Building the Open Metaverse Patrick Cozzi and Marc Petit

Joseph Kim, the CEO of Lila Games, takes listeners on a journey through his remarkable career in the gaming industry, spanning over two decades of experience at major companies and entrepreneurial ventures.

Kim begins by sharing his background in electrical engineering and computer science, followed by his early forays into startups and management consulting. He then delves into his transition to the gaming world, including his involvement in the early days of social and mobile gaming, as well as his role in the successful launch of King of Avalon at FunPlus.

As the conversation progresses, Kim provides a candid account of the challenges he faced in establishing Lila Games, his latest venture focused on developing shooter games in India. He emphasizes the importance of a relentless work ethic, brutal honesty, and a strong company culture, sharing his company's values and the significance of aligning employees with the organization's operating principles.

Kim also offers valuable insights into the current state of the gaming industry, addressing the impact of Apple's deprecation of IDFA on user acquisition strategies and the potential implications for various game genres. He shares his perspectives on the rise of Web3 gaming and the viability of emerging platforms like UEFN and Unreal Engine for game development.

Furthermore, Kim delves into the competitive landscape and strategic considerations for companies in the ever-evolving gaming market, drawing parallels to industry giants like Ubisoft and Embracer Group. He explores the question of synergies and the ideal size for companies, as well as the challenges of operational efficiency in an increasingly competitive global market.

Throughout the conversation, Kim's passion for the gaming industry and his commitment to creating meaningful experiences shine through. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, curiosity, and staying on top of industry trends, which he achieves through his prolific content creation, including his popular GameMakers podcast and newsletter.

In this thought-provoking conversation, Virginie Maillard, Head of Global Research in Simulation and Digital Twin at Siemens Digital Industry, shares her insights on the industrial metaverse. She defines the industrial metaverse as a virtual space where users can interact with digital twins, enabling real-time collaboration and decision-making for solving real-world problems. Virginie emphasizes the crucial role of digital twins as the foundation for the industrial metaverse, enabling realistic simulations, optimizations, and immersive experiences. She highlights the advantages of the industrial metaverse, including time and cost savings, accelerated innovation, improved sustainability, and enhanced operational performance. Virginie underscores Siemens' commitment to open standards and interoperability, actively contributing to initiatives like the Metaverse Standards Forum and the Alliance for OpenUSD. She also discusses the challenges of implementing open standards and the importance of diverse perspectives in addressing complex problems.

In this insightful conversation, Ashley Crowder, the co-founder and CEO of VNTANA, takes us on her entrepreneurial journey from quitting her engineering job to pioneering a company that is revolutionizing how enterprises leverage 3D and augmented reality. Ashley shares her passion for spatial computing and immersive technologies, which led her to co-found VNTANA, initially focused on creating location-based mixed reality experiences for events.

As the demand for 3D content grew, Ashley and her team developed a software platform to automate the optimization, conversion, and management of 3D assets, which eventually became VNTANA's core offering. Ashley highlights the challenges of managing complex 3D assets, particularly in ensuring consistent visual representation across different platforms and devices. She emphasizes the importance of open standards like GLTF and USD in enabling seamless integration of 3D content across design, sales, and marketing workflows.

Ashley discusses VNTANA's innovative platform, which features a proprietary cloud infrastructure called ModelOps, capable of creating custom data pipelines and automated optimization processes. This allows clients like Kohler, Puma, and Astec Industries to upload thousands of assets simultaneously and convert them to meet specific requirements while maintaining fidelity.

Throughout the conversation, Ashley underscores the significance of open standards in driving scalability and democratizing 3D experiences. She touches on the potential impact of AI and emerging technologies on 3D content creation and asset management, while acknowledging the need for ongoing advancements in standards to meet evolving industry demands.

Ashley shares insights into VNTANA's work with global brands across various sectors, including fashion, manufacturing, and retail. She highlights the diverse use cases, from reducing physical samples and carbon footprint to enhancing e-commerce experiences with 3D product visualization and augmented reality training.

Looking towards the future, Ashley expresses excitement about the adoption of 3D and AR by industry giants like Amazon and Google, driving widespread adoption across categories. She envisions a future where 3D standards become as ubiquitous as 2D content standards, enabling seamless integration of immersive experiences into everyday consumer and enterprise workflows.

Overall, this conversation with Ashley Crowder offers a compelling perspective on the present and future impact of 3D and AR technologies across industries, driven by the democratization of content creation, open standards, and innovative platforms like VNTANA.

In this captivating conversation, Alex Mahon, the trailblazing CEO who led the digital transformation of Channel 4 and previously of The Foundry, unveils her bold vision for the future of television. With a unique background spanning medical physics and television production, Mahon's journey has been marked by a passion for change and innovation.

Mahon delves into the challenges of transitioning traditional broadcasting to the digital realm, navigating the shifting consumer habits and the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube. She emphasizes the need for broadcasters to adapt their business models, marketing strategies, and content creation to align with how consumers want to consume media – on-demand, often for free, and increasingly on personal devices.

Exploring the potential of immersive and interactive technologies, Mahon highlights the importance of gamification, co-experience, and progression systems to engage audiences. She envisions a future where scripted storylines and physical game shows are integrated into gaming environments, allowing viewers to participate actively and climb leaderboards based on their skills.

Mahon's commitment to diversity and sustainability is a driving force, as she shares her approach to increasing representation both on-screen and behind the scenes at Channel 4. From ensuring equal representation in the top leadership to creating thought-provoking content that tackles societal issues head-on, Mahon's principled leadership shines through.

She also emphasizes the industry's role in addressing climate change, advocating for brave, thought-provoking content that simplifies the messaging around sustainable practices. From pushing for greener production methods to launching campaigns that challenge politicians and businesses to take systemic action, Mahon's initiatives demonstrate her commitment to using media as a catalyst for positive change.

Throughout the conversation, Mahon's candor and ability to ask hard questions, find innovative solutions, and convince others to embrace change are evident. As a trailblazer, she inspires with her vision for a media landscape that seamlessly blends tradition with cutting-edge technologies, while championing diversity, sustainability, and social responsibility.

Mahon's journey is a testament to the power of boldness, creativity, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. Her passion for storytelling and her belief in the transformative potential of media are evident in every aspect of her work, from driving digital transformations at major companies to advocating for underrepresented voices and environmental causes.

Mahon delves into the challenges of transitioning traditional broadcasting to the digital realm, navigating the shifting consumer habits and the rise of streaming platforms. She explores the potential of immersive and interactive technologies, highlighting the importance of gamification, co-experience, and progression systems to engage audiences.

Mahon's commitment to diversity and sustainability is a driving force, as she shares her approach to increasing representation both on-screen and behind the scenes. She emphasizes the industry's role in addressing climate change and advocates for brave, thought-provoking content that tackles societal issues head-on.

Throughout the conversation, Mahon's candor and principled leadership shine, showcasing her ability to ask hard questions, find innovative solutions, and convince others to embrace change. As a trailblazer, she inspires with her vision for a media landscape that seamlessly blends tradition with cutting-edge technologies, while championing diversity, sustainability, and social responsibility.

Marc & Patrick are back for a new season of Building The Open Metaverse. This season will be focused on topics like open standards, industrial metaverse, the web and many other.

Timothy Bates provides his perspectives on key 2023 technology topics based on decades of industry experience.


On AI, Bates notes the industry's transition towards human-centric models tailored for specific use cases versus generalized models, citing issues with bias. He contrasts corporate, group-specific, and individual models optimized for different needs.


Regarding automotive, Bates discusses digital twin benefits demonstrated at General Motors, like improving factor productivity by virtually validating manufacturing processes. He outlines the software integration disrupting vehicles to enable expanded in-car experiences and coherence with external ecosystems via protocols.


About the metaverse, Bates advocates for interoperability standards to connect virtual worlds, contrasting walled gardens. He sees promise in OpenXR for VR headsets and indicates metadata extensions may be required for engineering use cases.


Finally, Bates aims to expand computing access and skills to open professional opportunities for those with less privilege. He notes metaverse jobs could arise in new regions and Role of location and demographics as adoption increases.

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Building the Open Metaverse is a podcast hosted by Patrick Cozzi (Cesium) and Marc Petit (Epic Games) that invites a broad range of technical experts to share their insights on how the community is building the metaverse together.

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