The rise of the metaverse has driven need for new tech skills, but also new “human” skills, said Alexis Lecanuet, the Regional Managing Director for Accenture in the Middle East.
Many are still divided on the uses of the metaverse, but despite debate, enthusiastic developers are creating use cases where digital reality can augment business, education, and tourism.
“We need more tech skills. The skills are in data, digital, augmented reality (AR),” Lecanuet said. “At the same time, to have a functioning metaverse, the human component will be critical.”
For example, he said, designers will be needed to create digital environments.
Formerly known as Facebook, Meta announced in August it was developing the metaverse, a virtual space where people can interact in augmented reality. To build that space, Meta announced it would invest some $50 million to start building the space; it could take up to 15 years to develop the space, and already the company is looking to create 10,000 new jobs.
For Lecanuet, the metaverse is the convergence of trends that have already begun to emerge, including the rise of data analytics, distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence and AR.
The continuous shifting nature of jobs, in parallel with a developing virtual world, means that some jobs that exist now are likely to be automated – even coding and design.
“New creations are creating jobs at scale, but with time, those jobs may be automated and will be part of the augmentation,” he said. “Creativity, innovation, collaboration, diversity [are skills that will still] be required more.”
What shape and function virtual reality serves is still open for debate, and how fast it develops at scale remains a mystery. However, Lecanuet said he sees a world where the digital realm helps travellers plan their ultimate vacation.
“The opportunity of the metaverse is to rehearse the real experience and to pick and choose some of the experiences,” he said. Beyond travel and tourism he said that the new technology can be used to streamline manufacturing processes and can help facilitate interactions between B2B businesses.
“The world was augmented by the invention of the internet. This is the next stage of that and it can augment interaction,” he said.
