El pinguino
Chile
January 3, 2023
For some time now, we have been increasingly hearing the word 'Metaverse,' without understanding what it entails. Perhaps our first approach has been related to Facebook and the transformation of its parent company into 'Meta,' when its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, decided to refocus and strongly bet on the development of 'meta-reality'.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic and global lockdowns accelerated processes that might otherwise have taken decades. People around the world were pushed towards digitisation and the growing use of virtuality to engage in various activities, from buying food to celebrating birthdays or even conducting funerals.
All of this helped overcome physical barriers and partly fulfil emotional, spiritual, and leisure needs, but it also highlighted and deepened the existing digital gap.
In this process, there is a native of Magallanes working at the forefront. Computer engineer and digital marketing expert Rodrigo Quezada, a former student of Liceo San José, is currently working in Australia, participating in innovative projects related to the virtual world.
Quezada is based in the city of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, Australia. Together with the State Library of Victoria, he works on a project to democratise the emerging Metaverse.
"To talk about The Metaverse, we first have to give a small explanation: until now, it's not known if it will be a virtual world, but the definition I like the most is that of a virtual and three-dimensional ecosystem, where users – us – can perform the same day-to-day activities, such as playing, shopping, having meetings, making transactions, etc., but virtually. There is no exact date for the launch, but it is estimated to be around the end of 2030. In my opinion, in five more years, we will already be living in The Metaverse," says Rodrigo.
Rodrigo decided to use this knowledge to enable small and medium-sized businesses to compete with better tools. "With the pandemic, businesses had to quickly jump on the online or remote sales since many businesses couldn't open their physical stores. So, there was a problem affecting all businesses, and I said, 'Sure, big companies are already using it (Augmented Reality), but what about medium and small businesses?' So, I focused on that niche," says Quezada, emphasising that the focus is on making his clients stand out through the implementation of innovative digital campaigns.
In less than three years since he arrived in Australia, this Patagonian has managed to create his studio, Particular Createch, where he develops technology for accessing the virtual world with the idea of democratising these tools.
"One of the things that caught the most attention in my work in Australia was how I explain the concept of The Metaverse to people who have no technological knowledge. What I did was take the concept and start one step back from how one sees The Metaverse on TV or in videos. We have to educate people from the most basic experiences, which are already part of The Metaverse (Augmented Reality). So, in a few years, when we are immersed in this virtual world, people will click and say, 'Now I understand it a bit more.'"
The young man gives an example of implementing this technology in the tourism sector, thinking about his homeland. "If we bring it to Patagonia, it will be spectacular. When I mention that I am from Patagonia, almost everyone says what a beautiful place, I would love to go there. So, imagine if you could take a virtual tour from your home before arriving, to choose your hotel room (...) or if a tourist visiting Punta Arenas could walk around the region and use their smartphone to bring a place or monument to life, experiencing a complete immersive encounter with features and descriptions in their language," explains Quezada, who doesn't rule out returning to his homeland to work with the technology that has become his passion.
