Happy Diwali (aka festival of lights) to our readers from both east and the west alike! As it turns out, there couldn’t have been a better moment than today, to publish this article - as light (energy), according to most “faiths”, indeed has originated from the Word – and rightfully so, it all started with that Word (the creator), saying- “Let there be a light”. Granted, that Word might sound different, in different faiths/philosophies - i.e. as “the Word”, “dvr”, “om”, “allah” or "cosmos"– however, the common consensus, among most of them is that, all of these different sounding words mean the same only.
In other words, the Word, not only created the light, but also, has put the “purpose driven seedal chain principle” in motion, which eventually separated the universe, into real and virtual worlds, within the time, space and matter dimensions, as depicted in the picture above! Rightfully so, the same purpose driven seedal chain principle (i.e. Purpose Driven Word->Light->Energy->Force->Power->Virtual Reality Experience), not only, happens to be the key principle behind our firm’s Triune Purpose Frameworks ( PDL©, PTV© and PIP© ), but also, is a key enabler for answering the following three key questions faced by businesses today, in an integrated manner, within the dimensions of leadership, strategy and innovation - as explained in detail, in one of our earlier articles.
- How far would we want to go? – Establishing the geographical market boundaries to help answer “where to play and what to play” question- Force in Play
- How long would it take to get there? – Setting the timeline expectations to help answer “when do we need to win” question - Power in Play
- How much would it take? – Setting the resource or capability expectations to help answer “How do we win” question - Energy in Play
The journey for the next Billion dollar game changer opportunity starts now…
With that said, I am sure, someone is asking – Where are we going with it? Let us face it – most breakthroughs within civilizations (or businesses for that matter) have happened, only when humans invented new experience pool moments (or market segments), within the context of these three dimensions of time, space and matter, spanning both physical and virtual worlds. While history, (all the way from stone ages), is being filled with many such examples, the one example, we all can relate and understand better is, what Apple/Google/Motorola and others have done, recently within the smart platforms space (Phone, Tablets etc). If you look at it deeply, they, not only have created a brand new experience pool (or market segment which never existed before), but also, have masterfully mixed, both the real and virtual world experience moments, and custom tailored, it to the needs and wants of the 21st century consumers – resulting in the creation of the billion+ dollar market segment, which never had existed before, in the first place.
Sure enough, one of the key questions, that is often asked in our C-suite advisory engagements is – “what is going to be the next billion dollar game changer opportunity within our industry?” The reason it has become such an important question is, because, history is filled with many examples, where most companies, not only, have failed to seize their billion dollar moments on a timely manner, but also, sadly in some instances, have let their competitors eat their own lunches too. So, the natural follow-up question is - is there a proven recipe (or formula) to proactively identify those billion dollar opportunities, on a timely manner, much ahead of the competitors? The answer, in Einstein’s words is- “opportunity identification is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” - meaning experimentation mindset, is the answer here- as we never know, which experimentation project, will bring forth the next billion dollar “aha’ moment.
Billion dollar game changer opportunities are all about creating Experience Pools that never had existed before!
With that said, our experience also suggests that most billion dollar game changer opportunities, share a common characteristic of creating experience pools(i.e. market segments) which never had existed before - as evident in the Smart Phone/Tablet story. How do you do that? Part of the answer, is in the phrase experience pool itself – I.e. It is all about redefining the experience moments, within the three dimensional experience continuum of time, space and matter - and then, rendering company’s P&S’s and business models (new and old) within the context of those experience moments. In other words, the success recipe(or formula) is all about augmenting real world physical experiences, with simulated virtual experiences, in the form of hybrid experience models, that is custom tailored to the needs and wants of the 21st century consumers.The challenging part, though is, finding that optimal VRE mix between virtual and real word experiences, as it varies from industry to industry (and company to company as well)- as some industries, like media and entertainment, are very high on virtual experiences, whereas, old economy style brick-and-mortar industries like manufacturing, are high on real world experiences, but very less on virtual experiences.
Virtual Reality Experience (VRE) Portfolio Mix
Before answering that question, let us first set the stage, with our own purpose innovation driven VizPlanet concept posted within the MIX site (http://www.managementexchange.com/hack/purpose-landing-vizplanet%C2%A9-our-generation%E2%80%99s-sputnik-moment) , as our VizPlanet platform, is one of the great examples, where we had augmented real world experiences, with virtual experiences, in the form of hybrid experience models, and custom tailored them to the needs and wants of the 21st century consumers. With that said, timing couldn’t have been better, that the need of the hour is a framework to arrive at that the optimal virtual reality experience (VRE) portfolio mix for each industry - as optimal VRE mix is going to be the next deal breaker, when it comes to succeeding in this digital experience driven 21st century economy.
Pure Play VRE Portfolio Realms
First things first – Let us define some terminologies. In rudimentary physics terms, Experience pool is nothing but objects (matter or P&S’s) that move in time and space dimensions, producing unique intervention moments! The corresponding real world experience pool equation is => matter+ time+ space => as depicted in the upper right hand side of the picture above.
Similarly, virtual experience pool is the reverse of the above definition - it is nothing but virtual objects (i.e. no-matter or virtual P&S’s) that move in both “no-time” and “no-space” dimensions, producing a similar, yet unique intervention moments! The corresponding virtual experience equation is => no-matter+ no-time+ no-space => as depicted in the lower left hand side of the picture above.
When we combine these two equations, in all possible combinations, we see the following 8 pure-play VRE realms emerging. For an easy readability, we have given a gamification platform example for each realm, so that readers can comprehend the characteristics of these 8 VRE realms within its context. For example, those of us who have played the “Wii” game can easily relate and comprehend the meaning of “augmented virtuality” realm, and so on and so forth. We call these 8 realms as pure-play VRE reams, because they follow a straight line progression within the three dimensional chart of time, space and matter- as opposed to the free-flow progression exhibited by the hybrid-play realms, as explained in the next section.
Hybrid-Play VRE Portfolio Realms
The next natural follow-on question is – what if, if every one of these 8 Pure-play VRE realms get mixed and matched, with rest of the pure-play realms, thus resulting in free-flow progression based, hybrid-play VRE portfolios realms? Rightfully so, some of the business model idea configurations, we had proposed within our larger VizPlanet platform, are classic examples for this free-flow progression based “hybrid-play VRE portfolio business models”, as explained below –
- VizPlant© - Combination of Reality, Duplicated Virtuality, Augmented Virtuality and Alter reality enabled – postponement strategy/telemetry/nano-technology driven manufacturing
(in-home and/or distributed) business model for CPG, Pharma and Precisions equipment industries. - VizMall©/VizStore© - Combination of Reality, Duplicated Virtuality, Augmented Virtuality enabled Virtual shopping mall/store platform business model for Retail, Media, CPG and Entertainment industries.
- VizTown©/VizThemePark©/VizClassroom© - Combination of Reality, Duplicated Virtuality, Augmented Virtuality enabled Virtual work place platform business model for all industries.
Please note that these examples are just tip of the iceberg when it comes to the “hybrid-play VRE portfolio realm based business models”– however, when we scratch the surface beyond them, by mixing and matching them in different combinations, we can come up with variety of interesting business model combinations (maximum of 63350 possibilities i.e. 8 possible repeatable combinations out of this 8 realms - using the formula 15! / (8! x7!)), within our VRE portfolio framework.
Conclusion
With that said, the billion dollar challenge before us today is - how can companies, render their products, services and business models, within the context of this VRE realms (each with varying weight factor), producing unique experience moments, that is custom tailored to their company’s purpose seed (or DNA)? The winners, in our opinion, are those companies, who, not only find the right answer for this question, but also, who customize their P&S’s and business models, within the context of this VRE Portfolio Mix, that is further custom tailored to the needs and wants of the 21st century consumers!
In closing, let us fast forward to 2020- in hindsight, let history decide - if we were right on with our intuition!
