Marketing specialists at the UBT
With top researchers, practitioners and students on a journey from Bayreuth to the centre of the metaverse.
Top international researchers, students and practitioners from the field of marketing met at the University of Bayreuth on Thursday, 16 March 2023 for a "Journey to the Centre of the Metaverse" to discuss the understanding, benefits and threat scenarios and concrete possible applications of the metaverse.
More than 60 participants from business and science accepted the invitation to the Faculty of Law and Economics at the University of Bayreuth. The symposium was organised by the Deutsche Werbewissenschaftliche Gesellschaft e.V. and the Bayreuth Chair of Marketing & Consumer Behaviour, under the scientific direction of Dr Jonas Föhr, Prof. Dr Claas Christian Germelmann and Timo Koch.
The event focused, among other things, on the question of how elements of the metaverse, for example augmented or virtual reality, are already being used by people today, and how the technologies surrounding the metaverse can be used to promote inclusion, diversity or culture.
In the joint exchange, it became clear that the ideas of a metaverse as an augmented reality are by no means an invention of Silicon Valley, but have been with mankind since the earliest times; only the technical framework conditions have recently expanded considerably and thus made access to metaverse possible. Besides data protection issues, this brings challenges for science and practice, among other things with regard to understanding what real, genuine experiences actually are, and which experiences are virtual - but not necessarily false.
In addition to the expert lectures, an academic-artistic performance by Michael Schießl (eye square) and the multidisciplinary artist Dennis Rudolph visually and acoustically transformed lecture hall 25 of the University of Bayreuth into the gateway to the metaverse. At the stands of NEDGEX and Bi.Sigma, visitors could immerse themselves in different metaverse platforms with the help of virtual reality glasses and gather their own experiences with the technology. In the final workshop of the event, led by the Bayreuth-based strategy consultancy "The Ringsight", ideas for concrete use cases for the metaverse were collected together. At the forefront: virtual physio or psychotherapy sessions, anonymous application procedures with the help of avatars or virtual concert events.
Prof. Dr. Claas Christian GermelmannChair of Marketing & Consumer Behaviour
E-Mail: bwl3@uni-bayreuth.de
Telefon: +49 (0)921 / 55-6130