Daniel van der Waals, founder of YOM, is working with his company on the next iteration of the metaverse. “But the question is, when it becomes mainstream, will it be called the metaverse, or will we just call it the new internet,” he says. By the way, VR and AR glasses do not currently play a major role in this. “The adoption is low because it is not yet frictionless. We first access the metaverse through the browser.”
“When it comes to the metaverse, you can clearly see that we have arrived in the valley of disillusionment,” says Daniël van der Waals, founder of YOM. The valley he mentions comes from the hype cycle of research agency Gartner. Just before that, as we saw last year, we were at the peak of inflated expectations. “The market has too many expectations of the metaverse during that peak.”
Metaverse expectations not (yet) met
The expectations were just not (yet) fulfilled. “The revenue models are not yet clear, so a break is being taken or investments are even being discontinued. But when I look at the negative messages in the news, I think: look at Roblox or Fortnite. Those social games are used by a lot of people. And there is real money to be made there, especially for creators and makers.”
Still, the future of the metaverse isn’t necessarily to be found in a virtual world like Roblox or Fortnite. “I see the metaverse as an infrastructure where all kinds of users can seamlessly move from one virtual experience to another. Actually, the metaverse is the internet, but three-dimensional. It may well be that in a few years we will not be talking about the metaverse, but just about the internet.”
All VR and AR glasses in the new internet?
Will we soon all be wearing VR or AR glasses to experience the metaverse three-dimensionally? According to Van der Waals, there is a chance, but in the short term the PC, tablet or telephone will play the most important role. “At the moment the adoption of VR and AR is low and that is because it is not yet frictionless. The threshold is too high, both in price and in form. That is why we first access the metaverse via the browser.”
“You also see that the quality of popular platforms such as Decentraland leave something to be desired. That’s because the device loads the experience and that means the quality isn’t very high. That’s why at YOM we use pixel streaming so that the experience is rendered in the cloud. We use a peer-to-peer network for this. Everyone makes their PC available to the metaverse,” says Van der Waals.
The YOM token for the new internet
To motivate people to make their own PC available, YOM has developed its own token. This token can be used for flat euros. But tokens can also provide access to exclusive events or experiences. The tokens can also be used for game assets, such as hoverboards. “Now you see that tokens are mainly used to buy NFTs and flip, but with our assets you have access to experiences.”
The added value of the metaverse really lies in the community. “I compare it to social media: in the early days it was not clear what the added value was. People are always skeptical when it comes to new technological developments. But the metaverse has the potential to bring people together and make community building online even better,” says Van der Waals.
B2B case for metaverse clear
The metaverse does not only play a role in business-to-consumer, says Van der Waals. “The fact that you don’t have to travel for a business event is a very clear motivation to keep the event in the metaverse. You not only save in costs, but also in emissions. For this it is good that hard work is being done on non-verbal communication in the metaverse. But training will also increasingly be given in the metaverse.”
YOM mainly focuses on B2B2C. The companies that have already joined YOM are agencies that see the value in virtual productions. “The agencies feel that they cannot express their creativity on the existing platforms due to limitations in the visual style and the rules of the platform. That is why we offer the infrastructure to build your own platform, without the agencies having to have knowledge of the technology.”
Looking forward to Ready Player One
Where is it going? “What I look forward to is that the virtual experience will become closer to the physical experience, for example through the development of thinner AR glasses, so that it becomes more alive for people. For YOM, I look forward to doing online expeditions with people, creating a kind of Ready Player One together. That seems cool to me, but when exactly that breakthrough will come? I do not know.”
