A New Internet is Coming. Get Ready for the Metaverse.

The metaverse jetted into the collective convo late last fall when Facebook announced a name change to Meta.

Perhaps you have tested a new paint color in your living room through an app. Or, maybe you remember playing Pokemon Go with your kid in 2016.  Well guess what—what you’ve experienced in these virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) apps are key aspects of the metaverse.

What, exactly, is the metaverse?
The metaverse jetted into the collective convo late last fall when Facebook announced a name change to Meta.

You might have heard the metaverse referred to as Internet 3.0. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls it the next iteration of the internet with a focus on connection and presence, where we leap from screens to immersive experiences in “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.”

The metaverse will touch our personal and professional lives. Some call it phygital — a blending of the digital world in the real world and the real world into the digital world.  

Entire virtual societies and economies will emerge. And the commerce that will develop there is iCommerce, or immersive commerce, rather than eCommerce. Today, brands are already using the metaverse to sell virtual goods on gaming platforms like Roblox.

While the metaverse is in its infancy, current examples include the gaming communities of Minecraft and Fortnite, and even games like Second Life and the Sims that have been around for many years.

Governance, safety, privacy and responsibility have yet to be determined. You might say these new frontiers are today’s version of the Wild West. While Facebook’s Horizon Worlds platform is not the only metaverse application, others include Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels and Somnium.

Here are some real life applications of the metaverse that might not be too far away.

Worklife
The pandemic accelerated our reliance on digital tools for remote work, and Zoom fatigue is real. Instead of that 2D meeting experience, in the metaverse, huddles will be 3D occurrences in a virtual conference room involving our avatar or hologram, all while we’re still at the home office. While it’s still not face-to-face, there’s some validity to this work model, where you can avoid the commute and instead “teleport” to the office.

Other applications include virtual training on heavy equipment. Read more about work integrations into the metaverse in this article in the Wall Street Journal.

Recreation
Workouts in the metaverse are already in play. Think Wii Fit but immersive. Some use equipment and others don’t but all gamify the workout to add interest in a vibrant virtual world with changing landscapes. Current examples include Supernatural and Fit XR. 

Concerts have been happening on gaming platforms, such as Fortnite for a while, and are growing in popularity with performers such as Post Malone, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber jumping on board. 

Learning

Dynamic and immersive learning step outside of the classroom Zoom call. This application combines similar worklife adaptations with avatars or holograms in an immersive, virtual classroom with rich experientials.

Experts say it will take 5–10 years for the metaverse to go mainstream. One thing is for sure, those bulky headsets will need to evolve before everyman adoption occurs.

How can my business adapt?

Recently, consumer trends forecaster WGSN reported, “Like the internet did before it, the creation of the metaverse means new opportunities, new products and services, new jobs and businesses, and the demise of incumbents who fail to lean in and adapt to the virtual space.” Wise business leaders are preparing for this next digital iteration, a twin virtual world that interacts and plays off a real-world presence.

Consider these questions as you plan for the future:

• Take some time to learn more about the metaverse. Then consider how your company might evolve there.
• Is there any application of AR or VR that makes sense for your company? Consider product demonstrations or employee training. By adding VR/AR safety training to your curriculum, employees experience lifelike scenarios without real-world dangers. What customer experiences could you create?
• How could my company create in the virtual world? Is there a product to duplicate virtually and sell as iCommerce?
• How and where might my target audience evolve on a virtual twin platform?
  
  

Whether you are already in the metaverse, thinking about the metaverse, or not, Savage excels in creating successful digital strategies for clients in the real and virtual world.

Contact us to learn how we can help your business thrive today and make sure you are prepared for tomorrow.

Photo by note thanun on Unsplash