Dateline: July 25 2025
We’re all doomed, they said. Civilisation is going to collapse, brought on by an unsustainable use of natural resources, unbridled capitalism and digital addiction. But they ignored the exponential impact of innovation.
Throughout history we have relied on energy, trade and communication to advance civilisations across the globe, and the modern world is no different. From the telegraph to WeChat, communication has helped unlock innovation by allowing the free flow of ideas, which then mingle, intersect and breed more powerful ideas for new business and social solutions.
In the modern tech-dominated business world, solutions for data-driven decisions lie in the intersections of the “internet of everything”, the “industrial metaverse” and the forthcoming “energy internet”. Let’s call this the business multiverse.
And the way to unlocking innovation in the business multiverse is fast wireless connectivity provided by 5G networks and ubiquitous satellite broadband. 5G covers the urban areas, and services such as Starlink everywhere else.
This fast connectivity is not just for streaming TikTok videos and playing online games. For real-time data to impact business work flows and industrial processes, you need high bandwidth and low latency. Otherwise you’re just clogging up your algorithms with irrelevant information, and losing the opportunity to exponentially outperform.
“5G is not just a faster, better mobile network,” says tech expert Wilson Chow. “It’s the way to unlocking many emerging technologies, including robotics, AI [artificial intelligence], IoT [internet of things] and drones, and to creating entirely new applications and business models.”
Like your driverless car or delivery robot, for example; without reliable high-speed communications, it can’t react to changing real-world conditions or new data. And smart cities wouldn’t be able to make the most efficient use of resources and energy — to better serve their citizens. Even precision farming relies on timely data and fast feedback.
The adoption of 5G worldwide has been slow to reach critical mass, but now we’re ready to unlock the full potential of the multiverse. And everyone’s invited.
• Published on July 21 2022
Industry invades the metaverse
So long Decentraland, the Industrial Metaverse is here!
Dateline: June 29 2026
The internet emerged from its military-academic roots and was adopted by business long before it became a platform for consumers to use for media, entertainment and games. The old hands can remember a time when the cost of broadband was prohibitive for home use, and you had to go to work to get properly connected.
Now it’s the business use of virtual and mixed reality that is making the metaverse sustainable. Playing fantasy games and socialising as a sterile avatar dressed in designer clothes has its niche market, but that’s not the killer app for virtual technologies.
As far back as 2022, industry giants like BMW saw the potential for creating a fully immersive digital twin for each of its factories, and so were able to simulate production processes and planning for new factories — before they were built. Partnering with Nvidia, they built an Omniverse environment for every plant and model, creating a platform for planning, training, and even repair and maintenance efficiencies.
Now it’s commonplace for factory workers — sorry, technicians — to be trained both in digital twin settings as well as on the job with virtual assist. Leveraging real-time data from the internet of everything optimises automated processes and alerts them when interventions are needed, as well as monitoring the robots that do most of the work.
Metaverse technologies allow industrial companies to design new products and variants, simulate their production, revise and improve the process — such as which parts should be 3D printed and which ones welded — and then move straight to actual production in the physical factory. It’s hardly necessary to prototype any more, and that saves many millions.
So, if you’re impressed with the latest edition of Fantasy Somethingland, remember who’s really powering the metaverse: industry.
• Published on June 30 2022
• Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot, and does not, predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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