Accenture Ramps Up Metaverse Campaign with a Strategic Investment in Forma Vision

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Quick take:

Accenture Ventures has announced a strategic investment in Forma Vision.
Forma Vision provides 3D technology that enables the creation of holographic images of people, objects and environments.
The partnership is part of Accenture’s mission of developing technologies that connect the physical and digital worlds.

Accenture Ventures, the investment arm of the Irish-American professional services company Accenture Plc. (NYSE: ACN) has announced a strategic investment in Forma Vision.

Forma Vision is a 3D tech startup that enables the creation of holographic images of people, objects and environments in the metaverse. The platform’s real-time volumetric streaming service allows people to meet and work in immersive 3D spaces just like in real life.

Unlike using 3D avatars people appear as themselves, which makes activities like holding boardroom meetings in the metaverse more formal, authentic and engaging.

In March 2022, Accenture launched the “Metaverse Continuum” platform, its flagship metaverse product created to onboard brands into the 3D virtual world. This was not the company’s first foray into the metaverse, having already launched its own metaverse-based professional hub dubbed “The Nth Floor”, which enables its staff to meet, interact and conduct orientation for new hires.

This strategic investment allows Accenture to accelerate its metaverse campaign by enabling it to easily teleport real-life conversations and meetings into the metaverse.

Commenting on the announcement on Thursday, David Treat, senior managing director and global lead of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group said: “Accenture sees the metaverse as an evolving and expanding continuum of technologies that will increasingly blur the boundary between the physical and the digital and transform the way businesses and consumers interact. We believe Forma Vision’s volumetric video technology will enable more immersive, engaging interactions and help further bridge real and virtual worlds by allowing people, places and things to be more authentically represented in the metaverse.”

Accenture leads a growing list of mainstream business service providers that have jumped on the metaverse train. In January last year, PwC purchased a digital plot of land, launching its metaverse campaign. In a survey cited by the global financial services and consulting company in January 2023, PwC said 82% of companies expect to integrate some elements of the metaverse into their businesses within the next three years.

Accenture seems to be ahead of the curve in that race given its activity in the metaverse over the past 10 months. In its own report, also published in 2023, Accenture expects the metaverse to hit a valuation of $1 trillion by 2025.

Adam Kirk, founder and CEO of Forma Vision, commented: “Volumetric collaboration is the future of hybrid work. Our mission is to bring truly natural communication to enterprise, to allow everyone to contribute meaningfully independent of location. With Accenture as our partner, we will deliver unparalleled collaboration experiences to a wide range of enterprise customers.”

Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures highlighted Forma Vision’s holographic meeting platform saying it could accelerate the process of onboarding enterprise teams into the metaverse.

“Volumetric video allows people to show up as their authentic selves in the metaverse. Imagine having your favourite music artist perform in your living room. We believe video holograms can dynamically enhance everything from e-commerce, gaming and other media, sports and entertainment experiences to virtual healthcare, medicine and even product design,” added Lounibos.