Journee boss Lorenz in an interview: “The Metaverse is not a vision, but reality”

Journee boss Lorenz in an interview
“The Metaverse is not a vision, it is reality”

06/28/2023, 08:24 am

Avatars are appearing more and more frequently in the digital world in one form or another, with which one can shine in online conferences. If Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg had his way, digital appointments and much more would have been the order of the day for a long time. Enthusiasts dream of digital shopping experiences, exciting games and virtual advisors. It didn’t quite turn out that way, admits Thomas Lorenz. He works with his team from Journee on the internet of the future. As “early birds” they have been active since March 2020, even before Facebook mutated into meta.

For Lorenz, the renaming was a double-edged sword: “I would say it’s both a curse and a blessing.” While Facebook is still looking for a serious solution for the Metaverse, Journee had the tech ready back then and was live with their Metaverse solutions. “They haven’t until today,” Lorenz refers to the missing results from Zuckerberg.

But why has the Metaverse hype died down again? Lorenz sees the reason in the fact that many people associate the hype with the big players and the crypto fever. But renowned management consultancies such as McKinsey see a five trillion dollar market in the Metaverse. “It’s not a vision, it’s reality,” emphasizes Lorenz. He points to impressive numbers, such as a 50 percent increase in conversion rate – the measure of how much each visitor to a website contributes to sales.

Apple’s new $3,000 AR glasses are bringing new momentum to the Metaverse debate. But Lorenz sees limits. Even with this, “there won’t be a billion-dollar penetration,” says the Metaverse professional. The world will not be completely turned inside out overnight, but it is already working and “people love to interact.” In the new episode of “So techt Deutschland” he explains how Lorenz wants to convince companies in Germany of this vision.