Metaverse for Mobility and Sales

The Metaverse: Driving vValue in the Mobility sector and Sales

Mckinsey  January 4, 2023 | Article

This article is a collaborative effort by Kersten Heineke, Hamza Khan, Timo Möller, Dennis Schwedhelm, Shivam Srivastava, and Felix Ziegler, representing views from McKinsey’s Automotive & Assembly Practice.

Although a fully immersive, interconnected metaverse remains years away, mobility stakeholders can already capture real business value from the technologies designed to enable it.

Riding in a car is a very physical experience, from gripping the steering wheel to pressing down the gas pedal to feeling a jolt if the vehicle suddenly stops. One day, people may experience these same sensations by taking a virtual ride in the metaverse—the next iteration of the internet in which people can immerse themselves in a digital world that closely mimics reality.

The full-fledged metaverse will likely require at least five to ten years to materialize, but stakeholders in the mobility sector can already capture real business value from the “proto-metaverse.” This early incarnation relies on spatial computing and extended reality (XR), which is an umbrella term that includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). The proto-metaverse has already enhanced both sales and operations within the mobility sector, and many leading OEMs and other stakeholders are launching metaverse initiatives to explore their benefits to the core business.

Mobility moves toward the metaverse

This article examines how selected technologies, available today or in the near future, can help expand and diversify revenue streams in the mobility sector, enhance brand loyalty, improve customer experience, and optimize production. (For a more comprehensive look at current and future technologies, see sidebar “Mobility moves toward the metaverse.”) Going forward, could OEMs increase brand awareness with applications that let potential car buyers participate in highly realistic virtual races at Le Mans? Or could technicians walk customers through easy repairs at home using virtual twins of engines? Such experiences could be possible if the metaverse continues to advance. But even before the advent of such immersive experiences, OEMs still have much to gain from metaverse tools and concepts.

Kicking virtual tires: Customers in the metaverse

In a recent McKinsey consumer survey, 59 percent of respondents say that they prefer to conduct at least one daily activity, such as socializing, shopping, fitness, or education, in the virtual world rather than in person.1 Another survey also indicates that excitement about the future metaverse is consistently high across demographic groups, regardless of region, age, or gender.2

These findings bode well for greater use of metaverse-related experiences and technologies over the next few years, as do other recent developments. For instance, the market value of XR devices is expected to increase nearly tenfold, from $28 billion in 2021 to more than $250 billion in 2028.3

The metaverse showroom: Just a click away

Many potential car buyers now research vehicles online before buying, which partly explains why US consumers in 2017 visited only two dealerships before making a purchase, down from five in 2007.4 The pandemic has reduced the odds that potential buyers will find their vehicle of choice on the lot, however, because of supply chain disruptions. OEMs may partly compensate for the lack of inventory by using immersive virtual experiences to help potential buyers envision and configure their desired vehicles.

These new technologies go far beyond websites that allow users to click on different vehicle features to get information or cycle through custom options. RelayCars, for example, offers a mobile application with AR and 3-D visuals that allow users to explore thousands of cars. But even with more sophisticated online tools, the average car buyer will still want to see an actual car before making a purchase, since even the best online images may not provide the clarity and detail that a car buyer needs. ... ' 

Mobile Assistants Pave Way to Retail Future?

This sounded like an interesting premise, so passing it on:

Intelligent Mobile PDAs Pave the Way to the Future

The COVID-19 crisis has created urgency for businesses to adjust to newly mandated practices.
Learn more

Fulfilling online orders for curbside pickup, in-store pickup or home delivery has become, for many, the only option to maintain business operations. Businesses that invest in mobile PDAs and new mobile technologies can adjust more quickly to new business practices and requirements.

Download this whitepaper for more about how innovations in intelligent mobile PDAs apply to both crisis-induced processes and emerging retail trends.

Via Datalogic on  Retailwire

Low-Code Taking Over

 Ultimately this will take over for most coding.

Low Code And No Code: A Looming Trend In Mobile App Development   By Nitin Nimbalkar -

Today’s businesses are implementing enriching their operations with capabilities little by little on a variety of different products. But the trend is clear before you know it, the distinction between tools that are powerful enough for professional development teams and to be simple enough for citizen developers.

At this point, Low-Code and No-Code will merge into a single market segment for both enterprise-class and user-friendly developers at the same time.

Before heading, let’s identify the distinct functions of low code and no code in app development, by bifurcating them.

Difference between low code and no code development
• Low Code: Low code is a development move that automates time-consuming manual processes, without manual coding, using a visual IDE environment, which is automation that connects to backends, and application management system.

• No code: In the same way as low-code platforms, no code platform uses a visual application system that allows users to create applications without coding. Usually this includes drag and drop functions. An example of this is Salesforce CRM, which enables people with coding skills to code, and those who don’t have those skills can build simple apps without using the system.

Further, as the need for low code and no code is surging due to increased requirement, trends depict how the picture of coding might get changed.   ... " 

'Autonomous' Translation at Hand?

A number of mobile devices how have  instantaneous translation, so we have the promise of using them in any multilingual environment.   I have a Google assistant that will translate phrases.    How is this done?  Are we there yet, what more do we need?  Good review of the current tech.s.  How is the barrier been removed?

Across the Language Barrier
By Keith Kirkpatrick
Communications of the ACM, March 2020, Vol. 63 No. 3, Pages 15-17
10.1145/3379495

The greatest obstacle to international understanding is the barrier of language," wrote British scholar and author Christopher Dawson in November 1957, believing that relying on live, human translators to accurately capture and reflect a speaker's meaning, inflection, and emotion was too great of a challenge to overcome. More than 60 years later, Dawson's theory may finally be proven outdated, thanks to the development of powerful, portable real-time translation devices.

The convergence of natural language processing technology, machine learning algorithms, and powerful portable chipsets has led to the development of new devices and applications that allow real-time, two-way translation of speech and text. Language translation devices are capable of listening to an audio source in one language, translating what is being said into another language, and then translating a response back into the original language.

About the size of a small smartphone, most standalone translation devices are equipped with a microphone (or an array of microphones) to capture speakers' voices, a speaker or set of speakers to allow the device to "speak" a translation, and a screen to display text translations. Typically, audio data is captured by the microphones, processed using a natural language processing engine mated to an online language database located either in the cloud or on the device itself, and then the translation is output to the speakers or the screen. Standalone devices, with their dedicated translation engines and small portable form factors, are generally viewed as being more powerful and convenient than accessing a smartphone translation application. Further, many of these devices offer the ability to access translation databases stored locally on the device or access them in the cloud, allowing their use in areas with limited wireless connectivity.

Instead of trying to translate speech using complex rules based on syntax, grammar, and semantics, these language processing algorithms employ machine learning and statistical modeling. These initial models are trained on huge databases of parallel texts, or documents that are translated into several different languages, such as speeches to the United Nations, famous works of literature, or even multinational marketing and sales materials. The algorithms identify matching phrases across sources and measure how often and where words occur in a given phrase in both languages, which allows translators to account for differences in syntax and structure across languages. This data is then used to construct statistical models that link phrases in one language to phrases in the second, which allows for accurate and fast translation.

In practice, this means devices can translate between languages more quickly than ever before by using such modeling. Incorporating high-powered processors, quality microphones, and speakers into the device, a person can carry on a real-time, two-way conversation with someone who speaks an entirely different language. These devices represent a significant increase in accuracy and functionality above manual, text-based translation applications such as Google Translate. ... "

Amazon Looks to Mobile Home Robotics

Bloomberg reports on linking up with a wheeled home robot for mobile tasks.  The complexity and maintenance of the latter makes them more problematic as general task devices, as can be seen by the failure of a number of attempts at this in recent years.  Alexa enabled solutions my prevail, if they believe they know the home environment and can prevail there.  (Dated article now, but had not posted this )

Amazon continues work on mobile home robot as it preps new high-end Echo, says report Prototypes for the wheeled robot can be summoned using voice commands     By James Vincent  in TheVerge

 Amazon is still working on a mobile home robot, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. It’s also planning to add a high-end Echo to its lineup of Alexa devices.

We first heard about Amazon’s plans to build a wheeled home robot in April last year. The project is reportedly codenamed “Vesta” (after the Roman goddess of the hearth), and rumors suggest it’s a sort of “mobile Alexa” that’s able to follow users around their homes.

Today’s report doesn’t add significantly to this picture, but it seems Amazon is still keen to build the mobile device. It was apparently slated to launch this year but wasn’t ready for mass-production. Engineers have reportedly been pulled from other projects to work on Vesta, and Gurman reports that prototypes are “waist-high and navigate with the help of an array of computer-vision cameras.” They can also be summoned using voice commands.  ....  " 

Novel Mobile Mapping Algorithm

As I read this, it too could have been used usefully for our forestry application, since we had large scale databases of measurements based on location contexts, like slopes and area history.

Mobile Mapping More Accurate With a Novel Algorithm
University of Twente (Netherlands)
K.W. Wesselink

A researcher at the University of Twente in the Netherlands developed an algorithm that improves the accuracy of surveyed mobile mapping imaging products. The algorithm can compensate for measurement errors introduced from erroneous satellite-based positioning, which usually occurs in urban areas. Mobile mapping includes all forms of geospatial data acquisition using a mobile platform carrying one or more sensor systems. The algorithm uses aerial images to make the acquired data more accurate. The algorithm recognizes objects from an overhead view, but also from a street view. Identified objects are used to establish thousands of links between the data sets, which enables a mathematical procedure to correct the mobile mapping data. .... "

Database of Tomorrow: Self Driving and Autonomous

Was struck by the depth and further volume of data and implications?  The intro below, much more at the link

The Database of Tomorrow: The Self-Driving, Autonomous Database

September 18, 2019 | Artificial Intelligence Big Data Blog | Dr Mark van Rijmenam
This article is sponsored by Oracle – redefining data management with the world’s first autonomous database.

In the coming years, the amount of data we create worldwide will grow to 175 zettabytes of data per year by 2025, up from 33 zettabytes in 2018. Over half of this data will be created by the Internet of Things devices and over 60% of it will be enterprise data. By 2025, 30% of all the data created will be in real-time, offering organisations great opportunities to constantly optimise their business.

Clearly, the organisation of tomorrow is a data organisation. However, simply collecting vast amounts of data is not enough. You would also need to analyse the data for insights and change your organisational culture to benefit from it. According to McKinsey, data-driven organisations are 23x more likely to acquire customers, 6x more likely to retain customers and 19x more likely to be profitable. Being data-driven is good for business.

The Importance of Data Governance
When collecting petabytes of data, it becomes vital that this data is of high-quality. Organisations that focus on high-quality data are better able to deal with changing business environments and achieve strategic objectives. As such, in today’s data-driven world, data governance has become a necessity for organisations, and they cannot get away anymore with minimal effort. .... "

IOTA and Mobility

A further look at uses of IOTA in Automotive Industry

IOTA in the mobility sector: a complete rundown
in IOTAarchive

The days of assembling “dumb” parts into something that moves are (nearly) over. Vehicle sales for personal ownership are dwindling while new mobility concepts are on a steady rise.
In addition, a shift from combustion to electric engines and leaps in autonomous driving technology require a major overhaul of existing manufacturing processes, designs, infrastructure and business models.

The coming decade will represent the biggest disruption any industry lasting longer than a century has ever seen. The New York Times recently titled “The Car Industry is under siege”:
“It’s going to be the biggest change we’ve seen in the last 100 years, and it’s going to be really expensive even for the biggest companies” […] Major auto companies will spend well over $400 billion during the next five years […]

They must retool factories, retrain workers, reorganize their supplier networks and rethink the whole idea of car ownership. […] this upfront investment is a matter of survival. If they don’t adapt, they could become obsolete.

The electric carmaker Tesla, despite all its problems, is still worth more on the stock market than either Fiat Chrysler or Renault. Uber is worth much more than the two combined, even after reporting a $1 billion quarterly loss.

In essence, software is given a much higher priority, not only in terms of research and development for future mobility solutions, electric or autonomous vehicles but also in order to establish or streamline near-term mobility solutions.

Overall connectivity, automation, the reduction of friction between individual transportation solutions and processes, security, electric charging solutions and infrastructure, convenience features and new revenue models are only a few of the monumental challenges mobility providers face.

With the above comes an unfathomable amount of data, for which manufacturers and service providers have to decide who owns it, who to share it with and how to secure it.

Even though it is very young technology that hasn’t been declared production ready yet, IOTA, as an immutable, feeless, permissionless and open-source communication and value-transfer protocol has seen vast interest by mobility providers — in fact much more than any other existing cryptocurrency protocol. .... "   

(Intro, considerably more at the link)

Predicting Emergence of Self Driving

Was interviewed about my opinion of when self-driving would become common in a recent study.  So now am following these predictions more closely.   Now major tech players are starting to make related announcements.   Autonomous mobility at hand?

In Engadget:

Mercedes and BMW cars will drive themselves on the autobahn by 2024.   The manufacturers agreed to work together on level 4 self driving systems.     By Steve Dent, @stevetdent

" .... BMW and Mercedes started working together on autonomous cars earlier this year, and now they have optimistic plans to deliver them. The automakers announced that they're developing Level 4 self-driving cars that can handle freeway driving chores without human intervention, though a driver will still need to be at the wheel. Such vehicles will include driver assist and automated parking systems and go on sale to the public by 2024. .... " 

Future of Car Rental

Largely agree.  But a decade out who knows?  Good overview.

Semi-autonomous and always available: A peek into the near future of car rental in DigitalTrends

The world is inexorably moving to an era where personal mobility is connected, shared, electric, and ultimately autonomous. But that utopian future — where we are whisked to work in an amorphous pod with IMAX movies and fresh popcorn, all the while checking emails and holding conference calls — is still pretty far out.  ... ." 

Rolling Driverless Convenience Stores

Look forward to seeing something like this. 

Stop & Shop to Test Driverless Mobile Markets  in ThePacker

Stop & Shop customers in the Boston area will be able to shop directly from driverless delivery vehicles in a test set to launch this spring. Shoppers will use an app to request the vehicle and choose their fresh produce, meal kits and other items when it arrives, and the technology records the purchase and sends a receipt.  ... " 

Cell Carriers are Selling Your Locatioin

Not unexpected, privacy implications.  Probably not much to most people.  Good to know though.

Your Cell Carrier Is Selling Your Location Data   By Ryan Whitwam in Extremetech

There’s a lot of hand-wringing over the amount of data Google and Facebook have on us, but mobile carriers have been flying under the radar. The fact is, they know roughly where you are all the time, and a new report claims they’ve been selling access to that information without the proper privacy safeguards in place. You can thank the shady world of data aggregators for this potentially egregious violation of your privacy.

A former Missouri sheriff has been charged with using an online service operated by law enforcement contractor Securus to track cell phones illegally, according to The New York Times. Prosecutors claim Cory Hutcheson used the system at least 11 times between 2014 and 2017 to track the phones of a judge, members of the state highway patrol, and others.

Securus mainly operates private telephone services for prisons and jails, but cell phone tracking is a “value-add” option in this lucrative and highly competitive market. The location data comes from a third-party called LocationSmart, which claims to have a direct connection to all four big US carriers, as well as several in Canada. The nature of this connection is unclear, but it would appear carriers are not getting the appropriate location consent before providing data to LocationSmart.

This location data isn’t anything new — your carrier always knows where you are based on network access, and that’s necessary to ensure you’re connected to the right towers. This network location data is not as accurate as GPS on your phone, but it usually pinpoints you within a few city blocks. LocationSmart even has a try-before-you-buy demo online where you can opt a phone number into the test and locate it in seconds. I tested it with a throwaway SIM, and it did indeed get close to my actual location. ... " 

Walmart Smarter Shopping App

More on new Wal-Mart Shopping App.   We looked at similar approaches which prioritized 'smart' lists and navigation .....   Tailored notification was also a means to remind people of periodic replenishment requirements.   And linking to key expertise categories ... like cleaning, cooking. party needs  ....  Which could be expertise based models, or even linked to human provided expertise as needed.    Or  integrate consumer needs and processes with specific products.


Walmart reimagines in-store shopping for mobile     by Tom Ryan in RetailWire.

Many shoppers only seem to use their smartphones in-store to check prices on Amazon.com, but Walmart hopes to change that habit with a newly added store assistant feature to deliver a “totally re-imagined experience for in-store shopping.”

Walmart’s mobile app now features a product search bar, barcode scanner, customer reviews and Walmart Pay. Among the new and expanded features are .... "

Store Assistant: Wal-Mart Makes Its App Smarter

Much more detail at the link.  Note the renaming of this as an assistant.  Good, but the system also has to be transparent, very easy to use, bump-free financials and delivery options.  What is a 'reimagined experience"?    How is it beyond:  Search, Order, Pay for and Deliver?   Smarter how? Engaging how?  Plan to try soon.


Walmart Makes Its Mobile App Smarter  in ProgressiveGrocer

Walmart has added a handful of new and improved features to its namesake mobile app not only to help customers get in and out quickly, but also to assist them before they even leave the house.

The new features come together under a “totally reimagined experience for in-store shopping” that the Bentonville, Ark.-based mega-retailer has named Store Assistant. The next time shoppers visit their local Walmart, users will fund all of the tools they need in-store under Store Assistant, such as Walmart Pay. Additionally, the product search bar and scanner are easier to find, allowing for a more convenient, speedy experience reading reviews, finding items and confirming prices.  ... " 

Applying AI to Mobile Apps

How to find the best ways of Applying Artificial Intelligence in Mobile Applications    By Ritesh Mehta in CustomerThink

While mobile applications continue to be the main focus for an organization, there is a growing interest in AI or artificial intelligence technologies. Gartner has predicted that intelligent applications would be one of the top strategic trends this year and indeed it is. When an application claims to be powered by AI, it feels as if we are in the future. Mobile app development services today are using artificial intelligences to develop mobile applications. ... "

Google Experiments with Photography

This effort was new to me.  Some of the Apps are available on just on Android, and some on IOS.  Particularly interested in new kinds of mobile based object recognition. 

Google tests experimental technology with three new photography apps  by Colin Kriel in Siliconangle

 Google Inc. Monday launched three new photography apps, part of the company’s new “appsperiments” program.

The new apps are called Storyboard, Selfissimo! and Scrubbies and, according to Google, they’re the first installment of mobile photography experiences that are built on experimental technology.

The “appsperiments” program is inspired by Google’s Motion Stills app, introduced last year, which provides video stabilization for Apple Inc.’s Live Photos. The three new apps and future ones rely on technologies in development at Google, including object recognition, person segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image encoding and decoding technologies.  ... " 

Amazon Tries Mobile Flash Sales

Amazon has no intention of stopping their innovative sales ideas. I am imagining the Echos, soon to be announcing sales on your very street.   Will this link Amazon yet closer to the consumer? Called Treasure Trucks.  Reminds me of their purchased Woot flash sales site, but mobile.   More expert discussion at the link in Retailwire.

Has Amazon created another high-draw shopping model with its Treasure Trucks?   by Laura Davis-Taylor

This past Saturday, Amazon.com stealthily launched a flash sale in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles using its only once-before-seen Treasure Trucks.

Touted as “an ice cream truck for grown-ups,” the engagement model, which was tested in Seattle before being rolled out to new markets this weekend, is unique and intriguing. The truck drives around town with a single “amazing deal” and, when it’s going to be in your area, you get a text on your phone. If interested, you click to buy on your app, pick one of the trucks as your pickup point and get over there — fast.

The launch video for the service eludes to items such as new releases and electronics, steaks and seafood, outdoor gear, toys and more. All you do is sign up and wait for the truck to arrive at a city near you  .... " 

Gamifying the E-Commerce Experience

Something we explored, with only a bit of success.    Not specifically endorsing this vendor, Iterable, but the report is interesting.  Requires sign-in.

Game On
What E-Commerce Can Learn From the Top 100 Mobile Games
Gamification is becoming a key strategy for e-commerce companies, from developing loyalty programs to creating an urgency to buy.

Hit all the right psychological triggers of your customers by acting like a gaming company and building a captivating brand.

Iterable Report
Here's what you'll find inside this guide:

Strategies to align your messaging to user behavior
Tips to energize the shopping experience from inbox to checkout
3 tried-and-true steps to keep customers coming back    .... " 

Watson goes Mobile

In ADTMag:

IBM Goes Mobile with Watson   By David Ramel 

For two years, IBM has provided the cognitive computing capabilities of its Watson Analytics service via a Web interface, and now it's gone mobile. ...

It can analyze and interpret data such as unstructured text, images, audio and video; learn on its own to grow its subject matter expertise; provide reasoned recommendations through understanding a user's personality, tone and emotion; create conversational chatbots capable of dialog with humans; and more. IBM has embedded the technology in a slew of open APIs and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products. ... 

It can analyze and interpret data such as unstructured text, images, audio and video; learn on its own to grow its subject matter expertise; provide reasoned recommendations through understanding a user's personality, tone and emotion; create conversational chatbots capable of dialog with humans; and more. IBM has embedded the technology in a slew of open APIs and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products.

Now, in the face of enterprise mobility, mobile-first initiatives and mobile just generally "eating the world," it can be used on Apple's iPad mobile devices. 

"IBM Watson Analytics Mobile is a data analysis and visualization service on the cloud that helps just about anyone quickly discover patterns and meanings in their data -- all on their own," the app's description reads. "Watson Analytics Mobile" recommends answers based on your questions using natural language and automatically serves up insights and visualizations that enable you to see new and unexpected things in your data." ... " 

A Mobile-First World

Was pointed out to me.  The Growth of mobile in world.  " ... Mobile offers hundreds of new opportunities to deliver value to consumers in moments of need. ,,, ".   And advertisers learned a long time ago, you can culture need.