It should be remembered that in March 2021, the famous brand of building bricks, LEGO, had announced that it was thinking of launching bricks in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). This announcement had not been unanimously approved by the community because of the energy-consuming nature of NFTs, which some people pointed out. Since the beginning of the year 2022, LEGO seems to turn more towards projects for the metaverse.
The metaverse is not only for adults
Last April, The LEGO Group, along with Sony Group Corporation, participated in Epic Games’ $2 billion funding to accelerate the development of a metaverse. With this funding, The LEGO Group unveiled its ambition to create an immersive and engaging experience for children.
In addition, the company has pledged to develop this metaverse for children in accordance with 3 principles:
- Protecting children’s rights, including making safety a priority;
- Protecting children’s privacy;
- Give them tools to control their digital experience.
In short, Lego’s ambition is to participate in the creation of a secure metaverse so that children are familiar with what will constitute the world of tomorrow.
The prospects of the metaverse for children
On the occasion of the 5th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is currently taking place, LEGO participated in a panel discussion organized around the topic of “Possibilities of the Metaverse”. This discussion brought together the following personalities:
- Philip Rosedale, co-founder of High Fidelity;
- Pascal Kaufmann, founder of the Mindfire Foundation;
- Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap;
- Hoda Al Khzaimi, research assistant professor at New York University;
- Edward Lewin, vice president of the LEGO Group.
The protagonists of this discussion were mainly interested in the perspectives of the metaverse and building bricks. Indeed, Edward Lewin reiterated his ambition to build a future for children within the metaverse:
“One in three people using the internet is a young adult or a child. So, I will really focus on building the children’s point of view, since they will be the future users.”
In addition, the LEGO Group vice president emphasized that artificial intelligence and the metaverse could change the way children learn. Indeed, he took the example of a volcano that children see today through a 2D book, but that they could soon discover in 3D thanks to augmented reality. According to him, these are 2 very different experiences and “it could be a great way to learn for future generations”.
If one thing is certain, it is that today’s children will fully participate in tomorrow’s world. It is therefore essential to prepare them intelligently for it. So, just like the Sibley couple who explain what cryptocurrencies are to children, the LEGO Group’s ambition is to be commended.
