Is this how the metaverse arrives? As more and more companies shift their plans for the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show from on-site to online in the face of the Omicron variant, many attendees and brands will interact with exhibits and product launches purely in a virtual world. P&G will be among them, the company announced last week. 

For the second year in a row, P&G will be taking its LifeLab concept online. The LifeLab debuted at P&G’s first appearance at CES in 2019, and after two years on-site, it went virtual in 2021. Much larger in cyberspace than it could be at CES, the LifeLab online is an interactive, immersive platform complete with virtual product demonstrations and games across multiple floors and exhibit halls. Attendees design an avatar and then enter the LifeLab, where they’ll also have the opportunity to bump into other avatars with virtual name tags. The goal is to replicate the spontaneity of in-person events.

This year’s LifeLab will feature product launches and feature displays centered around oral care, grooming, beauty and sustainability.  “At P&G, innovation means solving the problems real consumers face every day,” says Phil Duncan, Global Design Officer at P&G.

Visitors to the LifeLab will find the BeautySPHERE, an exhibit space putting an emphasis on “responsible beauty” — products that use sustainable ingredients and packaging. The oral care section from Oral-B aims to inform consumers about good oral health through an interactive game, “Attack of the Cavity Creeps,” as well as through the launch of a new product, iO10, that comes with coaching tools embedded into the device itself. Oral-B is improving access to oral care through new affordable toothbrushes, as well as a partnership with teledentistry startup Grin that will be unveiled at the event.

Others on display at CES include Gillette, which will debut a new razor that also cleans the face before shaving to combine skincare and shaving. And Tide Cold Water will be a part of a sustainability exhibit that walks through a range of ways P&G is working to reduce its carbon footprint.

CES runs from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas and Jan. 4-13 online.