Localogy 2021 ended with a tech-forward discussion of the metaverse. And specifically how this somewhat ill-defined notion of a 3D interactive future impacts the local experience.

The panel featured Rafaella Camera, Head of Brands and Advertisers Experiences at Epic Games. That’s the company that brings us the game Fortnight, which is considered an early example of a metaverse experience. Also on board was Ankit Patel, SVP of Engineering at Foursquare, the king of location data.

Moderating was Mike Boland, a Localogy Senior Analyst with specific subject matter expertise in augmented reality.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few things that stood out from this session.

— Mike and the panelists acknowledged that the metaverse has a nebulous definition. “A 3d version of the Internet” seemed to be the best available shortcode definition. “We don’t think we are able to define it, but we do think about it in certain ways,” Rafaella said.

— Yet despite the nebulous definition, there are some widely accepted principles driving the metaverse. These include openness and interoperability — the ability to move from one platform to another. Other tenants include persistency, social interactivity, and finally, entertainment. An this means not just have fun but creating experiences that have emotional triggers.

— Epic Games talks to brands about becoming “Metaverse Ready”. This means creating the highest-fidelity assets possible so the brands can use them across as many platforms as possible.

— Audio AR is an early use case for what Mike referred to as “Main Street AR”. Foursquare has launched Marsbot for Airpods. Consumers armed with AirPods, can turn on the app, which then notifies you of nearby locations, attractions, and so on. The idea, according to Patel said the purpose of Marsbot is to “show what is possible with geolocation-based AR.” Foursquare is in a unique position to offer Marsbot, given its Places database contains 105 million points of interest.

The Metaverse Comes to Main Street: AR & Local  Commerce

AR’s central function is to augment the physical world. That means that geo-location will be a key ingredient in AR’s actualization as a local search and discovery tool. How will location intelligence, SMB marketing and other staples of local commerce play a role in fulfilling AR’s promise?

Rafaella Camera, Epic Games
Ankit Patel, Foursquare