos to understand the perils of climate change, are over. Virtual learning experiences via extended reality technologies will enable learning through immersive recall – a significantly more reliable method.
Recently, a large study revealed the substantial cognitive advantages of immersive learning experiences in a virtual environment, versus traditional learning experiences. A group of students studied climate changes Greenland, using one of two methods: Extended reality tools, or 2D computer animation. The conclusion? Students who participated in the virtual field trip were more engaged, were more interested in the subject matter, had a greater short and long term ability to recall what they had observed – and had a lot of fun at the same time.
As if to drive the point home, an adjacent study of students immersed in a virtual learning environment recorded an 8.8% improvement in recall accuracy over the conventional desktop learning equivalent. Proving that virtual experiences will create more memorable experiences – which in turn will foster a far greater ability for students to store and recall considerable amounts of data.
Thammasat Metaverse Campus is real, but teaches virtual. A university with students and workers involved in start-up incubators, immersed in studies, events and experiments focused entirely on extended reality. A model of innovation adoption, the university has established a new campus focused exclusively on novel teaching methodologies, collaboration, learning techniques – and access to education.
Medical students at Thammasat virtually examine and dissect a body in an immersive anatomy class – minus a real corpse. And without needing to physically be present. This reduced reliance on geographical location expands education away from being for the privileged few, to something accessible for the many.
This is why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the education system using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for knowledge-heavy institutions to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how academic entities can approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other educationally oriented organizations have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and AR are shaping the direction of the industry.
McKinsey & Company’s prediction provides an impressive snapshot of a very close future. CITI Group makes another 2030 prediction - 1 billion people will wear augmented and virtual reality glasses. Yet another coup for the IT Industry, fresh on the heels of cloud-based services, as well as big data offerings. Which, if you recall, were once abstract ideas and favorite topics for sceptics. How wrong they were! Cloud services netted a value of more than $483 billion in 2022. Odds are the extended reality industry will once again prove the naysayers wrong.
In an unprecedented experiment, Martin Lindstrom, New York Times bestselling author, and advisor to Uber, Google and Microsoft, shares remarkable insights into where – and how – the IT Industry is likely to evolve in the extended reality era. He explores uncertainties that are bound to come, the consequences to delaying – and importantly – how to navigate unchartered territory and still be able to perform and transform simultaneously.
The tech giants Microsoft, Apple, Google and Meta disagree on the absolute definition of the metaverse (just as they do about what constitutes Web 3.0). Whether you agree or not on definitions, you do so at your own peril if you are slow to adapt and adopt.
This is Lindstrom’s point: waiting for agreements to be concluded is simply an invitation for competition to take the lead. The business world is perpetually hungry for solutions, for guidance – and these days the only players able to deliver are IT firms and associated consulting partners.
He in IT who is first also sets the agenda. And it’s likely to be those savvy enough to get in early enough to grab the baton and start generating massive revenue streams. And take advantage of a free ride to learn and develop new solutions on the backs of “paid-for” client projects.
Security, education, hybrid work, outsourcing, AI, cloud…and this is just the enterprise side. Yet none of these disciplines have really cracked vexing IT issues. Solutions? More than likely these will now emerge from the metaverse, or at the very least, be metaverse related.
It is imperative, Lindstrom argues, that the IT industry should evolve away from the commodity role it is immersed in, and focus instead extended reality as the future amplifying differentiator.
Lindstrom identifies IT companies who have broken free from conventional thinking with surprising success, using these examples as likely indicators for others to follow. The key – tapping into the magical halo effect of extended reality.
Lindstrom explores how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of Engineering Our Dreams, Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
The printing of the Gutenberg bible in 1455 is arguably the single largest disruptions of all time. Other Publishing disruptions have followed, and more will come. With extended reality, we could be poised on one of the greatest of them all. Best-selling author, Martin Lindstrom, postulates in his latest book, The Metaverse: Shaping Our Dreams, that even though the fate of the publishing industry is inextricably tied to extended reality, only a fraction of the industry – some 8% - have bothered to allocate funds to this next generation of publishing.
Lindstrom maintains there will be a multitude of vertical-by-vertical approaches, each tapping into the core strengths of extended reality. For example, the worlds of business and education – two other industries on the brink of major disruption and transformation – recently benefited from an experiment conducted by middle-school students, to deepen their knowledge of the purpose – and power – of extended reality.
The research was designed around an expedition to Greenland, where the virtual immersion gave students the opportunity to interview first-hand the native population, provided them a chance to witness the consequences of global warming, damage being done to the ecosystem, as well as chance for them to learn how to survive in the wilderness.
The result? An incredible 70% increase in knowledge recall and engagement.
In his fascinating experiment Lindstrom shares surprising adaptions of extended reality by authors, actors, journalists and experts – who currently in the thousands skip conventional publishing approaches and tap straight into groundbreaking Meta-tools.
And on the advertising front an equal revolution is likely to happen. Lindstrom calls it Metacebo – an extension of placebo – challenging the until recently conventional thinking that advertising will appear in Times-square like formats – with branded buildings and logos plastered on every square inch in the virtual space.
Instead neuroscience based advertising formats will be designed to trick our imagination and even physical reactions in ways until recently unheard of.
Those days in 1878, where Thomas Edison, shortly after the invention of the phonograph hit upon an idea and created the first ever audio of the spoken word, Edison dreamed that the technology might one day allow a whole novel to be recorded.
50 years for the phone to reach the same penetration. 22 years for Television, 7 years for the Internet, 3 years for Facebook, 5 days for ChatGPT. Nothing indicates that extended reality will be an exception in this evolutionary trend.
Lindstrom explores how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of Engineering Our Dreams, Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
And with the arrival of extended reality, disruption is once again firmly in the forecast. We just need to look back a decade to concepts like “Big data”, “Cloud computing” and “Big data” to understand the inevitably of technology disruption. And its twin impact on each and every industry. So much so that today, companies across the globe investing in new technologies in order to stay ahead of the curve, represents close to $1 trillion! What does that tell you about the impending impact of extended reality?
Where does one even begin to try to navigate this challenge? Which industries will succeed? Which will fail? How will the advantages of first-to-market keep pace with the ever-evolving extended reality technologies? Just some of the challenges commerce will have to confront.
In his ground-breaking experiment, Martin Lindstrom, now one of the world’s leading experts on all things extended reality, will take the audience on an incredible thought-provoking, inspirational and practical journey deep into tomorrow’s extended reality technologies – with a laser sharp focus on your particular industry.
He’ll also dive into how to approach this brand new world in the most financially efficient way. Lindstrom will share hands-on examples of do’s and don’ts, compiled from hundreds of companies that have succeeded, or failed.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into the possibilities of extended reality for more than half a year the team has succeeded in simulating how consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting – and what this means for businesses, governments and private citizens.
Lindstrom shares their work, working with a “who’s who” of brands and organizations worldwide, all in an effort to understand how to build solid hybrid cultures, how to create new online business models, and how to build respected brands – all using extended reality.
Lindstrom also looks into how we as humans will evolve, the experiment’s upside and downside, its ethical aspects, and even how it has been proved that our brains rewire themselves as a consequence of this new lifestyle.
This explains why, according to CITI, by 2030 almost 1 billion people will wear virtual reality (VR) glasses every day. In fact, global consulting company McKinsey estimates that the transactional value in extended reality by 2030 will be $5 trillion – equivalent to the third-largest GDP in the world. These changes in consumer behavior patterns will profoundly reshape the world of sports. The important question that emerges is this: just how will sports institutions adapt?
Every industry is trying to figure out how best to position itself using extended reality. The sports industry is no different. Yet, the opportunity to propel innovation to a mass market is no different to when it introduced real-time broadcasts to television audiences. The very premise of extended reality is to create shared experiences, made relevant for a technology-infused world. Think about the possibilities this creates for sports, who rely on heavily on data – and are inherently communal.
Sports and eSports will be one of the giant industries to enter the extended reality arena. Its power to capture the attention, imagination, focus and money across the globe is unparalleled. If you’re a soccer fan, look what this could mean.
The worldwide MU global fanbase is estimated to be somewhere around 1.1 billion. Old Trafford, the famous home ground of Manchester United, seats 75,000. Which implies a huge loss of millions of fans unable to view a live game. Until now.
In the world of extended reality, a fan would be able to watch the game not only as it’s being played, which is what live TV offers, but as if they were in the stadium itself. Which is where extended reality makes the immersion experience possible. And incredible.
Now imagine you’re one of many thousands also able to purchase the same seat. Or a bloc of seats by like-minded fans, which fosters a shared experience. Now imagine the revenue opportunities for Manchester United. It’s a whole new revenue stream, an entirely new vertical. So you can be part of the game, without leaving your home.
When millions of Manchester United fans are watching a game, they all see, for example, a Heineken advertisement, even though Heineken is banned in Saudi Arabia. But in the future, when you have individual virtual seats, you – in theory – will be able to create tailored and individual advertisements that target individual fans’ feelings, views, and what they are intrigued by.
This is one of many examples of how athletics will evolve, which Martin Lindstrom and his team will explore as they take you on a fascinating journey into the next generation of sports.
This will undoubtfully redefine not only how we engage with players and teams across the world but also how they, in return, will get closer to consumers’ lives and how this will change the role of brands as the mediating party.
That’s why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the sports and eSports industries using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for community-driven institutions to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how to approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other sports-oriented organizations have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality are reshaping the direction of the industry.
On average, American adults spend 10.5 hours per day in front of a screen. In fact, global consulting company McKinsey estimates that the transactional value in extended reality by 2030 will be $5 trillion – equivalent to the third-largest GDP in the world. These changes in consumer behavior patterns will profoundly reshape the world of sports. The important question that emerges is this: just how will retail companies adapt?
Retail is on the brink of a permanent transformation. Imagine walking down the aisle of a large supermarket and being exposed to 18,000 products. Most of the items you see are not relevant to you, or even on your shopping list. This visual mess is about to disappear; extended reality will take over and remodel what you see.
It is also highly likely that an avatar will represent you in the not-too-distant future. When you go on a diet, for instance, you will design your avatar to be 6 kg lighter than you currently are, so you will know exactly what to expect you’ll look like. These life-like avatars are already in production, and their widespread usage will make it virtually impossible to separate your physical appearance, from your virtual replica.
As you walk down supermarket aisles wearing your VR glasses, the glasses will filter your view of the world—and the shopping options within it—depending on your purpose. Should your goal be to lose 6 kg, all products that are irrelevant to you or that go against your goal will be blocked or “edited” out of your vision. For example, were you to have an allergy to peanuts or to a certain chemical, the VR glasses will then filter out all brands and products that contain those ingredients.
Consumers need to be able to navigate what’s available on the shelves, a side-benefit of which will be to make advertisements significantly more contextual than they are today. It will cater to who you are and what your feelings are in that moment, and yes, even respond to what your mission is in life.
That’s why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the retail industry using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for firms to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how they can approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other retail companies have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality are reshaping the direction of the industry.
Consider this: if today the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen, what is the likelihood of mass adaptation to virtual reality come 2030? Viewed against Global consulting company McKinsey’s forecast of the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion, financial intuitions need adaptation strategies now to allow for an impending change in consumer behavior.
Blockchain continues to become the undisputed future of banking security. A network of data collection, aggregation, storage and distribution via mass-interconnected computers, means investments small and large will have found a safe haven from hacking and manipulation.
Blockchain represents a monumental paradigm shift for banks no longer concerned with fraud risks associated with digital files and hard copies. It will become an integral component of extended reality.
Imagine you are about to purchase an apartment. Every piece of data related to the property – since construction – has been stored on a blockchain. Its purchase history, records of repair, damages and insurance claims, renovations, and every legal documents – all permanently stored and immediately accessible to the lending bank. A transparent ledger as readily available as a medical file is to an insurance company.
What does this imply for banks? For one thing: certainty. Banks will benefit from accuracy of information they have never had before. Which in turn will allow them to calculate an asset’s value way more precisely, and help facilitate a much faster loan application turn-around time. Net result: a consumer-friendly reduction in transaction costs.
This B2C example is just one side of the banking coin. Extended reality is poised to have an identical effect on B2B commercial enterprise. Take the aircraft industry for example.
The world’s aircraft will be parked in a Blockchain hangar. Every piece of data related to every single aircraft will be immediately reachable as and when needed. Stored in a secure database, the data will facilitate buyers and sellers a reliable and more cost-efficient resource to make more informed decisions. Isn’t this the way things should be?
And it’s not just about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies (though they do play a part). The very premise of banking and financial institutions is shifting, heading towards a Metaverse enablement of decisions, aiding consumers in their quest for transparency – and all driven by one word: immersion. A virtual integration of infotainment, edutainment and entertainment, all provided by virtual reality glasses, holds the key to our banking future.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Martin Lindstrom and his team of accredited experts will examine the good, the bad, and the ugly.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the banking industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for banks to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how financial institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges banks may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other financial institutions have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where banks are heading.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the banking industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for banks to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how financial institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges banks may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other financial institutions have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where banks are heading.
Today, the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen. Global consulting company McKinsey forecasts the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion – equivalent to the world’s 3rd largest GDP.
This pivotal change in social and consumer behavioral patterns will compel insurance companies to overhaul their product portfolios, to be able to offer consumers relevant, valuable services. This next example demonstrates how a virtual world will profoundly influence the global insurance industry.
Tragically, Jill was the only member of her family to survive a horrendous fire. Their apartment was on the 11th floor in a large apartment complex, making it imperative to know exactly where all the fire exits were located. It appears Jill was the only one to memorize the emergency exits, and also study the evacuation procedures. But there is a twist to this tragic story.
It never happened.
It was, in fact, a virtual test designed by Jill’s insurance company, to see whether she was fully prepared in the event of a real emergency. By determining that Jill was able to comply fully with the prescribed procedures, the company assessed Jill as being eligible for a reduction to her premium.
Jill’s story illustrates exactly how business and consumers are going to interact using extended reality. But it’s already begun. Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently released a study showing that 58% of consumers have already indicated a preference for interactions using extended reality with their health care providers. The numbers are soaring.
Just imagine. As mass adoption of augmented reality (AR) and VR glasses begins to soar, insurance companies will be able to extract an unprecedented amount of human consumption data based on eye tracking, facial expression recognition recordings. This will help them to better understand how individuals respond to – and are influenced – by different mediums. This is the future, right here.
Insurance companies can now use data to simulate risks based on consumption patterns. How? Consumer behavior is replicated over and over and compared with the behavior of thousands of peer consumers. The result is predictive modelling with far lower opportunities for error. As any insurance company knows, it’s all about risk.
As a patient toggles on a VR headset and begins to breathe, a virtual tree will appear and either flourish with green leaves or wither with autumn leaves or broken branches, depending on whether the person is breathing correctly or not. This dynamic tree will help the patient to enhance their breathing while also reducing their insurance premium, as the risk of heart problems and infections in airways will presumably decrease.
However, the negative consequences of using extended reality must also be considered because the high dopamine levels that people experience in virtual worlds might lead a significant proportion of the world’s population to permanently migrate their lives into digital realms. This will entail significant increases in health-related challenges both psychologically (e.g., depression) and physically (e.g., diabetes).
This is why it is instrumental to explore how insurance companies can create valuable and commercially successful services using extended reality tools.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Martin Lindstrom and his team of accredited experts will examine the good, the bad, and the ugly.
While acknowledging today’s compliance challenges, which increasingly dominate the industry, Lindstrom will explore what it takes for insurance companies to evolve into a future-proof situation and explain how insurance institutions can undergo this migration step-by-step. The experiment will also look at culture and assess what types of functions and talents are needed to succeed, as well as what challenges insurance companies may face and can address up front.
Lindstrom also explores practical industry examples of how other insurance firms have worked to safeguard themselves and how they have succeeded in making even small investments become profound markers of where insurance companies are heading.
Virtual medical innovations will usher in breakthrough possibilities and developments at a pace never seen before.
Using augmented reality, and virtual reality (VR) glasses, the process will include a live broadcast of a patient’s lungs to be able to almost watch the medication at work. Yet asthma medication is only one example. Imagine the same ability to treat Parkinson’s, or chemotherapy for cancer treatments. Even surgical procedures will benefit from virtual reality. Armed with a new level of information accuracy, pharmaceutical companies will gain the confidence of the medical community – and most importantly – the patients they treat.
Our brains hold the key to everything. In the world of innovative medical science, we have thought our way into saving lives through surgery, medication, even rehabilitation. Now, new studies show just how the immersive world can both stimulate, and trick the brain, into believing staged scenarios.
Jill’s story illustrates exactly how business and consumers are going to interact with extended reality. But it’s already begun. Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently released a study showing that 58% of consumers have already indicated a preference for an extended reality interaction with their health care providers. The numbers are soaring.
Just imagine. As mass adoption of augmented reality (AR) and VR glasses begins to soar, insurance companies will be able to extract an unprecedented amount of human consumption data based on eye tracking, facial expression recognition recordings. This will help them to better understand how individuals respond to – and are influenced – by different mediums. This is the future, right here.
Insurance companies can now use data to simulate risks based on consumption patterns. How? Consumer behavior is replicated over and over and compared with the behavior of thousands of peer consumers. The result is predictive modelling with far lower opportunities for error. As any insurance company knows, it’s all about risk.
He’ll also explore how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of the world’s largest $22 million extended reality experiment, “Engineering Our Dreams,” Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
Today, the average American adult spends 10.5 hours every day in front of a screen. Global consulting company McKinsey forecasts the transactional value of extended reality in 2030 to be in the vicinity of $5 trillion – equivalent to the world’s 3rd largest GDP.
No country can afford to be without a world class education system. Yet many systems are limited because of inadequate funding. Ironic, given its fundamental need in society. “Baumol’s Cost Disease” is the contributing issue: a disparity in wages where certain sectors experience a rise in salaries due to a corresponding increase in productivity, whereas others lag behind. Extended Reality, however, is about to challenge the imbalance in education systems.
The education system, by comparison, has experienced limited productivity gains—but to compete for qualified personnel and make scholarly jobs attractive, the salaries in the industry have naturally risen. That’s why this sector will be one of the first to be completely reshaped by extended reality. In fact, the most future-oriented governments and universities are already retooling and transforming their institutions. Let’s explore how.
The days of needing books to learn history, or videos to understand the perils of climate change, are over. Virtual learning experiences via extended reality technologies will enable learning through immersive recall – a significantly more reliable method.
Recently, a large study revealed the substantial cognitive advantages of immersive learning experiences in a virtual environment, versus traditional learning experiences. A group of students studied climate changes Greenland, using one of two methods: Extended reality tools, or 2D computer animation. The conclusion? Students who participated in the virtual field trip were more engaged, were more interested in the subject matter, had a greater short and long term ability to recall what they had observed – and had a lot of fun at the same time.
As if to drive the point home, an adjacent study of students immersed in a virtual learning environment recorded an 8.8% improvement in recall accuracy over the conventional desktop learning equivalent. Proving that virtual experiences will create more memorable experiences – which in turn will foster a far greater ability for students to store and recall considerable amounts of data.
Thammasat Metaverse Campus is real, but teaches virtual. A university with students and workers involved in start-up incubators, immersed in studies, events and experiments focused entirely on extended reality. A model of innovation adoption, the university has established a new campus focused exclusively on novel teaching methodologies, collaboration, learning techniques – and access to education.
Medical students at Thammasat virtually examine and dissect a body in an immersive anatomy class – minus a real corpse. And without needing to physically be present. This reduced reliance on geographical location expands education away from being for the privileged few, to something accessible for the many.
This is why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the education system using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for knowledge-heavy institutions to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how academic entities can approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other educationally oriented organizations have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and AR are shaping the direction of the industry.
McKinsey & Company’s prediction provides an impressive snapshot of a very close future. CITI Group makes another 2030 prediction - 1 billion people will wear augmented and virtual reality glasses. Yet another coup for the IT Industry, fresh on the heels of cloud-based services, as well as big data offerings. Which, if you recall, were once abstract ideas and favorite topics for sceptics. How wrong they were! Cloud services netted a value of more than $483 billion in 2022. Odds are the extended reality industry will once again prove the naysayers wrong.
In an unprecedented experiment, Martin Lindstrom, New York Times bestselling author, and advisor to Uber, Google and Microsoft, shares remarkable insights into where – and how – the IT Industry is likely to evolve in the extended reality era. He explores uncertainties that are bound to come, the consequences to delaying – and importantly – how to navigate unchartered territory and still be able to perform and transform simultaneously.
The tech giants Microsoft, Apple, Google and Meta disagree on the absolute definition of the metaverse (just as they do about what constitutes Web 3.0). Whether you agree or not on definitions, you do so at your own peril if you are slow to adapt and adopt.
This is Lindstrom’s point: waiting for agreements to be concluded is simply an invitation for competition to take the lead. The business world is perpetually hungry for solutions, for guidance – and these days the only players able to deliver are IT firms and associated consulting partners.
He in IT who is first also sets the agenda. And it’s likely to be those savvy enough to get in early enough to grab the baton and start generating massive revenue streams. And take advantage of a free ride to learn and develop new solutions on the backs of “paid-for” client projects.
Security, education, hybrid work, outsourcing, AI, cloud…and this is just the enterprise side. Yet none of these disciplines have really cracked vexing IT issues. Solutions? More than likely these will now emerge from the metaverse, or at the very least, be metaverse related.
It is imperative, Lindstrom argues, that the IT industry should evolve away from the commodity role it is immersed in, and focus instead extended reality as the future amplifying differentiator.
Lindstrom identifies IT companies who have broken free from conventional thinking with surprising success, using these examples as likely indicators for others to follow. The key – tapping into the magical halo effect of extended reality.
Lindstrom explores how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of Engineering Our Dreams, Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
The printing of the Gutenberg bible in 1455 is arguably the single largest disruptions of all time. Other Publishing disruptions have followed, and more will come. With extended reality, we could be poised on one of the greatest of them all. Best-selling author, Martin Lindstrom, postulates in his latest book, The Metaverse: Shaping Our Dreams, that even though the fate of the publishing industry is inextricably tied to extended reality, only a fraction of the industry – some 8% - have bothered to allocate funds to this next generation of publishing.
Lindstrom maintains there will be a multitude of vertical-by-vertical approaches, each tapping into the core strengths of extended reality. For example, the worlds of business and education – two other industries on the brink of major disruption and transformation – recently benefited from an experiment conducted by middle-school students, to deepen their knowledge of the purpose – and power – of extended reality.
The research was designed around an expedition to Greenland, where the virtual immersion gave students the opportunity to interview first-hand the native population, provided them a chance to witness the consequences of global warming, damage being done to the ecosystem, as well as chance for them to learn how to survive in the wilderness.
The result? An incredible 70% increase in knowledge recall and engagement.
In his fascinating experiment Lindstrom shares surprising adaptions of extended reality by authors, actors, journalists and experts – who currently in the thousands skip conventional publishing approaches and tap straight into groundbreaking Meta-tools.
And on the advertising front an equal revolution is likely to happen. Lindstrom calls it Metacebo – an extension of placebo – challenging the until recently conventional thinking that advertising will appear in Times-square like formats – with branded buildings and logos plastered on every square inch in the virtual space.
Instead neuroscience based advertising formats will be designed to trick our imagination and even physical reactions in ways until recently unheard of.
Those days in 1878, where Thomas Edison, shortly after the invention of the phonograph hit upon an idea and created the first ever audio of the spoken word, Edison dreamed that the technology might one day allow a whole novel to be recorded.
50 years for the phone to reach the same penetration. 22 years for Television, 7 years for the Internet, 3 years for Facebook, 5 days for ChatGPT. Nothing indicates that extended reality will be an exception in this evolutionary trend.
Lindstrom explores how to enter this brand-new world in the most financially efficient way – by sharing hands-on examples of the dos and don’ts, and experiences gathered from hundreds of companies that have either succeeded or failed.
As founder of Engineering Our Dreams, Lindstrom, informed by a team of accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT, knows the topic better than anyone.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into extended reality for more than half a year, the team has succeeded in simulating how patients, consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting.
And with the arrival of extended reality, disruption is once again firmly in the forecast. We just need to look back a decade to concepts like “Big data”, “Cloud computing” and “Big data” to understand the inevitably of technology disruption. And its twin impact on each and every industry. So much so that today, companies across the globe investing in new technologies in order to stay ahead of the curve, represents close to $1 trillion! What does that tell you about the impending impact of extended reality?
Where does one even begin to try to navigate this challenge? Which industries will succeed? Which will fail? How will the advantages of first-to-market keep pace with the ever-evolving extended reality technologies? Just some of the challenges commerce will have to confront.
In his ground-breaking experiment, Martin Lindstrom, now one of the world’s leading experts on all things extended reality, will take the audience on an incredible thought-provoking, inspirational and practical journey deep into tomorrow’s extended reality technologies – with a laser sharp focus on your particular industry.
He’ll also dive into how to approach this brand new world in the most financially efficient way. Lindstrom will share hands-on examples of do’s and don’ts, compiled from hundreds of companies that have succeeded, or failed.
Having ushered more than 1,000 people into the possibilities of extended reality for more than half a year the team has succeeded in simulating how consumers, customers, and employees are likely to evolve in a virtual setting – and what this means for businesses, governments and private citizens.
Lindstrom shares their work, working with a “who’s who” of brands and organizations worldwide, all in an effort to understand how to build solid hybrid cultures, how to create new online business models, and how to build respected brands – all using extended reality.
Lindstrom also looks into how we as humans will evolve, the experiment’s upside and downside, its ethical aspects, and even how it has been proved that our brains rewire themselves as a consequence of this new lifestyle.
This explains why, according to CITI, by 2030 almost 1 billion people will wear virtual reality (VR) glasses every day. In fact, global consulting company McKinsey estimates that the transactional value in extended reality by 2030 will be $5 trillion – equivalent to the third-largest GDP in the world. These changes in consumer behavior patterns will profoundly reshape the world of sports. The important question that emerges is this: just how will sports institutions adapt?
Every industry is trying to figure out how best to position itself using extended reality. The sports industry is no different. Yet, the opportunity to propel innovation to a mass market is no different to when it introduced real-time broadcasts to television audiences. The very premise of extended reality is to create shared experiences, made relevant for a technology-infused world. Think about the possibilities this creates for sports, who rely on heavily on data – and are inherently communal.
Sports and eSports will be one of the giant industries to enter the extended reality arena. Its power to capture the attention, imagination, focus and money across the globe is unparalleled. If you’re a soccer fan, look what this could mean.
The worldwide MU global fanbase is estimated to be somewhere around 1.1 billion. Old Trafford, the famous home ground of Manchester United, seats 75,000. Which implies a huge loss of millions of fans unable to view a live game. Until now.
In the world of extended reality, a fan would be able to watch the game not only as it’s being played, which is what live TV offers, but as if they were in the stadium itself. Which is where extended reality makes the immersion experience possible. And incredible.
Now imagine you’re one of many thousands also able to purchase the same seat. Or a bloc of seats by like-minded fans, which fosters a shared experience. Now imagine the revenue opportunities for Manchester United. It’s a whole new revenue stream, an entirely new vertical. So you can be part of the game, without leaving your home.
When millions of Manchester United fans are watching a game, they all see, for example, a Heineken advertisement, even though Heineken is banned in Saudi Arabia. But in the future, when you have individual virtual seats, you – in theory – will be able to create tailored and individual advertisements that target individual fans’ feelings, views, and what they are intrigued by.
This is one of many examples of how athletics will evolve, which Martin Lindstrom and his team will explore as they take you on a fascinating journey into the next generation of sports.
This will undoubtfully redefine not only how we engage with players and teams across the world but also how they, in return, will get closer to consumers’ lives and how this will change the role of brands as the mediating party.
That’s why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the sports and eSports industries using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for community-driven institutions to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how to approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other sports-oriented organizations have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality are reshaping the direction of the industry.
On average, American adults spend 10.5 hours per day in front of a screen. In fact, global consulting company McKinsey estimates that the transactional value in extended reality by 2030 will be $5 trillion – equivalent to the third-largest GDP in the world. These changes in consumer behavior patterns will profoundly reshape the world of sports. The important question that emerges is this: just how will retail companies adapt?
Retail is on the brink of a permanent transformation. Imagine walking down the aisle of a large supermarket and being exposed to 18,000 products. Most of the items you see are not relevant to you, or even on your shopping list. This visual mess is about to disappear; extended reality will take over and remodel what you see.
It is also highly likely that an avatar will represent you in the not-too-distant future. When you go on a diet, for instance, you will design your avatar to be 6 kg lighter than you currently are, so you will know exactly what to expect you’ll look like. These life-like avatars are already in production, and their widespread usage will make it virtually impossible to separate your physical appearance, from your virtual replica.
As you walk down supermarket aisles wearing your VR glasses, the glasses will filter your view of the world—and the shopping options within it—depending on your purpose. Should your goal be to lose 6 kg, all products that are irrelevant to you or that go against your goal will be blocked or “edited” out of your vision. For example, were you to have an allergy to peanuts or to a certain chemical, the VR glasses will then filter out all brands and products that contain those ingredients.
Consumers need to be able to navigate what’s available on the shelves, a side-benefit of which will be to make advertisements significantly more contextual than they are today. It will cater to who you are and what your feelings are in that moment, and yes, even respond to what your mission is in life.
That’s why Martin Lindstrom launched the world’s largest extended reality experiment, the $22 million “Engineering Our Dreams” project, in tandem with accredited experts from Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.
By pioneering the development of the retail industry using extended reality, Lindstrom will examine what is required for firms to begin future-proofing themselves as well as explore how they can approach this transformation step-by-step.
The study also investigates practical examples of how other retail companies have safeguarded themselves and how early investment in cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality are reshaping the direction of the industry.