After being hot for much of last year, the metaverse is experiencing a "cooldown moment" as per Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer at innovation and design consultancy Journey and a speaker at Consensus 2023.
"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."
...Hackl said on CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" on Wednesday of those who got caught up in the hype of the metaverse but have since left.
Hackl explained:
"A lot of us are still establishing."
Despite brands deciding the metaverse is not for them, she believes it is "the future of the internet." Disney recently laid off its metaverse team as part of a company-wide downsizing.
The Metaverse Catwalk
The second annual Metaverse Fashion Week (MFW) began on Tuesday. Unlike last year's event, which took place solely in Decentraland, this year's event will take place across multiple platforms. Among the collaborators are Spatial, a metaverse platform, and Over, an augmented reality (AR) platform that combines the use of virtual assets with the physical world.
Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, and Tommy Hilfiger are among the luxury brands taking part in the virtual four-day event, which Hackl describes as creating "opportunities to create virtual couture."
She stated that the event allows brands and participants to see upcoming changes in culture and fashion. But barriers remain, she says, adding that the requirement for a virtual wallet may prevent some users from getting the full experience. Additional stress points, such as server crashes, are among the technical issues developers are attempting to resolve. Hackl stated:
"If we see this going into broader [platforms] like Roblox... or Fortnite or some of these more mass market platforms next year, it'll be more accessible."