Becoming a part of the metaverse at IGS Miami — Part 3
Wrapping up this series, we’ll look at the types of steps we can take together to manifest a better future and the ultimate takeaway for this year.
One of the most impressive experiences I had at the conference was the after-breakfast discussion that took over the table I was sitting at.
We were fortunate to have a delegation from the Helen Keller National Center and metaverse builders sit together striking up a deep dive into the accessibility needs of people within a metaverse.
During the crescendo of the conversation, after we all aligned on the need, Roberto Cabrera asked what immediate next steps we can take to make it a reality.
My main answer was to take our alignment and awareness of the need for accessibility and spread it across our networks. Each person and organization we connect with should become aware of the accessibility impacts of any decisions made and potential ways to proactively support all people within the metaverse.
Rather than wait for industry or government, each individual needs to take the step forward to raise awareness on particular problems faced. We also need to understand every organization is comprised of people too that can feel and understand the challenges we face.
“The government are people too.” —The wisdom at the table
Solving Real Problems for People
A common phrase that was repeated throughout the conference was “to solve real problems for people” and the vital part of that is connecting and talking with people.
As I mentioned in Part 1, the technology is all there, one must engage users and look at things from the user’s perspective. It isn’t just about less clicks and faster load times, it’s about the feeling.
The experiences each person lives through in their life’s journey provides a perspective that can help others see an experience from a different angle.
There were very few sessions that had time for questions, but Przemek Blasiak (Founder and CEO of Vizonare) managed to pull off a miracle and make time to engage the audience to share problems or ideas they had from their perspectives.
As people gathered their thoughts, I jumped on the chance to explore a niche problem I face as a systems expert, and we had a delightful back-and-forth.
After my question, someone asked about how to bring a music and dance experience to life and it was great for me to see how spatial technology is applicable across such a varied set of use cases.
“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far collaborate with people.” — Proverb quoted during the SoFlo Tech Innovation panel
Education as a form of investment
Connecting with people is just one part of the solution. The other piece is education.
During the conference, I was enlightened that education goes beyond just a transfer of knowledge from an expert to the uninitiated. Education is an opportunity for building connections and empowering collaboration which are key to designing for the human experience.
“We aren’t educating people for past jobs but for jobs that don’t currently exist.” — Jacek and Bianca
In another session, Bianca Wright, PhD and Dr. Rachel Farrer walked the audience through how Coventry University collaborated across the spectrum of organizations to empower their students to explore and ideate on applying digital technology.
I foresee this approach to education becoming an important model as the pace of innovation increases and newer solutions are found faster than they can be tested and formalized.
The People… Always
If you noticed sprinkled throughout the quotes here and in many of my writings, ‘people’ is a featured word.
If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places. — Fred Kent
As the year and this series comes to an end, my main takeaway is that connecting with people from diverse perspectives is the most important aspect of growth and progress. That’s how you become a part of the metaverse. Take any opportunities you can to exchange ideas and hopes with people.
Thank you to each and every person I was able to connect helped me gain diverse perspectives on our lived experiences.
And thank you for joining me along this series. If you enjoyed, please connect with me on LinkedIn and share this with your network.
