Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin presided over a metaverse meeting of presidents of Lotte Corp. and the group’s major business headquarters and president-level executives on Feb. 22.
Chairman Shin, appearing as an avatar wearing casual clothes, said, “All executives participating in the metaverse meeting appear to be younger.”
He said the potential of the future of metaverse seemed to be unlimited. Chairman Shin convened what was the group’s first CEO meeting in the metarverse, to give weight to nurturing metaverse as a growth engine for the group’s leap forward.
During the meeting, Chairman Shin stressed the challenging spirit that overcomes fear on untrodden paths.
He called for pushing forward with a conviction, even though global players are scrambling to secure an upper hand over the unsure course of metaverse platforms.
At the latest VCM, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said, “Endeavoring to improve corporate values in a mid- and long-term perspective is key to making the company compatible with future growth potential.”
He called for reinventing the conventional merit concept. He said, “It is most easy to work in the conventional way of the past, but doing so, it cannot make a future we’re dreaming, and I urge you to work in a new way and reinvent Lotte.”
Each business unit presented its business report during the metaverse meeting. Chairman Shin told the participants that achieving only short-term business outcomes was meaningless, and the group should nurture businesses and make investments in a long-term perspective by grasping the future’s important corporate capabilities.
Lotte Group is attaching companywide priority to secure an upper hand over a metaverse platform of late. Lotte Data Communication is in charge of building a platform.
Lotte Shopping, Lotte Hi-Mart, Lotte Duty-Free and other subsidiaries of the group are expected to do business in the metaverse world.
Chairman Shin, mindful of the group’s offline-oriented business structure, reportedly proposed the metaverse meeting to experience it firsthand.
He said it was meaningful to make a new attempt once or twice each month. He expressed hope such an attempt would prompt group officials to accept changes fast.
A participating executive said companies are required not only to make investments into infrastructure, but also to change the group’s corporate culture and communications.
Chairman Shin, showing a keen interest in advanced technologies, is usually an early adopter of the latest products and services.
Chairman Shin distributed Oculus Quest 2, a virtual reality headset produced by Facebook Technologies and used by himself, to the group’s CEOs and subsidiary CEOs last October.
The gadget is one on which Lotte Group is building a super experience metaverse infrastructure.
Chairman Shin is an avid aficionado of “Ready Player One,” a 2018 American dystopian science fiction adventure film based on Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name.
Chairman Shin saw that the film, depicting a future combining virtual and real worlds, is one capable of better understanding of the metaverse concept. He recommended his executives’ watching the film.
Lotte Group is expanding investments into startups related to metaverse and virtual reality amid Chairman Shin’s support and encouragement.
Lotte’s metaverse world, realized by Caliverse, a subsidiary of Lotte Data Communication. (Photos: Lotte Group)
Lotte Ventures has invested in the AR glass maker Retinal, the industrial VR solution company Virnect, and 3D technology platform company Fassker.
Lotte Home Shopping participated in the investment into 4by4, a virtual reality content maker, as a strategy investor.
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