Customer avatars aim to unlock metaverse experience

“Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the ‘device’ to fade away.”

This summary of the metaverse back in 2016 by the CEO of Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, seems as fitting now as it was then. With the recent surges in popularity of consumer VR headsets, many are inclined to define the metaverse by the virtual reality worlds it enables. VR and AR will undoubtedly be the exciting and immersive new medium – but more important than this will be the convergence of how the individual experiences and manages their digital activity. Here we will see the emergence of a revolutionary user profile – one that’s not limited to device or platform, and is capable of interacting with any connected function or service, whatever that may be.

As we move further into the web 3.0 era, where virtual reality browsing experiences and transactions across multiple devices become a more everyday affair, the advantages of using a single profile and all its saved preferences and permissions will become clearer. With time, this cross-compatible profile will be increasingly supported by AI – creating the potential for a digital twin that’s a virtual representation (or avatar) of the self, and a virtual assistant, too.

This ambitious new architecture must be underpinned by the principles of trust and supported by technology that enables huge and seamless transfers of data. This is the motivation for the industry Catalyst Customer avatars unlock metaverse experience, which seeks to build on the success of existing metaverse platforms, and lay the cornerstone for a digital twin that can be scaled to meet the ever-increasing vastness and complexity the metaverse will require.

Why would communications service providers (CSPs) be well-suited to do this? For one they are building much of the 5G network infrastructure on which the metaverse depends. This means more than ubiquitous, ultra-high-speed mobile broadband – it’s the technologies 5G enables, such as edge computing, advanced AI and network slicing. Secondly, CSPs have a long history of operating in multiple geographies and markets, and of providing platforms that enable the distribution and integration of third-party services. Lastly, they are recognized for maintaining the highest standards of security and data protection, and are therefore well-placed to support an avatar which can be used across a growing multiplicity of domains.

And how will this universal twin be realized? The first objective of the Customer avatars unlock metaverse experience is to build pilot avatars that can be deployed in a range of rudimentary scenarios to demonstrate their value for both CSP and customer. To do this the Catalyst team creates an AI-based avatar based on a decentralized digital identity system that will ensure customers can securely manage their own data and privileges. This will act in concert with data-driven artificial general intelligence (AGI), capable of learning – and adapting to – the full range of human expressions. The goal here is to create AI that is truly like-life, which over time, becomes so well-adjusted to each individual’s needs, that they become a true extension of the self. The digital twin will then be deployed in multiple scenarios to test its suitability. One of these, for example, will be a virtual reality shopping mall where avatars of both customer and CSP will be tasked with undertaking transactions and analyzing the experience. To ensure maximum uptake, software-defined twins are built according to a plug-and-play architecture that enables easy integration into the metaverse’s diversity of platforms and services.

There promises to be huge potential here. Citing research from Emergen, Nan Xu – Director of Channel Operation Service Division, Cloud & Network Operation Department (Big data and AI Center) at China Telecom – says that “by 2030 the digital human market is estimated to be worth $527.58 billion, growing 46.4% (CAGR) in the years leading up to that.” Chen Yuanzheng, Architect at China Mobile, notes that “this project will enable us to provide a far better customer service with less cost.”

The results of Catalyst aim to provide the industry with a basis to construct a metaverse that’s easily accessed and rich with experiences. In the short-term, running avatar simulations like those in the pilot will bring immediate advantages in how CSPs develop AI and improve customer experiences. But more than this, the Catalyst offers the first glimpse into a personal assistant that can span across the entire digital edifice, helping individuals automate select processes and resolve service issues so they don’t have to.

Find out more about this Catalyst here.