Agora’s Real Time Engagement Platform Bridges the Gap between Virtual and Physical World
CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director, Agora
- How are different industries embracing immersive experiences?
Different industries are making a substantial leap to embrace and adopt immersive technologies to change the ways businesses operate. The tech space, being a dynamic one, has witnessed several advancements accelerate in the past two years. The immersive experiences include extended reality (ER), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality.
Virtual reality headsets can be a case in point: VR sets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive allow players to fully immerse themselves in a virtual world, while augmented reality games use real-world locations as the backdrop for gameplay.
Virtual reality (VR) technology is one example of immersive technology in gaming. VR immerses players in a truly immersive and interactive digital realm, allowing them to experience games in entirely new ways. Other immersive technologies include haptic feedback, which gives players bodily feedback, and motion sensing technology, which tracks players’ motions.
Gamers have been the Metaverse’s forerunners, with Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortinet serving as early instances of what’s possible. As software platforms improve and VR technology evolves, developers will have more options to create beautiful worlds that provide the next great immersive Metaverse gaming experience.
Similarly, in the ecommerce sector, immersive technologies like VR/AR has the potential to enhance and improve customer experience and engagement. Customers can utilize AR to create virtual try-on experiences, allowing them to preview how things might appear on them before making a purchase. Through interactive product demos, they can explore items in great depth and understand more about their features and benefits.
Another possible application for immersive technologies is in communication. Virtual reality and augmented reality can be used to construct virtual meeting rooms, allowing individuals to collaborate and communicate in a more stimulating and immersive way. This could be especially useful for remote teams or persons who cannot meet in person. Overall, immersive experiences can enhance communication, collaboration, and education.
2. How is Agora enabling developers to easily adopt new age tech like metaverse?
Amidst the pandemic, every business and sector had to make the shift to online models to enable business continuity and find newer ways to improve customer experience. With everything becoming mobile and virtual, customer expectations also began to evolve. In this scenario, live streaming, broadcasting, video chat, and beyond were pivotal in bringing new services and communication capabilities to the masses at any time, through any device. India is also witnessing a strong growth in the adoption of digital technologies like AI, cloud, AR, VR, and analytics.
Agora is a real-time engagement platform for developers that allows them to effortlessly integrate audio, video, and chat capabilities into their metaverse apps by offering a variety of SDKs and APIs. These SDKs and APIs are well-documented and simple to use, making it possible for developers to get up and running quickly.
Agora provides a robust Real-time Engagement infrastructure that assists developers in overcoming the technical hurdles associated with developing and expanding metaverse applications. Some ways that Agora empowers developers are:
- Reliable communication: Real-time communication between users, environments, and objects is critical in the metaverse. The Agora platform delivers a dependable and scalable communication infrastructure capable of handling massive levels of traffic while ensuring low-latency, high-quality audio and video connection between users.
- Cross Platform Support: The metaverse is most likely a highly fragmented ecosystem, with numerous platforms and venues competing for people. Agora’s platform supports cross-platform development, allowing developers to create apps that can connect easily across multiple platforms and devices.
3. How could metaverse be a game changer for the virtual gaming industry?
The metaverse has the potential to revolutionize the virtual gaming industry by providing a more immersive, social, and diversified gaming experience, as well as new revenue streams and economic prospects for game creators and publishers. It can be a game changer for the gaming industry in the following ways:
- Increased Immersion: By allowing users to feel as though they are truly a part of the game environment, the metaverse can give a more immersive experience than standard virtual games. This is achieved by combining enhanced graphics, haptic feedback, and other sensory inputs to produce a more realistic and immersive experience.
- Better social interactions: The metaverse can facilitate social interaction between players, allowing them to connect in a more natural and organic manner. This can foster a sense of belonging and community, which can improve the entire gaming experience.
- Revenue Streams: The sale of virtual assets and services in the metaverse can generate new revenue streams for the virtual gaming industry. Players might, for example, buy virtual real estate or other assets in the metaverse, or pay for access to premium services or content.
4. What are some key challenges to be addressed in gaming in the metaverse?
The metaverse is a virtual world in which people can interact in real time, employing advanced technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Gaming is intended to be a prominent feature of the metaverse, providing gamers with a rich and realistic experience. Yet, there are some critical issues that must be addressed in metaverse gaming. Among these challenges are:
Interoperability: To function as a genuinely open and interconnected ecosystem, distinct virtual environments and platforms must be able to communicate and interact with one another. This will necessitate the creation of interoperability standards and protocols capable of enabling seamless communication and cooperation across multiple platforms.
Technical Infrastructure: In order to facilitate the seamless integration of numerous virtual settings and participants, the metaverse requires a strong technical infrastructure. This will necessitate substantial investments in hardware and software, as well as the creation of new networking protocols and standards.
Security: The metaverse’s vast number of people and virtual assets will make it an appealing target for hackers and other malevolent actors. To protect users and their virtual assets, strong security measures will need to be put in place.
To overcome these challenges, developers can collaborate to build standard frameworks and interfaces that enable platform compatibility. These could include open APIs, cross-platform interfaces, and other tools that allow players to switch between games and experiences with ease.
There is also a need for comprehensive content control features, such as automated filters, human mods, and reporting mechanisms that allow users to report inappropriate activity. They can also collaborate with regulators to develop clear rules and standards for acceptable metaverse behavior.
5. Do you foresee security concerns with the metaverse and how do you think they can be solved?
The metaverse, a fully immersive virtual world in which users may interact with each other and digital assets, has the potential to alter the way we work, play, and socialize. Yet, the metaverse has substantial security vulnerabilities that must be addressed in order to preserve the safety and privacy of its users.
One main source of apprehension is the possibility of cyberattacks and hacking. The metaverse will be a vast, interconnected network of devices and systems that could be exposed to hostile actors’ attacks. This could lead to identity theft, financial fraud, and other types of cybercrime.
Another cause for concern is the possibility of inappropriate or detrimental activity in the metaverse. If the metaverse is linked to tangible technologies such as virtual reality headsets, this could involve cyberbullying, harassment, and even physical violence.
To defend the metaverse from cyberattacks, strong security mechanisms must be created. Encryption, firewalls, and other security mechanisms routinely employed in the tech business could be included. Furthermore, community rules and guidelines should be established to manage metaverse behavior. These could include prohibitions on cyberbullying, hate speech, and other destructive activities. User education is also something to be focused on.
