The Metaverse is popularised in science fiction, and now it is becoming closer to being a part of our daily lives through the use of social media and shopping companies. How can businesses survive in a world where Artificial Intelligence is becoming the present and future of technology, and how does the Metaverse fit into business strategy when futurist ideas are developing into reality at accelerated rates? How do we do this when our data is not up to scratch? How can we move towards success with our data so we are set up for the Metaverse when it arrives?
How can the company evolve, adapt, and succeed using Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse to stay ahead of the competition? What are the potential issues, complications, and benefits these technologies could bring to us and our organizations? This post will explain how to start thinking about these technologies as an organization from a business and data perspective.
The Metaverse is a collective virtual space created by converging virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. AI plays a critical role in this ecosystem, creating new forms of entertainment, education, communication, and more. The promise of creating a persistent 3D digital clone of the world aligned with real-world coordinates goes by many names, such as the Magic Verse, the Parallel Digital Universe, or the Mirrorworld. Why has the Metaverse become interesting now, despite the term appearing in the 1990s? The emergence of the next-generation Internet, Web3, has facilitated discussions on the Metaverse. Web3 is decentralized and centred on users, prioritizing data privacy, security, and ownership. Web3 enables seamless transactions and facilitates the creation of digital assets, which are critical for the Metaverse’s economy.
Before diving into the Metaverse, let us look at the latest news about the Metaverse.
The Metaverse world includes some intriguing developments—experts at Statistica project that the Metaverse will reach a value of US$74.4bn in 2024. In the future, Statistica calculates an expected annual growth rate of 37.73% from 2024 to 2030 (Statistica, accessed May 2024). The research indicates a solid upward trend in the Metaverse’s market value, suggesting that the concept is gaining significant traction.
Meta, formerly Facebook, has heavily invested in their Virtual Reality (VR) branch, Reality Labs, despite posting billions of losses since last year (BBC, 2023). The company’s commitment to the Metaverse is evident, even in the face of significant financial challenges. With the evolving competitive landscape, companies like Apple have also entered the market with their headsets.
Meta’s emphasis is shifting towards artificial Intelligence, focusing on its Reality Labs division despite posting a loss of $3.8 billion in the last quarter. Despite the losses, there is still hope for the Metaverse as the losses have decreased from the previous quarter (CoinTelegraph, accessed May 2024).
On the gaming front, recent developments suggest a shift towards more immersive and interactive experiences in the Metaverse. The Somnia Metaverse Browser has just launched, allowing users to create their worlds and immerse in quests, indicating a growing focus on user-generated content and interactivity. Further, Meta has created Meta Pay for the Metaverse to streamline transactions, making it easier for users to buy and sell digital assets.
The Metaverse is rapidly evolving, and major players like Meta have made significant investments. Currently, initiatives focus on creating immersive experiences, and digital currencies are a growing trend. If this is all abstract, here are some real-life examples of the Metaverse.
Distinct metaverse models are emerging: consumer and enterprise. The consumer metaverse is the digital place where people—as digital avatars—shop, trade, travel, and interact with one another. It is a fully immersive VR-driven experience. The enterprise experience then splits off into the industrial metaverse and workplace communications.
Decentraland is an example of a decentralized virtual real estate world where users can buy, develop, and sell land, creating a marketplace for virtual real estate.
Fortnite is a well-known example of a gaming universe. It is a virtual space where players can attend concerts and film showings. They can also engage and collaborate in building virtual worlds together.
One advantage of the Metaverse is that it provides engaging social experiences. VR Chat is one example of a platform that enables users to interact using 3D avatars in various virtual environments.
The Metaverse is also part of the engagement and training sphere. ENGAGE VR is a virtual reality teaching and corporate training platform offering immersive experiences for education and collaboration.
The Metaverse is probably most popularly known for virtual fashion and retail experiences. A well-known example is the Gucci Garden, an immersive Robox experience. Consumers can try out and purchase virtual Gucci products. There is even a reported case where a Metaverse consumer purchased a virtual Gucci Dionysus handbag through the Italian luxury brand’s Gucci Garden Experience for $1,000 more than the actual physical version of the Gucci bag.
Another Metaverse model is the Business model, which focuses on collaboration in the workplace. One example of this technology is Microsoft Mesh, which integrates with Microsoft Teams and offers mixed-reality spaces for people to collaborate remotely in a shared holographic experience.
The Metaverse can also facilitate creativity. One example of this application in the entertainment and arts sphere is the Sandbox, a community-driven platform where creators can monetize voxel assets and gaming experiences on the blockchain. While other uses of the Metaverse encourage virtual worlds, Matterport (soon to be acquired by CoStar Group) provides virtual tours of properties, enabling people to visit and explore real-world spaces in a virtual environment.
The industrial Metaverse is a virtual environment that represents real-world systems. It combines the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and mixed reality to create digital twins of places, processes, objects, and human interaction. Organizations can monitor, interact with, and analyze their systems in real-time, enabling quick decision-making and value creation.
These examples illustrate the diverse applications of the Metaverse, cutting across industries and transforming the way we interact, work, learn, and entertain ourselves digitally. In my next post, I will take a look at whether the Metaverse will pose a risk to traditional businesses – and what this question really means. In the meantime, check out my post on Will Artificial Intelligence Make or Break Small Businesses?
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