Let’s transport ourselves back to 1989, Tim Berners Lee has just written his proposals for the WorldWideWeb software and the modern world as we know will never be the same again. Fast-forward to 2022 and are we witnessing the same thing with Mark Zuckerberg’s aspirations for the Metaverse. In between this time, we have seen mini internet revolutions that have transformed the way we work, communicate and grow as a society. Everything from the creation of Google to the dominance of Facebook, the online space has found new ways to grow and have an everlasting impact on the way we live our lives. At the time we did not realise their impact, but will this be the same with the Metaverse and if so how far will it impact our lives?

To fully understand the extent to which the Metaverse could become a potentially staple part of our society we have to look at how it is being prioritized on a commercial level. Meta, formerly Facebook, have had a complete rebranding of their business model. Not only have they changed their name to align with this new technology but they have also heavily invested in its research & development of the technology. In 2021 they spent $10 billion on Metaverse technology, which led to their quarterly profits reducing by 8%, clearly showing the importance they hold on where this technology might be heading.

From an Israeli standpoint the new technological landscape which we are shifting to presents many businesses with an opportunity to grow their technologies and build a strong, thriving metaverse ecosystem in the country. Within the Israeli Metaverse landscape there are five main areas that are critical to its foundation, all of which have some fantastic businesses that are looking to expand their growth on a global scale:

  1. Decentralisation of the internet is an inherent part of the Metaverse, not only does it help to detach from previous and outdated forms of the internet but the use of crypto and edge computing helps to provide a new platform for how we live our lives in the future. ZenGo’s digital currency wallet can help to grow this aspect. ZenGo is a non-custodial digital currency wallet that removes the need to secure and manage users’ private keys. ZenGo uses a mobile-first software approach with cutting-edge cryptography to secure clients’ crypto assets. The technology puts a strong focus on security as well as the user interface and experience.
  2. On top of that, spatial computing presents people with the opportunity to not have to leave their homes and experience real-life situations in the comfort of their own surroundings. Whether this is employed through headsets or glasses via AR/VR/XR headsets that is still to be decided, however the manner in which society will undertake the most mundane of tasks will most likely change. For example in the field of healthcare, XRHealth from Israel is focused on bringing patient care into the virtual world. The company operates therapeutic care virtual rooms through the use of medical extended reality (XR) technology, including virtual and augmented reality.
  3. The creator economy gives more power to the individual and allows people to move into asset markets in a more digitalized manner. In order to protect these assets and to give people more security in this economy, D-ID helps to protect images from unauthorized facial recognition. The company’s facial image de-identification solution protects images and videos from facial recognition software. Its Creative Reality technology uses deep-learning algorithms, image processing, and neural networks trained on tens of thousands of videos to do a range of tasks, including animating still photos, facilitating high-quality video productions, and creating viral user experiences.
  4. Social curation and advertising networks will be utilized within the Metaverse community in a more high-tech and advanced fashion, allowing for companies to promote their products/solutions in more creative ways. This new discovery aspect of web3.0 will give companies more scope to reach more customers and to have a broader display of their advertising campaigns. Deepdub, for example, aims to bridge the language barrier and cultural gap of entertainment experiences through high-quality seamless localization. The company provides localization for entertainment content using deep-learning and AI algorithms. deepdub plugs into the post-production process of content owners and takes complete ownership of all of their localization needs.
  5. Experience is going to the key driving force in the community, with the adaption of e-sports, gaming and social shopping to the new Metaverse environment having a profound impact on their respective industries. Comunix’s technology can help to facilitate this type of activity as they are developing a powerful, all-in-one video, voice, and text chat technology for game companies. Its solution is secure and works on both desktop and mobile consoles. Comunix is dedicated to helping multiplayer games build their communities.

 

These types of technology are only a snippet of what Israel has to offer in the Metaverse space and as we move forward into this new technological revolution we will look back on the start of this decade as the building blocks to the foundation of future technology. It will be interesting in years to come to see which of the current crop of Israeli companies will be at the forefront on global innovation and be synonymous with the word Metaverse just like how Google is with the internet.

For further information on Israeli Metaverse companies feel free to get in touch with Cameron Crowley ( cameron.crowley@israeltrade.gov.il ) and any further inquiries on Israeli innovation, please contact your local Commercial Office.