The BUddy Post – HKBU Alumni Affairs Office

Alumnus Samuel Lam Hon-yuen (Business Administration) established X Social Group Limited in 2013. As Founder and CEO of the company, Samuel has positioned the company to focus on cross-border social commerce solutions, facilitating international brands to tap into the lucrative China-ASEAN markets. In recent years, he has extended his company businesses to Web3.0 technology, with the aim of promoting arts and multicultural exchange and interaction in Retail 4.0 aspects, across China-ASEAN markets supported by blockchain and hologram technology.

Recently, Samuel has led his team to collaborate with the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) and architecture firm MCG to build Hong Kong’s first Metaverse Art Theatre at Meta12, which provides an interactive platform where the audience can interact, connect and communicate on the metaverse platform, marking a milestone in the experience of art tech.

1. Please briefly share the key points that we need to know in order to understand the concept of Metaverse and participate in it.

Metaverse is an immersive virtual world in which people can work, live, connect and collaborate without time and geographical constraints. Users can experiment with Metaverse for everything including socialising, commerce, live entertainment, heritage tourism and other daily activities. With the ceaseless development of core technologies – BIGANT (Blockchain, Interactivity, Game, Artificial Intelligence, Network and Internet of Things), seamless movements between the Metaverse and the physical world are enabled.

The application scenarios of Metaverse is yet to be defined though as it is embedded by virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality or even front-projected holographic display technology where various types of Metaverse excel with their unique business model.

2. What is the connection between Metaverse and our life? Please state an example. Meanwhile, is there any potential threat to the reality?

The Metaverse is a paradise of shopping consisting of a virtual economy which connects the world using digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for buying, owning and selling things. NFTs are also widely used for collectibles and goods with high appreciation values such as luxury goods, art pieces and limited-edition products by leveraging 3D-driven digital experience which encourages shoppers to appreciate and explore. This perfectly matches with the eCommerce shopping scenes that facilitate international online sales. Taking moutai (茅台) as an example: customers can acquire the rights to purchase this liquor NFTs using fiat currency, possessing ownership of an NFT through a digital token which is traceable via blockchain. By owning this token, your product may increase in value over time, making it a good investment. However, retailers have to evaluate the metaverse gateway carefully to prevent their brands from counterfeits and brand forgery.

3. The technology of Metaverse has been applied to create the first local Metaverse Art Theatre. What is your view on the future development of Metaverse?

The technology of Metaverse has stretched the room for imagination in art. It opens the door for artists, musicians and dancers from all over the world to showcase their creativity by tapping into the virtual and real stage, and this is exactly the reason for us to partner with Hong Kong Arts Festival to develop the first-ever Meta Art Theatre in Hong Kong – a theatre with the concept combining the elements of art, technology and architecture in a digital living space for a brand-new Metaverse art experience. Personally, I hope someday it will become a stage where talents of any age and background can participate and demonstrate their talent to the world.