Metaverse and virtual universes: what economic horizon?

Audio 48:30

The Oculus Quest VR headset at F8, Facebook's developer conference, in San Jose, California.

(Illustrative Image) AP - Tony Avelar

By: Bruno Faure Follow

2 min

It is a terra incognita (unknown land), invisible to the naked eye, but which could in the future change many things in our way of living, of doing business, of learning, of having fun: the metaverse (or French metaverse) has landed in the universal language with the announcements of Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Facebook, which promises a generalization of these virtual universes, a life of avatars.

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The economic stakes are enormous, when we see the investments already announced in these immersive technologies.

Many companies have already started.

This could be a revolution, not just a fad or a futuristic idea that, admittedly, can be frightening.  

Our guest:

Stéphane Bourliataux-Lajoinie,

professor of digital marketing, lecturer at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM).

Our reports: 

► In this area, video games have a head start.

What do gamers think of this arrival of the metaverse?

Example in New York, the ultimate city of video games, with our correspondent Loubna Anaki.

GAMERS NEW YORK REPORT

► In the west of France, the Laval Virtual Center has been created, a structure that helps companies better understand the challenges of the metaverse.

Alexis Bédu went there.

LAVAL VIRTUAL CENTER

► One country seems to want to take the lead in the Metaverse sector: South Korea.

From May 2021, the authorities pushed for the development of this virtual reality by bringing together 17 conglomerates in what they call the “Metaverse alliance” in order to promote the development of this technology.

Explanations from RFI correspondent Nicolas Rocca.

SOUTH KOREA METAVERS

► Georg Riekeles, former adviser to the European Commission and now associate director of the European think tank EPC (European Policy Center) warns of the dangers of the metaverse launched by Facebook. 

GEORG RIEKELES ALERT ON THE METAVERS

Our big interview

Georges Ugeux

is the CEO of Investment Bank Galileo Global Advisors.

Both Belgian and American, for 7 years he headed the international group of the New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street).

With this experience in global finance, he published a new book:

 (Odile Jacob editions).

INTERVIEW WITH GEORGES UGEUX

Bruno Faure and Georges Ugeux.

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