Hi, Iām Azeem Azhar. I convene Exponential View to turn complexity into understanding as we transition into the new era, the Exponential Age. I wrote a book about this which you will find here.
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DEPT OF THE METAVERSE
I open todayās edition of Charts of the Week inspired by a conversation I recently had with the legendary philosopher of mind, David Chalmers. David and I discuss how existence in the virtual world is shaping the humanity, and the moral quandaries the metaverse could pose. My conversation with David Chalmers goes live today on the Exponential View podcast feed, subscribe here to receive it.
Flash
Is it a fad? Google search data shows a spike in interest in the metaverse, but one which is cooling quickly. I identified the metaverse as a key theme for the next couple of years. Certainly, large companies see it as an opportunity to deliver new services (which will require new hardware and software). Iām keeping an open mind and Iām fully willing to accept that my scepticism about what āthe metaverseā will deliver in the next couple of years is wrong. Source: Google Trends
Early signs (1)
That the sales of the Oculus headset in 2021 exceed that of the Xbox may be one early sign. But what we donāt necessarily have data for is the real amount of time users spend wearing these headsets. (My Oculus use peaked at about 30 minutes a day when I had a knee problem and used it for VR boxing. For the past year Iāve averaged nil.) Source: Jack Soslow
Last yearās data about market share showed that the Oculus was far and away the dominant headset. Source: Counterpoint
I donāt believe this chart
eMarketer reckons that as of 2021, 28.3m Americans were using VR once a month. I simply donāt believe that data. There are not enough headsets in the market, even with people sharing them. I present it here with a huge dose of scepticism. Again, happy to be proven wrong. Source: eMarketer
