Within the world of Metaverse Singapore is emerging as a hub, and a growing number of global companies are being drawn to the country to establish web3 businesses providing a sizable potential for local talent. Singapore, otherwise known as a finance and tech hub is now positioning itself as a Metaverse hub as well.
“A lot of companies from all over the world, including China and Europe, are starting their operations in Singapore and I think there will be a lot of opportunities,” said Shawn Lim, founder of The AceMeta Company.
Companies are using virtual spaces, along with games and social activities, to promote their brands and attract customers. A new buzzword in the sector is “phygital,” which refers to a client experience that combines the physical and digital experience.
The industry player’s vision is not just limited to the Metaverse as they are planning a smart city and see the Metaverse as the bridge between the physical and virtual worlds.
“Sometimes when we don’t see it or touch it then you cannot relate. But once we have these solutions out in the open, then people start figuring out what to do,” said Warren Woon, co-founder of local Metaverse platform Xctuality.
Woon explained that the Metaverse represents a new medium for consumption, and companies are increasingly using it to create more immersive experiences for their customers.
Xctuality’s gamification of the agricultural industry is an exciting Phygital venture. “We connect physical farms – the farmers, the operations, the lifestock and the cash crops, with the Metaverse and gamification side of it. So one should think of it like FarmVille, but here it is connected to real farms,” Mr Woon said, referring to the popular video and mobile game where users farm and harvest crops.
Similarly, The AceMeta Company is focusing on building a digital community of like-minded artists to interact and co-create in their Metaverse. The platform allows its users to decide and vote on desired games and functions.
At the moment, in my opinion, many NFT projects don’t pay much attention to the Metaverse. “We want to provide (users) NFTs and not just concentrate on art; instead, we want to emphasize on the full immersive experience we may obtain when visiting the Metaverse,” said Mr Lim.
Finding local talent is challenging
Singapore is entering the competition to become the hub of the Metaverse, but the concept of web3 is not yet well-known among the local population. As a result, companies in Singapore are finding it difficult to find talented local professionals with expertise in web3.
Despite having 9.40% of the total population holding crypto assets, Singapore lacks local talent for web3.
The largest obstacle is the lack of talent that we can find with the necessary skill set to actually construct what we need, said Mr Woon. His company employs 32 remote workers from eight different countries.
“We require our tech staff to have domain knowledge in areas that a lot of schools do not teach. So how do we then build such a team?” he asked.
Despite the bearish year for cryptocurrency, Singapore has remained nonchalant about phygital projects. Some companies are even expanding to accept fiat currency in an effort to boost adoption of the Metaverse.
As technology advances, industry players expect more talent to emerge, which will help to popularize the Metaverse.
“For the metaverse to really take shape, and for the technology to be more mature, maybe another 5 to 10 years. But it will be good for us (Singapore) to get into the industry now,” said Lim.
Produced in association with MetaNews.
