Web 3.0 and Metaverse are where the world is heading in the digital future upon us. According to GetSmarter.com; “Web 3.0 is the third iteration of the internet that interconnects data in a decentralized way to deliver a faster, safer, and more personalized user experience. Web 3.0 is also the foundation of the “metaverse”: the virtual world in which we’re all predicted to interact with in the future”.
Meta/Facebook defines the Metaverse as a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you in their Web 3.0 news updates. “You’ll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more. It’s not necessarily about spending more time online — it’s about making the time you do spend online more meaningful.”
The company has been working with other global policymakers and companies across the globe to “build the metaverse responsibly’ and recently announced multimillion-dollar XR Programs and a Research Fund. eXtended Reality (XR) is the name for the family that includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) either utilized singly or together.
Like in other Web 3.0 technologies such as blockchain, cloud computing, and Artificial Inteligence (AI) Kenyan companies have not only been keeping up but leading with solutions and innovations in the continent and globally.
When Meta announced and open applications for an African Metaverse competition (Metathon) they picked two Kenyan companies; Imisi 3D and BlackRhino VR, to work with.
Facebook owner, Meta, has opened applications for African developers to enable them to build innovative solutions that demonstrate various use cases of the metaverse in Africa. In the two-year $50 million (Ksh 5.95B) Meta Global XR Fund, Meta has partnered with Imisi 3D and BlackRhino VR to launch the AR/VR Africa Metathon; reported KBC.
Metathon will feature three major components including a training program, an Africa-wide hackathon that will take place across 16 countries in Africa physically and open to everyone virtually, followed by an intensive Bootcamp to further develop solutions beginning August this year to April 2023.
The AR/VR Africa Metathon is an opportunity to demonstrate how artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies that have been around for decades, are core to the future of the metaverse and what Africans are building in the industry,” said Phil Oduor, Meta Policy Programs Lead for Africa. Sentiments shared by both Judith Okonkwo and Brian Afande of Imisi 3D and Black Rhino respectively.
Check out https://www.instagram.com/blackrhinovr/ or https://www.instagram.com/imisi3d/ .
Image: World Economic Forum
