5G is the latest generation to hit the mobile sector. So, what’s next? That was the question on Haptic Feedback’s Bobby Brill’s mind when he spoke to Shockoe’s Chad Neipling, Director of Engineering and Technology, and Alex Otanez, CEO.

Today’s world of mobility isn’t simply a phone; it’s multiple devices. In Neipling’s words, “It’s about bringing the technology to you, the individual, wherever you are; anytime, anywhere.”

Otanez recognizes mobility’s tendrils extending beyond devices at this point. “It’s about a connected life,” Otanez said. As for which industry plays the most significant role in mobility’s growth, Otanez believes mobility is industry agnostic. “As consumers of technology, as consumers of data, it spans across all industries. For us, it’s about one core tenant: It’s about taking data and creating a user experience through an interface or through a notification that is beneficial to a user.”

Mobility is branching into areas that have yet to realize their full potential. From VR to the metaverse, the connection experience changes how people interact with devices and each other. Neipling said mobile devices could even provide augmented reality from different shopping and retail experiences. “You’re creating this entity through technology in a virtual space.".

The metaverse is an augmented, experience-driven place where companies are still searching for the right formula to participate in a way that makes sense for their brand. Otanez said the clients Shockoe wants to work with are the ones who are pushing boundaries. “They want to understand how they can create a better brand or a better experience for their consumers in the metaverse. And those are the customers that we’re constantly working with.” To accomplish this mission, from either a brand-building or trend-building perspective, Otanez said Shockoe uses best-in-class practices. These practices are critical to maintaining usability expectations.

The metaverse has grabbed the attention of people worldwide. The term frequently appears from television shows to movies and everywhere in between, bringing awareness of emerging technologies to the masses. Haptic Feedback host Dan Cui, VP Sales and Business Development at Shockoe, spoke with Ori Inbar, Co-Founder & CEO of AugmentedReality.org, to discuss how the metaverse is emerging in the "real world." Cui opened the conversation by speaking to the confusion that surrounds the term.

With so many technologies attached to the metaverse, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), 5G, and bitcoin the term itself can get a bit overwhelming.

The list seems to expand daily, so what is the metaverse exactly?

World-renowned expert Inbar with decades of experience in the industry chuckled at the question noting that he had heard it a thousand times in the past year with just as many different answers. "It's definitely a confusing term. Trying to define it right now is kind of a futile exercise, but here's what I'm going to say. I think it's probably safe to say that in simple terms, the metaverse is the next stage of the internet –when it becomes spatial when it becomes immersive."

Essentially, it's when people are no longer looking at 2-dimensional screens. This is not an entirely new concept; in fact, it's been around a lot longer than many realize. Think Pokémon GO, many know of this game even if they haven't actually played it themselves. This interactive game that bridges the "real world" with an internet world is one example of the birth of the metaverse.

An interesting note is that the metaverse will mean different things to different people and different industries. In finance, there is cryptocurrency, for example and for gamers, there are virtual reality gaming systems entering homes at an ever-increasing pace.

What does this mean for small business to large businesses looking to get into this space? For startups, this is a big opportunity to take a stand in this new wave. For the big tech companies and larger enterprises, they are looking for the next opportunity to invest in as current growth plans are plateauing. Inbar cautions to still be careful and to understand first what you are going into. If companies are going into this space, they should think of ways how their brand can extend into the metaverse rather than trying completely, whole new ideas.

In the final episode of a three-part series on analyzing and building actionable tips for developing mobile applications, platforms and digital or mobile experiences, Host Daniel J. Litwin welcomed back a panel of experts from Shockoe. This episode connected the dots between many of the ideas presented in the first two episodes, as well as how impact is measured.

The panel once again included Chandler Tyler and Mason Brown, both product strategists, as well Toz Grewal, a product analyst. The team argued that centering a measurable impact from start to finish can elevate the entire process.

“We outline early on the goals that the product should have,” said Tyler. “A lot of times these overlap with business goals for the product… but we want to find those early on, and we want to figure out how we are actually going to measure against those goals.”

Impact measurement is a term that penetrates every step of Shockoe’s strategy. For instance, Grewal gave the example of how a well-designed product can reduce call volume at the call center.

What do we want the outcome to be, not the output,” Brown further clarified, speaking to how it’s important to determine what a company desires as its end goal.

Looking to the future, the panel also discussed what challenges might be coming on the horizon. The team mentioned data regulation and privacy as the most important issues, and the goal is to find a way to capture data while keeping the customer’s trust.

To wrap up the final episode, Grewal stated, “We don’t care who you are or where you’re from or what you did, as long as you use our products meaningfully.”

In part two of a series on analyzing and building actionable tips for developing mobile applications, platforms and digital or mobile experiences, Host Daniel J. Litwin welcomed back Shockoe industry experts Chandler Tyler and Mason Brown, both product strategists, and Toz Grewal, a product analyst. The group dove deep into the company’s strategies and how other companies can adapt and apply them as well.

The panel stressed the importance of working with clients for solutions. “We get to work very closely with people both at Shockoe and with our clients to really gain different perspectives on what product development means for different roles,” said Tyler.

Brown added, “I think one of the biggest upsides of us and the entire shop is that our software process is pretty transparent when you’re working with us.”

“People want to feel heard,” commented Grewal. “The client feedback and the client response is a persistent aspect of what informs everything that we do… I think is kind of a foundational of how we approach that problem.”

They also spoke to the importance of having a cross-functional team, where the process is not handed off from department to department but is a collaborative situation.

For instance, Brown and Tyler described how the product strategy team works with clients to pinpoint important aspects of a project in the development stage, sometimes even working with clients on site for a hands-on approach. Grewal agreed, further pushing the importance of teamwork.

“Nothing happens in a vacuum. Strategy doesn’t happen in a vacuum; design does not happen in a vacuum, and development does not happen in a vacuum,” Grewal added. “So, similarly, those three efforts function in their best possible form when they’re done in tandem with the client and in tandem with each other.”

Litwin will be back with the panel for the third and final installment of the product strategy process on the “Haptic Feedback” podcast.

In the first part of a three-part series on analyzing and building actionable tips for developing mobile applications, platforms and digital or mobile experiences, Host Daniel J. Litwin talked to a panel of experts from Shockoe, who imparted their experience with product strategy.

The panel included Chandler Tyler and Mason Brown, both product strategists, as well Toz Grewal, a product analyst, all with Schockoe. The trio discussed how product strategy fits into today’s context, and each provided nuggets of wisdom.

For Shockoe and others in the digital application industry, the pandemic helped to accelerate the embracing of digital platforms in disbursing resources toward common goals. The panel all commented on how they defined product strategy and its importance for today’s society.

“The quality was always important, but the pandemic has put into perspective the importance for certain types of digital solutions,” added Tyler.

While for Brown, he commented how product strategy is enabling companies to manager warehouses in different states.

Grewal extended their thoughts, and said, “We exist to validate, confirm, check and test every assumption that an organization makes to decide the future of its product.”

With the development of algorithms, Brown pointed out that companies are learning how to anticipate thinking and cited using the internet and its data to properly strategize within companies.

In general, Grewal warned against being “failure aversive,” and explained, “Embracing the notion of failure pays out long term. You might shoot ten times, but only make it seven.” In other words, failure is an integral part of success.

Litwin will be back with the panel with the second installment of the product strategy process on the “Haptic Feedback” podcast.

Host Dan Cui, VP of sales and business development, discussed the future of technology brought about by the pandemic with CEO Alex Otanez.

Referring to COVID-19 as “the great change,” Otanez commented on how technology advanced much faster because of the pandemic. He explained, “Over the last 12 months, we have essentially progressed what would be equivalent of two to three years.”

Relying on and expecting more of technology has led to two trends:

1. Creating interactive experiences

2. Connecting devices

Otanez predicts the industry will start seeing an emphasis on number two to help consumers have a more convenient, connective experience between devices which is called multi platform. Cui added, “And this connection I think really has to do with customer satisfaction, customer engagement and customer loyalty. And I think that’s one of things we’ve been hearing when talking to enterprise customers… the customers are driving the need back to us.”

Companies are looking to fill the connectivity gap, but the question is how to make the customer journey seamless. Tech companies are looking for a solution, and Shockoe believes inter-departmental collaboration, consulting/development specialists, and augmented reality will transform the industry.

This is where Shockoe comes in. As a multi platform mobile app expert for 10 years, Shockoe focuses on improving customer and employee satisfaction through technology innovation, specifically augmented reality recently. Otanez humbly bragged of their custom approach, “Not sharing too much of our secret sauce, but I think our approach to strategy is very unique in that it’s usable by clients and executable by developers.” The differentiating question they ask clients is: “How do you want your customer and team to feel?”

Tejendra Patel, the Principal Application Engineer at Westrock, joined Shockoe’s Kevon Adonis, Senior Developer, and Andrew Rumbley, Senior Mobile and Web App Developer, to shed light on when app developers should consider cross-platform vs. web when building an app.

“With a cross-platform application, you’re writing code that’s going to match up to native elements,” Rumbley said. “With a web application, you’re not using native components. You’re limited to the web components we’ve used since the 90s, and some features of the mobile platform like access to camera and microphone, and other native functionality is more difficult to work with.” One downside is when new versions of platforms, some of those new features may require code updates for various non-native apps to work with those cross-platforms.

“When you start thinking about, ‘hey, I have tens of millions of users, I have these fancy animations, performance,’ everything is of importance,” Patel said. “Maybe at that point, you’re better off going the native route rather than trying to use Ionic or React Native to build something cross-platform.”

Adonis pointed to some of web applications limitations, especially in hardware interaction. “Over the years, where web has always struggled is it’s difficult to interact with the mic, or the camera, or any hardware on the device. And for good reasons. All security reasons. I’ve never disagreed with any reason in terms of locking access to that hardware.”

With PWAs, web applications have more functionality in the desktop world than ever before, including desktop app icons, which create user familiarity and adoption of an app.

Businesses are turning digital assistants and chatbots to scale communications. But chatbots and digital assistants don’t necessarily replicate a human experience or provide a good experience in all cases. However, new voice and video interfaces are bridging the gap.

On this latest episode of Haptic Feedback, Jamie Young, Director of Product Design with Shockoe, spoke with Nathan Stratton, Founder and CTO of Vocinity, a company committed to providing conversational voice and video interfaces for businesses. Together they tackle how innovation and advancement in voice-video interfaces is driving fascinating use cases for businesses looking to automate interactions through voice.

Data is accessible in so many ways, and now there are technologies that can drive an even higher ROI for companies willing to make an investment. Discussing these emerging trends, including AR, VR, and the metaverse, Haptic Feedback host Courtney Echerd spoke with Dan Cotting, Director of Emerging Technologies, and Dan Cui, VP Sales and Business Development, Shockoe.

Cotting first defined the new term metaverse, “It’s about taking data and putting it where we need it when we need it. It’s a data layer over the physical world, like using your GPS and having it point you in the right direction.”

Consumers will reap benefits, and so can businesses. “Think about training someone to use machinery. You’re doubling up on resources when you could use a headset that recognizes the equipment and tells the person to push this button then the next,” Cotting shared. 

Cui added that the ROI is proven. “Studies show 71% of consumers prefer shopping with retailers that use AR, and those that use it have a 40% improvement in conversions.”

What AR offers is pre-visualization, which can support construction, architecture, and other tangible fields to imagine something before breaking ground or spending money. 

Cui noted that COVID taught the world it can operate virtually and that the metaverse is the next step. “The goal is to surround yourself with content when you need it and being able to do so in a hands-free way with glasses. It’s the next cellphone.”

Cotting shared another example of workers that are in dangerous situations that require both hands. “You don’t want them to be using a phone. Glasses offer them a way to see what they need and have both hands free.”