The Metaverse: It Doesn’t Exist Yet, but Companies Are Already Doing Business in It
Virtual reality platforms aren’t exactly new in the tech world, but metaverse virtual reality could be a game-changer.
The metaverse. The word that Mark Zuckerberg made trendy a couple of months ago with the re-branding of his company from Facebook to Meta has become a major talking point in the tech world. Even if most people have no idea what the metaverse is, they want to be in it.
Let's start with the first (and probably hardest) thing: define the metaverse.
What Is the Metaverse?
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Well, for now, nobody really has a clue what the metaverse is (or is going to be). In VERY BASIC terms, currently, we imagine the metaverse as an immersive 3D experience on virtual reality platforms, where the daily life of the real world is going to mix with that of the virtual world, allowing us to interact in real-time with other people, places, or things—no matter where we are physically.
The idea is that being an immersive world, we will either enter this metaverse through virtual reality (VR) or we will merge the real and metaverse virtual reality world using augmented reality (AR) devices.
“However, this metaverse does not yet exist and is five to ten years from being launched and used massively.”
So, why is there so much interest in this suppositional virtual reality platform, and why are so many companies already investing in it?
These investments have two different aspects:
Developing the Metaverse
As we already said, the metaverse does not exist yet. However, in our digital environment, we can already see some examples of what this metaverse can be.
Platforms where we can chat, play, go to concerts, and interact with others, are the seeds of the metaverse. Some examples of this are online multiplayer games, such as Fortnite or Roblox, or virtual chat and socialization platforms such as Second Life or Imvu.
Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash
However, these games and virtual reality platforms are only approaches that are already playing an important role in the business world and the metaverse economy—they are not THE real thing yet.
The race to conquer the metaverse started a long time ago.
Big tech companies like Apple have been working on virtual reality headsets for years and are expected to make a big launch in 2022.
Microsoft, taking advantage of the wonderful market niche of remote work, has been developing Mersh, a platform compatible with teams, in which meetings will be held in virtual reality with avatars to simulate the environment of an office.
But not everything is coming from the big technology conglomerates. The entertainment companies also want their share of virtual reality platforms. Disney has announced that they are developing their own metaverse virtual reality inspired by the company’s parks and movies.
Likewise, hardware and software companies such as Unity, Autodesk Inc, Nvidia Corporation, and even game creators such as Epic Games are working on developing both the digital world(s), in which we will be immersed and the technology necessary to access them.
2. The Metaverse Business
Some companies have already made inroads into the little metaverse, such as the aforementioned examples: Fortnite, Roblox, and Second Life. Buying “branded” clothes to customize avatars, attending paid concerts of famous singers like U2 or Ariana Grande, and even going to political rallies have been some real-world activities that have already become digital on virtual reality platforms.
These types of successful experiences alongside the backing of companies like Meta, Apple, and Amazon have already made many companies decide that they also want to be part of the metaverse, although there are still no clear rules of the game.
Economically, it’s expected that in the coming years, the value of metaverse virtual reality will reach 800 billion dollars. For this very reason, companies such as Nike, Ferrari, Gucci, and others have found a way to build a brand presence and do business, either by negotiating with NFT's, selling digital items to customize avatars, and even creating virtual reality platforms for their clients.
In addition to these clothing and luxury goods companies that are in the different metaverses to create brand awareness, there are other sectors of the economy that are profiting from the first steps of the metaverse.
The banking and financial industries see the potential to compete with cryptocurrencies and fintech technologies, potentially having an incredible boom in play-for-pay platforms.
Also, virtual real estate companies are having success selling land to build digital buildings. One example is the new Republic of Barbados, which has bought virtual land to build the first official virtual embassy on metaverse virtual reality platforms.
This business is so great that parcels of virtual land within the cryptocurrency-based metaverses Decentraland and Axie Infinity have sold for more than $2 million.
Right now, it’s still not clear how the metaverse will work, what its economy will be like, and how connected it will be to the real world. The only thing we currently know is that there is an ongoing debate about who should have control over this universe, and who will make the rules to control it.
