PROLOGUE

In prior articles, we had focused on innovation and automation as key factors to bring about disruption and change in the workplace, and our lives. But to truly move from robotic cyber-physical smart manufacturing that is the hallmark of Industry 4.0 to the more human-centric solutions of Industry and Services 5.0, we need to include a 360-degree view of the customer and end-consumer. We also need to enable mass customization of products and services as detailed in our theme called custom manufactory in our prior article on Additive Manufacturing.

Concepts of B2B, B2C, B2G, D2C, B2B2C and other omni- and multi-channel interactions and marketplaces (including our very own B2C2B and what Microsoft calls Fast Fashion) have been the requisites for eCommerce. With the advent of context driven modalities, we are doing behavior analysis based on navigation and click-thru, personalizing content, targeting consumers, cross-selling, up-selling, and adding other real time online experiences. Including Big Data and AI driven predictive inferences has been the latest addition to marketing and sell to enable insight and foresight into customer-based actions to reduce friction and churn in the experiences. Security, Privacy and Cookie-basis have also been dominant in the recent past with special regard to opt-in and opt-out privileges, so that sensible modicum is maintained in our interactions.

Coordinated Commercials was the name we chose for our business unit for downstream undertakings at Numorpho Cybernetic Systems (NUMO), that deals with marketing, sales, commerce, clienteling, service and customer support. We have deliberately included the word “coordinated” in the label to signify that it will be a connected composition between it, and upstream and midstream processes to interrelate, harmonize and synchronize with product development and production activities. Commercials is also a deliberate inclusion. We look at the whole ecosystem deriving value in what could termed as win-win-win positions.

In this post, we will articulate needs of the metaverse, wherein the digital world of the future will be more tangibly connected to our lives and bodies requiring “virtual” presence to be congruent with reality. This is where our partner, Hyperstate is charting new ground to help brands accelerate customer engagement, acquisition, and sell. Using videos as the medium of interaction with its no-code Kappa platform, brands can convert conversations in the digital world into orders in the physical world – all of this playing out in real time. Kappa’s approach is “humanizing digital & technology” as against the traditional view of technology facilitating/replacing humans.

In keeping with our theme of Linked Solutioning, in this post and in subsequent ones, we will showcase what we are doing with our partners and their tools to build the seamless ecosystem fabric for Industry and Services 5.0. Proceeding ahead in subsequent posts is moving beyond compositions to actually putting pedal to the metal to implement our ecosystem and all that it entails.

BACKGROUND

As we progressed thru our journey in Industry 4.0, the right Digital Thread along with Digital Twin helped organizations maximize revenue, growth & efficiency by establishing digital connections among systems, people & processes to transform business models and create new customer experiences. This was primarily achieved using IoT – Smart Sensors, Edge Servers, Big Data and Cloud Provisioning to optimize OT (Operations Technology), and Content Management, Marketing and Ecommerce to interact using IT (Information Technology).

But to enable Digital Transformation for customer interactions, there needed to be what was called Digital Decoupling where Middleware platforms were utilized to store transient and time sensitive information (like pricing and account information), master and enriched data, and digital assets so that they could be accessible and updated real time by front-end interfaces. This created a divide between OT which moved at speed of product flow, and IT that transacted in real time. This led to duplicated information and friction, and a lot of time and dollars were spent to synchronize data, correctly cache information, and validate transfers.

The diagram above illustrates the process flow in Industry 4.0 and the result of Digital Transformation clearly indicating the divide between IT and OT because of Digital Decoupling due to Middleware platform needs (showcased in the green).

OUR PERSPECTIVE

As products become more connected, we need to mature as platforms to offer new services to customers and partner relationships. We need to be able to manage massive amounts of data from various sources, components, and devices seamlessly through the digital thread to realize the connected value stream through the product and service continuum.  Architecting today’s Enterprise involves integrating Core Functionalities between the Customer and the Business using Cloud Provisioning, Intelligent Information and Connected Services so that activities and processes can be optimized and harmonized.

The plethora of Customer Data Platforms (CDP) tools available today and MACH principles – Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless, have evolved considerably to make the IT/OT divide less daunting but there is need to improve further. The Kappa no-code platform from Hyperstate is one such technology that can bridge the OT-IT gap significantly which is key to the human intervention in delivering the digital twin connectedness between the outside world and the enterprise.

We believe that the following three key areas will be important in the future as we continue to strive to achieve the ultimate goal of a fully connected product and service continuum:

1. Platform Integration and Management: We need to be able to manage massive amounts of data from various sources, components, and devices seamlessly through the digital thread to realize the connected value stream through the product and service continuum.
2. Intelligent Data Analytics: We need to be able to make sense of all the data that is being generated in order to make better decisions about what needs to be done with the product or service.
3. Connected Services and Applications: We need to be able to provide new services and applications to our customers in order to improve their experience and get more value out of our platform.

Our reference architecture, the Digital Twine enables the composition of new architectures that are needed for more real time, secure and frictionless interactions by coordinating all the streams in a combination of Digital Threads and Digital Twins that account for all integrations between the different processes in an enterprise. The Diagram below depicts the Digital Twine that we have utilized to blueprint multiple use cases.

This will be further enabled using our other three tenets: The Manthan Design Philosophy for Innovation, Tendril Connector for interactions, and the TAU Codex Transformer for multi-modal actionable intelligence.

Pertinent Use Cases for Industry and Services 5.0

• MOVING BEYOND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS

In Use Case 0, we chart the basis for assimilating decoupled middleware systems by building a basis for product enrichment and marketing by direct access to master data, commerce aggregations for syndication and seamlessly integrating order management and its complexities within the digital twine blueprint.

The diagram below shows the dynamic representations of the different streams that merge and separate where people, processes and technologies need to be managed.

• DYNAMIC LIFT AND SHIFT OF ERP SYSTEM

In this use case we detail the relocation of the ERP system from on-premises to a flexible dynamic cloud provisioning. Often, the biggest error comes from thinking about the cloud in the wrong way. Enterprise management tends to think of a cloud migration as a simple “lift-and-shift” operation—simply move existing applications that are running in their own data centers directly to the cloud, with as few changes as possible. However, real cloud success, at scale, requires much more than lift-and-shift. It demands successfully navigating the world of the dynamic cloud. The dynamic cloud doesn’t just facilitate application scaling; it makes the process faster and easier. It also helps development teams respond to changes faster and to implement these changes more quickly. That’s not a luxury—it’s a necessity to ensure the availability of modern applications that exhibit extreme scaling needs and extremely spiky performance. Using the dynamic cloud, however, takes a higher level of commitment to using cloud resources effectively than does a simple lift-and-shift. That’s because after a migration, the type of application and infrastructure visibility that is required changes. Many resources become dynamic, so keeping track of what resources are important for what purposes also becomes dynamic. Additionally, applications now run on an infrastructure outside of a team’s direct control, a concept that is foreign to any large enterprise.

To be successful in moving to the cloud, organizations must realize that this continuum of cloud maturity exists and understand the implications for their actions and processes. Moving from one level of maturity to the next isn’t always easy, it isn’t always fast, and the specific details differ for every organization. Also, organizations sometimes settle on a level of cloud maturity that’s right for their culture but short of the end goal.

We start this by a coordinated migration strategy being aware that not all parts would need to be moved at the same time, but in a way that optimizes the change to account for technical debt. We then accelerate the transformation by coupling it to services and expand it to integrate it with other systems. Finally, we elevate its presence by incorporating historically created middleware systems to account for marketing and commerce. The diagram below showcases this dynamic representation.

Companies like Salesforce have been doing this by acquiring new wave companies like Demandware and Cloudcraze, whereas SAP by creating the S4, C4 and Leonardo systems based out of their in-memory HANA provisioning for data. Similarly, Infor is creating a series of domain specific accelerators to enable out-of-the-box capabilities with customization using low-code programming. Oracle’s NetSuite provides a good basis for CRM and procurement related detailing.

Lights, Camera, Action in the Metaverse

2018 saw an upsurge in the video wave with brands exploring formats like social commerce, video commerce or live commerce to increase customer base. With several brands fighting for consumer mindshare alongside plenty of competition, it was a win-win situation for customers, who were spoilt for choice with offerings. But, while the upsurge in video saw consumption increasing, attention span and brand impact was on the decline.

To mitigate these issues actionable, no-code, programmable videos and immersive interfaces is now picking up. Called the video metaverse, it will allow brands to create, engaging, programmable videos, and manage and monetize their content. In the video metaverse, videos will be able to be embedded with interactivity and programmed to respond to customer interactions. This will allow customers to not only control the content, but also the experience.  For example, a customer could be watching a video about a product and be able to click on an object in the video to learn more about it. Or they could be able to control the video to see it from different angles or speeds. They could co create content too, with Vox Populi becoming a commerce vehicle as against merely an advertisement.

The possibilities are endless and will depend on the creativity of the brand and the interactivity of the video. Explaining the video metaverse, Prashanto the co-founder of Hyperstate says, “What if you could watch the video, choose your character or story and watch it from that perspective? What if your audiences could not only dive in and immerse themselves in your brand but also manifest their choices by interacting with your characters? Imagine, if they could now convert conversations in the digital world into real orders in the physical world – and all of this playing out in real time.”

The video metaverse allows for brands to create videos specifically for e-commerce. These videos can be embedded with buy buttons, product information, and other relevant information. This enables customers to purchase products directly from the video. Companies create engaging customer experiences and increase customer engagement, cart-to-order throughput, and loyalty. “Digital commerce can now be driven by humanization and not just digitization. Selfie-videos shot on mobiles can be turned into humanized bots that meet and greet. This small change itself has the potential to turn websites into digital stores where owners and sales teams meet and greet every visitor just like you would in a physical store,” adds Shubham, co-founder of Hyperstate.

About Hyperstate

Hyperstate builds products to help accelerate user engagement. Founded in September 2018, Hyperstate is reimagining the future and building global SaaS platforms. It’s award-winning, patented, flagship voice experience platform, Kappa, is helping brands build their video metaverse by turning their ordinary linear videos into dazzling experiences that keep users engaged, from first use to the last.

“Brands can now add action to videos, with minimal time and effort. Kappa maps human intent and collapses the AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) funnel. It unlocks a new kind of user behavior- driven by choice, to deliver an in-video granular data that has never been seen or mapped before,” claims Shubham.

According to the founders, Kappa empowers every team, from publishers to marketers to business owners to create stunning experiences that drive measurable impact. The no-code SaaS platform helps brands make better, more engaging stories, helps their consumers make the best possible choices in the shortest possible time.

Speaking of use-cases and its functionality, Shubham states, the tool transforms ordinary media assets into interactive experiences, is a multiplayer by nature, allows for fast creation and iteration saving time, and ensures every message and every communication delivers ROI. Besides, the no-code tool also helps break the silos between teams as everyone can come together and work off the same project at the same time.

“We see our platform being the default for going to the market and engaging with the customers. With the metaverse space maturing, we see Kappa scaling across industries and sectors setting new benchmarks of immersive experiences,” he adds.

Retail Trends

PSFK reports

The Metaverse would enable commerce to be layered into social experiences. Web 3 revolution. Hypeer-personalize experiences. Customer loyalty

This opens up enormous worlds of opportunity for brands, but also for people.

1. Avatar Influencers like Jack from State Farm are a way to capitalize of the efforts to tap into recognition and fandom that exists around celebrities to create a more personal connection with followers. Another reason for the rise in avatar influencers is that they can be used to promote products and services. Avatars can be used to create marketing content that is more engaging and relatable than traditional advertising
2. Payable IP like at the Forever 21 Shop City is an example where users can pay a fee to use the assets of other users. This allows users to monetize their assets and enables companies to monetize their user base.
3. Meta-Layered Stores are virtual stores where the customer’s purchase history is used to recommend items that the customer might like. In Nikeland’s Roblox, customers are able to create an account and save their purchase history. This purchase history is then used to recommend items that the customer might like. For example, if a customer purchases a shirt, Nikeland’s Roblox might recommend a pair of shoes that match the shirt.
4. Cross-World Commerce (McDonalds QSRs)

• Ownership Privileges (Metaring by Venly)
• Dynamic Product Experiences (Rocket Factory)
• Inclusive Representation
• Digital Brokering

Summary

The video metaverse is still in its early stages. Brands that are early adopters of the video metaverse will differentiate themselves from their competition and create a more engaging customer experience. They will also be able to increase customer loyalty and better compete in an increasingly competitive market.

In the metaverse, wherein information will be in a state of constant flux – text, speech and video will need to be speedily and intelligently accessed and multi-modally processed to understand customer intent, make decisions either to prevent catastrophes or for our wellbeing when we are deluged with data. Tools like Hyperstate’s Kappa platform would be key to the next information revolution to affect the way we communicate, collaborate and converse in the new.

Trends

Another area where this will play a role is in Non fungible tokens (NFTs), which are often associated with odd artwork and high auction prices. Critics call NFTs a bubble. But the fundamental technology behind NFTs and its exploding use cases point to a booming economy, transformed gaming landscape, radical new fashions and collectibles, and an evolved path to personal expression that just might help entice a billion users into the metaverse. But more on this in subsequent posts as we evolve our Blockchain and Distributed Ledger strategy with respect to making tangible goods and services immutable using the digital thread and digital twine.

What is your metaverse strategy? Consumers divided into two – customers and not customers. Influencers. Centralized vs Decentralized platforms. Virtuality. Convergence of Physical and Digital converging, Digital Identity. There is a journey for each brand. Metaverse journey. Individualized playbook. What is blockchain – that is the shift, that is web3. Outsource understanding of blockchain to an agency is bad.

• MetaVRse – path to value vs size of the prize, generating wealth vs making money

NITIN UCHIL Founder, CEO & Technical Evangelist

nitin.uchil@numorpho.com