Metaverse, interview with Cristiana Falcone
June 6, 2022
Let’s talk about metaverse with Cristiana Falcone, director and member of the Related Parties Committee and Sustainability Committee at TIM.
In a recent interview published in Corriere Del Web Cristiana Falcone said that the metaverse was born “from an idea of fluidity between real and virtual, analog and digital, offline and online,” and emphasized how the ability to enter the most private space of the customer/consumer influences “the emotional and psychological sphere more than is already possible.” For her, therefore, the fluidity between real and virtual is clear and distinct, much more concrete than the abstract discussions about the metaverse that we are used to reading in most cases.
Cristiana Falcone wonders what the ethical, legal and governmental implications of the “metaverse” will be. “The function of metaverse in Mark Zuckerberg’s intentions is clearly to plumb the intimacy of the consumer to enter their private space by influencing their emotional and psychological sphere in 360 degrees,” she replies. We then ask her to step back in time, more precisely to Oct. 28, 2021, to review together and comment on the Facebook founder’s video announcement of the metaverse (“The Metaverse and How We’ll Build it Together” is the title of the video, lasting about 77 minutes, which you can watch by clicking here).
“Concurrently with the release of this video,” Cristiana Falcone continues, “Facebook published Meta’s new website, in which we read that the company is developing ‘exciting new technologies that will help people connect to the metaverse and exploring its potential.’ Many of these technologies are already available in the Facebook market places. For example, at https://www.oculus.com we can purchase the Quest-2 visor; at https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/ we can buy a powerful augmented reality creation software. We also recall the collaboration with Ray-Ban to produce Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.”
To understand how these technologies will help Facebook users build the Metaverse, it is sufficient to analyze the “timestamp” of Zuckerberg’s video: the introduction is followed by chapters titled “Social connections” (01:47), “Entertainment” (12:46), “Gaming” (16: 13), “Fitness” (23:58), “Work better and do more” (26:29), “Education” (30:43), “Commerce” (34:12), “Building the metaverse together” (44:54), “Building responsibly” (51:23), “Building the next devices to help unlock the metaverse” (55:33), “What will it take to make the metaverse feel real? “, (01:01:25), “The next chapter” (01:10:40).
“Facebook’s idea is to make the metaverse a collective project open to all and powered by Meta’s products and services,” concludes Cristiana Falcone, who reminds us that Zuckerberg himself has stated that his company “develops technologies that help people connect, communities develop, and businesses grow. Now we’re moving beyond 2D screens to make virtual and augmented reality really help us build the next generation of social technologies.”
We thank Cristiana Falcone and below you can read a short biography taken from her LinkedIn profile
Cristiana Falcone has more than 20 years of professional experience in strategy design and implementation of partnerships for business development gained working with leaders of multinational companies (SONY, Shell, Revlon), interacting with international governmental organizations (ILO, IFAD, FAO, UNDCCP, IADB) and operating in the media world (Radio Televisione Italiana, Gruppo Espresso, Univision, Viacom).
In 2004 she directed the Media, Entertainment, Information and Sports section of the World Economic Forum and then became Senior Advisor to the Executive Chairman and Founder, who entrusted her in particular with responsibility for the development of innovative services and products and geopolitical risk assessment related to emerging technologies.
Since 2006, she has been CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of the JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation, which promotes innovative global initiatives in health, education and poverty reduction to achieve the UNSDG goals.
She serves on the boards of TIM and the Paley Center for Media, the Guido Carli Foundation, Internews, the cultural and publishing project Formiche, Tufts University, and the Summit Institute.
