This thing called the “metaverse” – a more immersive internet – is, at its core, a movement toward interactive storytelling and experiential learning.
The goal of immersive media is to help people experience content on a firsthand basis.
As technology, such as virtual reality, becomes even-more embedded in our everyday lives, immersive media will be a tool to help leaders become more effective communicators. How?
Immersive, experiential media will help leaders:
- Create an audience experience that includes information, data, and the opportunity for people to jump into the center and experience the situation for themselves – going far beyond the traditional, and more passive communication approach of “showing and telling.”
- Create opportunities to cultivate genuine concern, empathy, and humanity by helping people not only see, but experience information firsthand, so they can draw their own conclusions.
- Bridge cultures, communities, and resources across the globe, enhancing viewer engagement that could lead to a greater sense of inclusiveness and participation.
- Connect real people and new resources, going beyond locality, where “local” becomes digital. For example, people could travel virtually across the globe to experience the dynamics of poverty, war, hunger, climate change, and many situations where they would not otherwise be able to experience firsthand. This could create new empathy, partnerships, donors, and strategies.
- Enhance employees’ and stakeholders’ vision for the future, bringing to life compelling strategies through 3D and VR. This could include peering into the future of a company, as well as traveling through various future scenarios resulting in a unified vision for, and commitment to the future.
To be clear, immersive media will be a leadership tool in the toolbox, not a panacea. It will never create a substitute for ineffective leadership!
To learn more about the metaverse, and what it will take to grow your skills as leader, read my new book, Leadership in the Metaverse: Creating the Future of WebWe Through Strategy and Community Building (Fast Company Press, 2023).
