The opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors, are theirs. The final quarter of the year saw funding drop by
compared to 2021. The steep drop in Web3 funding coincides with massive investments by the Big Tech companies in Web3, a technology that is associated with the Metaverse and other virtual experiences. Microsoft’s 74% will be offered to the U.S. Army in this year. augmented reality is a mixed-reality headset that Microsoft will unveil in the spring. The metaverse has been most closely associated with the recent cryptocurrency boom, when Apple became a popular buzzword. Many Web3 and Play-to-Earn gaming apps rebranded themselves as the Metaverse. Most of these companies were killed off when the hype subsided. Well, nothing. Big Tech is a fan of Hololens AR headsets technologies. Apple CEO
said it best in January when he stated, “I don’t think the average person could tell you what Metaverse is.” If you asked ten tech professionals what the Metaverse is, they would likely give you nine or 10 different answers. Cook went on to say he believed AR “will go far, much further” and that “AR is profound technology that will impact everything. Imagine being able suddenly to teach and demonstrate things with AR. Or in the medical field, etc. We will really look back at how we lived before AR. “NFTsRelated to: Facebook’s rebrandingSome people have assumed that Big Tech entering Web3 spaces or designing hardware that can be used for potential Metaverse experiences is a stamp approval. It would be a premature and misguided assumption. As always, Big Tech’s eyes are on something more significant.
Rather, what Big Tech sees in AR and VR is a future-proof technology with abundant use cases and the ability for adoption within several industries. By investing in and developing AR products, Big Tech, in essence, is helping to build an infrastructure layer that will support future metaverse-esque apps. What does it mean for smaller companies who are developing projects and applications for the wider Web3 or metaverse, if the Apples and Microsofts invest in the hardware infrastructure? It also represents a maturing and more adaptable Web3 environment than the one that existed at the onset of the current down market.AR and VRRelated:
As Web3 has matured, new startups are more focused on solving real-world problems and enhancing the experiences and interactions of old industries or services. Freeport, a company offering ownership of fine art at a fraction of the total cost via tokenized equity, is designing a platform that makes the digital-art collecting experience more approachable for younger and less financially-flexible individuals.Tim CookWhen Big Tech surveys the Web3 landscape in the coming years, they will see the projects and
(dApps) that are worthy of pairing with their hardware and infrastructure components, not the empty buzzwords and hype. They will see impactful blockchain use cases capable of disrupting any industry, better quality gaming, and products and services that create real value for all people.AI Wrote Half of This Article. Here’s Why Entrepreneurs Should Take Note
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Adaptability is part of the maturity factor that attracts Big Tech to a stabilizing Web3 industry. When crypto prices plummeted, many startups were left without funds or became irrelevant. Yet, those who survived showed the importance of flexibility and adaptability in a volatile and nascent sector. The veteran blockchain-gaming platform Spielworks for example prioritized quality gameplay, utility of NFTs, and community building since its inception before launching the WOMBAT Token. In Q4 of last year, the company surpassed 3 million users on its NFT gaming platform.virtual worldsThese companies are still around today, not the ones that merely rode the hype of the Meta rebrand. And they will be the ones to spearhead new ideas for use cases that can accompany some of the major hard tech companies like Apple are producing.
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The combination of Big Tech’s strength and legitimacy in building AR infrastructure and Web3’s ability to design innovative software products, services and applications will transform our lives.
Of course, not all AR and VR applications will be within the loosely defined Web3 space, but AR will undoubtedly be a dominating presence in the future direction of our digital lives–both personal and professional. Although betting on the metaverse can be risky, anything is possible with a stable Web3 eco-system working in harmony alongside Big Tech.