The metaverse gained attracted a lot of interest from the crypto community and venture capital firms during the peak of the previous bull market. The likes of Meta and Apple joining the metaverse bandwagon only gave more legitimacy to the concept, but both multibillion-dollar tech firms have taken quite a different approach toward it.
On one hand, Meta shifted its entire focus to virtual reality (VR) and recently released new smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban, while Apple incorporated a spatial computing approach focused on augmented reality (AR) and launched its own AR glasses earlier in 2023.
Beniamin Mincu, the CEO of blockchain-based metaverse-focused platform MultiversX, believes the spatial computing approach by Apple is more catered toward the metaverse goal than Meta’s VR Quest headset. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph editor Zhiyuan Sun, Mincu said that Meta’s focus on virtual reality could be a mistake, as it isn’t as intuitive, while Apple’s spatial computing approach makes the AR glasses a more intuitive experience.
He explained that Meta’s glasses are only fixated on a particular virtual world, while the metaverse concep is more about an interactive experience within that virtual world. The glasses focus only on one use case rather than multiple ones:
“I think the most fundamental one that changes the conversation is viewing a lens or an interface as a spatial computing device. I think this is a very underrated paradigm shift that Apple has introduced. So this is why spatial computing, it seems like it’s the same thing, which is a different world.”
Spatial computing refers to the processes and tools used to capture, process and interact with 3-dimensional data. It can include the Internet of Things, digital twins, ambient computing, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and physical controls. Spatial computing is human interaction with a machine, in which the device retains and manipulates referents to real objects and spaces.
Related: The Sandbox co-founder explains how the metaverse has evolved for brands: Web Summit 2022
Mincu added that MultiversX’s new technical upgrades on Oct. 19 will align it with the spatial computing approach and make it more scalable. The technical upgrade would bring key features to the platform, including early block proposals, parallel node processing, consensus signature checks and dynamic gas cost improvements.
These technical upgrades promise to increase transactional throughput seven times, with faster confirmation and shorter finality. Among other notable changes, the new upgrade will bring on-chain governance, a new and enhanced virtual machine, and an improved relayed transaction model, which would allow tokens operating on the network to cover gas costs.
