Metaverse has been hyped as the next revolutionary trend that is going to transform our lives digitally. Created as an interactive virtual-reality space, the Metaverse is going to bring disruption to the offline and existing online business models by instituting rich ecosystems that provide identity, social, gaming, and economic services to the users. It would be interesting to know what possibilities it can bring in for us tomorrow…
Facebook recently changed the company name to Meta, and it’s not a casual facelift, but to show a clear focus on the evolving Metaverse concept of virtual communities, aligning with the company’s mission and vision. Moreover, with Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and many other tech giants joining the bandwagon, the discussion and the approach are getting more evolved and are now leading towards actualization in terms of increasing interest in technological collaborations, funding projects, market dynamics, and most importantly growing attention from the stakeholders and users. In fact, the big brands like Hyundai, Nike, Ralph Lauren have already started using the Metaverse in the marketing promotion, allowing the consumers to get an actual feel and experience of their products in the virtual space.
It would be interesting to understand the possibilities with Metaverse and whether it will bring another disruption in both the business world and personal space. It has still not become a very popular buzzword as this technology concept is still in its infancy today, but It’s been capturing the imagination of the tech industry very fast. The metaverse has the potential to change the way we live and work in the digital world. It will have a huge impact on the digital ecosystem, it could revolutionize how we interact with each other and with our digital devices. It can also provide more business opportunities while we reach and engage customers. This would be a mega trend that is going to influence almost all the sectors ranging from education, entertainment, IT, manufacturing, marketing, finance, trading, retail, and many others.
What metaverse will do?
Metaverse is basically an integration of immersive presence in a virtually interactive self-sufficient digital ecosystem involving the convergence of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and physical worlds in a shared digital space. With this, it can provide the possibility of creating a parallel virtual world. Going forward, as the Metaverse evolves further, online spaces will be created where user interactions will be more multidimensional than current technology supports. Instead of just viewing digital content, users in the Metaverse will be able to immerse themselves in a space where the digital and physical worlds converge. Metaverse is expected to eventually be a place where you can work, play, learn, design, shop, and interact with friends/families in a virtual, online environment. With this, people can use avatars to represent themselves, communicate with each other, and virtually build out the community. The growing gaming industry is one of the primary motivations for new developments in this space.
In the Metaverse, digital currency like NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) would be used to buy anything or participate in online gaming activities. NFTs are expected to play a big role in the usefulness of the Metaverse. NFTs are basically a secure type of digital asset based on the same blockchain technology used by cryptocurrency. An NFT may not be the actual currency here, but can represent a piece of art, a song, or digital real estate. An NFT offers a digital transaction or proof of ownership that can be bought or sold in the Metaverse.
On a concluding note…
You can see, as the Metaverse continues to develop further and grow, the technologies associated with it will keep on developing and improving. At the same time, it is expected to see better, more immersive AR and VR technologies, too. However, at this point of time, it would be difficult to have a clear business strategy or to predict the exact possibilities and opportunities the Metaverse can bring in. Nevertheless, it would be a big evolution and disruption, for sure!
About the author
Shekhar Jitkar, Senior Director, Quadrant Knowledge Solutions
