Metaverse: Future Opportunities and Threats
Simply, what is Metaverse?
If you follow world news you must have heard that Sheikh Hamdan announced Dubai’s new metaverse strategy recently and this going to create over 40,000 virtual jobs!
Are you amazed by what you heard now? Then this article is for you!
First of all, let’s try to understand what exactly is Metaverse? In this new era of technology, the probability of someone never heard of Metaverse will be very less but if you haven’t, here’s what it is:
A metaverse is a collective of 3D virtual worlds focused on the social connection where you can create and explore with other people from anywhere around the world. This is created by combining the advancements in technology starting with creating virtual worlds, improved augmented reality, and the scope of the internet. The word metaverse came from, Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel “Snow Crash” which was published in 1992. But the definitions are sometimes not enough to explain things for us right?
Luckily the world-renowned director Steven Spielberg got your back on this. His 2018 science fiction adventure film – “Ready Player One” shows what is exactly a metaverse is. This movie is adapted from Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel of the same name. When you see the movie keep in mind that all these things shown in it are how Hollywood conceives the concept Metaverse, but heads up, the reality can be different. As of now, nobody knows for sure. It can be of different forms.
What you can see in Metaverse?
Let’s take Xiaomi Metaverse Showroom Experience as an example for your better understanding.Just go to the website
https://demodern.com/projects/xiaomi-metaverse-showroom-experience
where you can transform into the digital avatars you like and it will create a sense of presence for you in the virtual world. With your avatar you can mirror your body language too, so you and other people on the platform feel you all are right there in it. There will be 3D objects that can respond realistically to the avatar’s actions.
How you control your avatar and influence your surroundings is another important thing in the metaverse. It can be through controllers, gestures, or voice commands. Now you can experience your game or dream with this immersive platform every day.
Future Opportunities with Metaverse
Now let’s try to understand what opportunities metaverse holds for the future. You may have heard of the term Meta, But where? You may remember that one of the biggest news of 2021 was the tech giant “Facebook” changing its name to “Meta”. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is one of the futuristic visionaries we have today. So, Why he took this sudden change?! Many of you might wonder if there should be something which led mark to this decision. There’s no way it can be an accident!
Mark Zuckerberg is on a mission to build a new virtual world, where he sees the future and he believes it can take his company to the top of the virtual world platform. It’s clear that the metaverse is the future of social connection. Before someone else, Mark wants to bring metaverse to life through their platform, and the changing of the name from Facebook to Meta is a reflection of this commitment to the future.
If you are a tech enthusiast or a marketing professional, then you shouldn’t miss this opportunity at its very beginning. Remember, how fast social media made clear dominance over all the traditional marketing methods? Just like that, the new platform always opens up a lot of opportunities and if you can bring in gadgets and software that is best suited for the platform it can definitely make you the best in the field.
The futurists already predicted that the metaverse will decentralize the virtual world, which means it won’t be controlled by any one corporation or reliant on one particular company’s hardware. So, as you read earlier anyone can access it, just like the internet!
What metaverse can offer is an amazing list of things starting from the social connection, it brings entertainment, gaming, fitness studio, virtual workrooms, education platforms, and a great space for business. Also, you can enhance the metaverse space together with the community in it.
With metaverse being developed businesses around it are booming like never before. It’s being predicted by cryptocurrency companies and market researchers that metaverse will have the potential to generate a revenue of $1 trillion. This includes the revenue for virtual gaming could increase up to $400 billion by 2025.
Metaverse not only opens up the door to a whole new virtual world but also to a massive business opportunity too. It can be an excellent platform for advertisement, e-commerce, and virtual events. You know how the internet use ads and likewise metaverse will have its own way of displaying ads that can get the attention for any business.
In the coming few years for small businesses as well as large corporations and their investors can think of the time as crucial. An early start is always better, and knowing how to begin will help you get a good start.
Metaverse can offer huge possibilities for brand engagement, every user through their avatar can shop, try out apparel, explore real estate, attend a virtual event, and many many more things. This platform will be breaking any geographical barriers in e-commerce. For business purposes, the users can use a digital wallet and make purchases and transactions smoothly as ever.
Users can freely go around the metaverse world and participate in any group discussion or event and with the accessibility, the platform offers a user will be able to completely engage in new kinds of storytelling experiences where advertisements can get creative and innovative too.
The threats in Metaverse
The one thing you should understand along with your metaverse journey is that it won’t be 100% risk-free! Let’s give you a heads up so that you can prepare for the different scenarios.
Cyber Bullying and Harassment
Cyberbullying is a serious threat which you may encounter in the metaverse. You should be capable to manage and deal with it in the right way possible. We all should give extra care to the most vulnerable, that is young adults and teenagers who have the highest probability to adapt to these new things. There are cases where cyberbullying leads to a low sense of self-worth to suicidal tendencies, especially in teenagers. The human experience in the metaverse is as real as our experience in the real world, so we’ve to be careful for ourselves and for the people we know.
Identity Theft
Identity theft can be the main concern in the metaverse as it may become even easier in the metaverse. Only with strict security measures, we can prevent these possibilities. Can you believe that Identity theft is already a multibillion-dollar industry in the real world; You should be alert for the scenarios like this and when needed expert advice should seek at the earliest.
Unauthorised Data Collection
The metaverse can be a space where your data can be collected without your permission. Also, you may be manipulated to give your data too. Before getting serious with the metaverse you should acquire the necessary do’s and don’ts to get the right awareness.
Technologies of Metaverse
The three most common types of technology associated with metaverse are XR, blockchain, and AI.
XR (Extended Reality)
It’s a common term used to describe all the immersive technologies – augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality combined that merge the physical and digital worlds using headsets and devices. It is believed by many researchers that extended reality or XR will be in the mainstream within the next five years.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed database that stores information in a digital format and is shared among the nodes of a computer network. Blockchains have a crucial role in cryptocurrency systems like bitcoin, where it maintains secure and decentralized transaction records. What blockchain technology offers for metaverse users is more control over their online experience. Blockchain greatly impacted the metaverse with Non-Fungible Tokens, where we can all invest in and support artists, decentralised finance, and smart contracts.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence fills the gap between the physical world and the digital world using a certain level of intelligence from machines, and it is necessary for a number of metaverse experiences. When it comes to artificial intelligence, most probably Siri, Alexa, or Tesla car comes to your mind.
Metaverse will definitely be the next frontier for online interaction, may it be a social connection, shopping, education or entertainment, etc. It has the power to revolutionize the online marketing landscape as well as the possibilities of technological advancement. The metaverse primarily exists in VR, even though it can support 2D apps and desktop engagements. The need for VR headsets and their price range makes their purchase and shipment quantity relatively low compared to the total world population. But the important thing to remember is when computers made their way to market, who thought it would be making their way to almost every home. So we can’t predict the range of changes that will happen in the future, right?!
Related Resources:
https://identitymanagementinstitute.org/
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/metaverse-business-opportunity-insights