Metaverse, AI, Sensors, and Digital Wallets
Dr Kyle Wong & Dr Amanda Lim with her AI Assistant
The Metaverse, AI, sensors, and digital wallets are among the top technology trends in 2023[1]. The Metaverse, which was a hot topic in the previous year, continues to be a major topic for 2023. AI is an embedded technology that impacts various aspects of our lives. Sensors have become more vital with the arrival of Industry 4.0, while digital wallets have transformed how we spend and save. These technology trends have the potential to revolutionize how we live, work, and interact with technology.
Trend #1 - Rethinking the Metaverse — Getting Practical
While it may still be a few more years before Metaverse realizes its full potential, we are likely to see more practical use cases in enterprise applications.
One company that is leading the way in this area is NVIDIA, with its Omniverse offering. According to Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, the metaverse is about bringing immersion into our physical world, rather than the other way around. Omniverse is a platform that enables creators to build and simulate virtual environments that are interconnected with the physical world, which is a key aspect of the enterprise Metaverse.
In this context, digital twins can be a foundational component of the enterprise Metaverse provides a real-time, virtual representation of physical assets, processes, and systems. Digital twins solutions offered by Nvidia can be integrated into a larger virtual environment, allowing for immersive simulations, advanced analytics, and collaborative work.
As we enter the era of creation, the enterprise Metaverse will continue to gain strong momentum in 2023, particularly for applications such as smart cities and industry 4.0. While companies like Apple and Meta are focused on defining what the consumer Metaverse will look like, the enterprise Metaverse is being built out now, and it's NVIDIA's Omniverse that is leading the way in this space.
Trend #2 - Say Hi to AI
The proliferation of analytics and artificial intelligence continues to make its way into every part of our business and life. The success of conversational AI systems, such as ChatGPT, is changing how we retrieve and present information. From chatbots that can handle multi-turn conversations to smarter Alexa devices, we are having more interactions with machines. This is just the beginning of the next generation of AI applications.
Recommendation engines powered by technologies from companies like Meta and Google are making our digital interactions better, perhaps to the point of a little bit too good. The ability for AI and machine learning to understand our behavior and make intelligent suggestions for what we buy, where we eat, who we talk to, and how we work is becoming more and more integrated into our lives. This is improving our in-app experiences as well as delivering better proactive customer experience.
At the core of AI are semiconductor designers and manufacturers, such as Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and more, who innovate and power the CPUs, GPUs, IPUs, and DPUs that enable data to drive insight, optimization, and real-time interactions.
Major tech companies, including Microsoft, Salesforce, Apple, Google, and Amazon, are embedding AI deeply into our work apps, vehicles, and personal devices[2]. This trend will snowball in 2023, as AI becomes part of almost every digital experience in our lives.
Trend #3 - The Crucial Role of Sensors and Digital Twins in Industry 4.0
Sensors have always been critical components of automation systems, providing the necessary data to make informed decisions. As technology continues to evolve, sensors have become more advanced, incorporating features such as wireless sensing and IO-Links, and are compatible with the latest communication protocols. They are now capable of operating in extreme environments, including space and underwater.
With the emergence of Industry 4.0, the role of sensors has become even more vital. Smart sensors are needed at every point to collect detailed data, which is used to generate insights for better decision-making. However, sensors alone are not enough. To make the most of the data collected, digital twins are needed.
Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical assets, systems, and processes that can be used to simulate, predict, and optimize their performance. By using real-time data from sensors, digital twins can create a virtual representation of the physical world, allowing for real-time monitoring and analysis of the system.
In Industry 4.0, digital twins play a crucial role in improving operational efficiency, reducing downtime, and enhancing overall performance[3]. By creating a digital twin of a physical asset or process, it is possible to optimize it, identify potential issues before they occur, and test new approaches or modifications virtually, reducing the need for expensive physical testing and experimentation.
The combination of sensors and digital twins provides a powerful toolset for the industrial sector to transform how it operates. With detailed data collected from sensors and processed by digital twins, companies can make informed decisions, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the performance of their operations.
Trend #4 - The Digital Wallet will dominate
Not only has digital-payments penetration increased to 89% in 2022, but the share of respondents who report using two or more forms of digital payments has grown even more rapidly—from 51 percent in 2021 to 62 percent. In-app and peer-to-peer (P2P) purchases exhibit the greatest gains, in many cases building upon existing use of online payments (still the leading digital use case, used by 69 percent of consumers).
More than two-thirds of Americans expect to have a digital wallet within two years, and it’s likely that many will hold multiple wallets. Our 2022 survey revealed a marked increase in the share of consumers intending to use three or more digital wallets in the coming years: from 18 percent in 2021 to 30 percent in 2022[4]. This is a notable change from the legacy model of carrying around a single leather wallet.
When asked who they consider the logical provider of digital wallets, consumers in all age groups and by a wide margin identify their bank, with the runner-up being a smartphone manufacturer and/or tech company. These survey results, however, don’t seem to match consumers’ descriptions of their actual behavior; respondents are far likelier to say they use digital wallets from PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay (across both online and in-person channels) than to identify any other providers. In light of this disconnect, banks would be wise not to rely on existing customer relationships but instead identify paths to deliver on the stated consumer requirements.
In terms of wallet selection criteria, consumers—again consistently across age groups—seek not only payments functionality but also the integration of loyalty/rewards capabilities, as well as solutions offering a broad range of financial services and compatibility with their existing apps. Preferences for the types of financial services included (for example, loans, credit and debit cards, and wealth management) were relatively evenly distributed, indicating a market opportunity for a financial institution capable of delivering a robust multifunction wallet. The first movers on this front are nonbanks—for example, PayPal’s wallet, with its integration of “pay later” BNPL functionality, and Block’s acquisition of Afterpay to augment its Square Cash offering.
Trend #5 - Web 3.0 will continue to grow
In 2021, China's ban on crypto transactions caused a stir in the market, but neighboring Hong Kong is making moves to establish itself as a regional crypto industry hub. Against this backdrop, the web 3.0 blockchain market is expected to grow steadily, with a projected CAGR of 44.9% during the forecast period. The current value of the market stands at US$ 2.86 Bn in 2023, with a high demand expected to reach US$ 116.51 Bn by 2033[5].
The adoption of web 3.0 blockchain technology in business settings, especially in smart contracts, digital identity, documentation, and exchanges, will drive the expansion of the market. Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is a crucial element of the web 3.0 era, placing the user at the heart of the identity system, and providing users with greater control over their private data. SSI's decentralized storage and user-controlled information release options are likely to drive further growth in the web 3.0 blockchain market.
The use of cryptocurrencies for transaction automation on the internet is also expected to play a role in the industry's expansion. The advantages of cryptocurrency, such as decentralization, offer further benefits to users, who do not need permission from higher-ups to transact.
The recognition of cryptocurrency in some countries is also expected to boost the web 3.0 blockchain market's growth. Dubai, for example, has passed laws to regulate blockchain technology and its associated assets[6]. Furthermore, the growth of online and brick-and-mortar retail sales and the widespread adoption of digitalisation and blockchain technology will further support the growth of the web 3.0 blockchain market.
Conclusion
With the recovery of the global economy and the opening of China after the Pandemic, 2023 promises to be an exciting year of tech investors. We believe that the growth in Metaverse, AI, digital twins, sensor technology and Web 3.0 offers investors tremendous opportunity. The Pandemic has not solved the tech revolution and 2023 will be an exciting year.
REFERENCE LIST
[1] The Top 5 Metaverse Trends In 2023. Retrieved from:
[2] Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends In 2023. Retrieved from:
[3] What Is A Digital Twin, And How Does It Work? Retrieved from:
[4] Consumer Trends In Digital Payments. Retrieved from:
[5] Web 3.0 Blockchain Market Valuation to Reach US$ 116.51 Bn By 2033; Showcasing a CAGR of 44.9% During the Coming Decade: Future Market Insights, Inc. Retrieved from:
[6] Dubai Adopts Crypto Law As It Looks To Become Hub For Web 3.0. Retrieved from:
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