A meeting was held for the Israeli metaverse developer community in order to connect experts in the field of virtual, augmented and mixed reality, and establish a fruitful forum for knowledge sharing and collaboration. Some 120 developers, including private sector entrepreneurs, public sector innovation managers, academics and independent community managers all met at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in order to discuss the present state and the future of the technology upon which the metaverse hinges.
Among the speakers at the event were Adi Soffer Teeni, General Manager of Meta in Israel (formerly Facebook Israel); Lital Kiperman Vaknin, director of Innovation at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation; Dedi Gadot, development director at Meta, and leader of the activities of the company’s Reality Labs in Tel Aviv.
“The metaverse” is, conceptually, a virtual social realm by which people will be able to interact in virtual space. The concept itself is brand-agnostic – it refers to the idea, rather than a specific company’s realization of it (such as Meta’s development in AR/VR).
“We are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Internet; this technology revolution is resetting the playground for entrepreneurs who want to lead the next generation, and now the Israeli ecosystem has a huge opportunity to stand on the starting line,” said Soffer Teeni. She alluded to the advancement of augmented/virtual reality technology, not only in the social space, but possibly the tourism space as well. “Future social technology, and if we act early and accurately, it’s possible that future AirBNB or global bookings in the AR/VR worlds – will come from Israel.”
“Shimon Peres used to say: ‘The future should not only be imagined, it should be created,’” said Kiperman Vaknin. “The metaverse developer community is our opportunity to co-create the future, harnessing technological tools such as AR and VR in order to bridge gaps that exist in society, to bring the social and geographical periphery closer to the worlds of innovation, and to create a bridge of connection with our neighbors, thus making sure that we build a better future for all of us.”
The developer community was launched as part of Meta Global’s ongoing collaboration with the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation – a partnership announced several months ago to promote innovation and identify social and economic opportunities relating to the metaverse.