Metaverse, a dynamic and interoperable virtual space like the Internet but in 3D, spans various digital platforms where people can shop, play, work, and hang out together in real time. Rise and advancement of digital technologies such as cloud computing, web 3.0, ultra-low latency networking and blockchain technologies have led to the evolution of metaverse, also known as virtual universe. Although Metaverse is still in nascent phase, it has become big business with technology titans such as Meta (previously known as Facebook), Microsoft, Roblox, Epic Games, etc. creating their own virtual worlds on the platform. Within the metaverse, users can communicate with people, design virtual fashion items, sell and buy virtual articles, attend events, take trips online, try on clothes digitally for purchase, etc. The possibilities are endless with what Metaverse can allow one to do.
Metaverse is quickly becoming mainstream among masses, especially for younger generations. Google has invested USD39.5 million into a private equity fund for metaverse projects, particularly in VR and AR and development of a shared virtual reality space. Even Microsoft acquired the video game development company Activision Blizzard for a whooping USD70 billion to establish its stakes in the future of metaverse gaming. Brands like Nike, Gucci, Balenciaga, Samsung, Louis Vuitton, etc. also participate in the metaverse universe. In 2022, Dolce & Gabbana sold the first ever collection of non-fungible tokens for about USD5.7 million, some of which were accompanied by the physical versions of the items. With heavy investments and interest from tech companies and brands around the world, it is safe to say that Metaverse is the future of the internet, which promises an entirely new way of interaction and brings a new wave of innovation.
According to TechSci Research report on “Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Market – Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast. 2018-2028 Segmented By Product Type (Head-Mounted Display, Head-Up Display, Smart Glass, Handheld Device Applications), By Organization Size (Large Enterprises, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises), By Offering (Hardware & Software), By Application (Consumer, Enterprise), By End User (Entertainment, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Defense, Consumer Electronics, Automotive, & Others), By Region”, the global augmented reality and virtual reality market is anticipated to grow at a formidable rate during the forecast period. The market growth can be attributed to the rise of mobile gaming sector and increasing demand for consumer electronics.
Business Applications of Metaverse
The value that Metaverse holds for businesses is unfathomable. As people are flocking towards virtual reality, businesses are leveraging the opportunities to reach out to an audience with more appetite for 3D content.
- Social Media and Branding
Metaverse marketing is a new digital marketing medium that helps one promote their products, services, or company through the metaverse. By creating virtual markets, stores, and products, brands can provide customers with personalized virtual experiences, which helps to brand more effectively than any other digital marketing channels. Furthermore, metaverse platforms offer people opportunities to buy products through digital currencies such as NFT and cryptocurrencies. For instance, virtual platform Xone allows you to build your virtual world and lets you do all the activities like on regular Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms.
In addition, the metaverse lets you be a part of the digital world through your virtual avatar that moves, talks, and does everything a real person does. Real-time interactions help companies to understand their buyers better. Domino’s Pizza established a virtual food counter in Decentraland to allow their customers to enjoy virtual experience like they do in real life. With this kind of realism, brands would be limited to social media pages but expand their horizons to immersive virtual rooms and social media stores.
Traditional social media platforms are based on one-size-fits-all approach but metaverse-based social media creates unique and tailored experience for each user. This helps them feel more connected to the platform and they are likely to engage with it. In addition, three-dimensional content can be used to meet the needs of a specific customer, just as web material can be deployed on-demand to match personas visiting your website. For instance, the 3D storefront can change to a beach scene if a customer's interactions indicate that she wants to buy designer glasses to wear on the beach.
The entire sales and marketing process will undergo a significant transformation with enhanced social media and optimized business communication. Virtual hoardings and billboards on virtual highways and expressways are serving as medium of communication, which the brands are leveraging to be seen by millions of users in real-time. Moreover, with more data points available for the online users in metaverse, brands will be able to position themselves better and create fascinating results.
- Revolutionizing the Retail Experience
Retailers have a wide choice of options to connect with customers and design one-of-a-kind customer experiences in the metaverse, a virtual environment. Customers in the Metaverse can walk around freely, explore various virtual locations, and engage in social and immersive interactions with others, in contrast to regular internet shoppers. Many established brands like Gucci, L’Oreal, Adidas, H&M, etc. have established their presence in metaverse. Businesses are renting spaces on virtual platforms such as Meta Horizon world. Sandbox and Decentraland where they can rent spaces to display their products to the target audiences. Currently, most businesses in the metaverse offer NFTs and digital products, but this could evolvesoon. It is possible to make a combined physical and virtual purchase, such as buying a next gen digital twin that can subsequently be delivered as a tangible item in the real world and be an exclusive virtual collection in the metaverse.
Another way retail brands can move into the metaverse is through making NFTs exclusive and accessible. NFTs do not need to be costly to create appeal among audiences as curiosity is the number one purchase driver for NFTs. American Eagle, a clothing brand, accomplished this by selling their NFTs for $1 each and paired the release with a physical patch version as a collectible, which could be later sewed into their jeans. Since the price of NFTs was so low, the concept turned out to be a hit among first-time collectors, which mainly consisted of Gen-Zs.
By opening virtual stores, brands can bridge the gap between in-store and online shopping experiences. The 3D digital spaces can become a third mode of retail that supplements and replaces existing eCommerce platforms. For instance, tech giant Samsung launched its first metaverse store, known as Samsung 837x in Decentraland where users could stop by and browse collections or take on quests. The store has received over 120,000 customers.
- Asset Management in Industrial Sectors
The metaverse is changing how physical assets at factories are maintained by breaking time and space boundaries. As industrial world is moving towards autonomous factory and transitioning to Industry 4.0, modernization of existing facilities requires the ability to contextualize massive amounts of data. The design, construction, operation, and optimisation of physical systems employing immersive cloud-based technology is being redefined by the industrial metaverse to increase efficiency and sustainability. Simulations and remote operating technologies are enabling safe remote contact, effective process monitoring, and proactive problem solving. Companies like Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company are transforming their operations with industrial metaverse for adding predictability and resiliency to the supply chain.
Advances in 3D virtualization technologies enable the creation of ultra-realistic digital environments. Collaborative robots (Cobots) can learn in virtual factories to work in harmony with humans, which would enhance operational efficiency and increase efficiency in manufacturing operations. Several organizations are using the metaverse to demonstrate digital twins, a virtual model designed to accurately reflect a physical object. Businesses in a wide range of industries such as engineering and construction, as well architecture, travel and hospitality, can use next gen digital twins to construct exact reproductions of actual sites virtually. For instance, Nokia Bell Labs has collaborated with AeroFarms to use drone technology and advanced analytics for identifying crop anomalies and predict production yield. The information is then provided to the digital twin of its indoor vertical farm for optimizing water, energy, and nutrients use.
Besides, the metaverse will ultimately enhance supply chain management performance across all areas, including product design, sourcing, production, and inventory. Manufacturers will build simulated factories in the metaverse, which will help them plan better layouts for production lines and equipment and simulate how people and machines interact during the manufacturing process. This capacity is expected to improve the popularity of metaverse technology across a number of end-use sectors in the future. Manufacturers may also use virtual production lines to teach and educate new staff and workers about remote maintenance and equipment management via the metaverse.
According to TechSci Research report on “Digital Twin Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Competition, Opportunity and Forecast, 2017-2027, Segmented By Type (Process, Product, System), By Technology (Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Extended Reality, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, 5G), By Application (Manufacturing Process Planning, Product Design, Predictive Maintenance, Others), By End User (Manufacturing, Automobile and Transportation, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Aerospace and Defence, Energy & Utilities, Others), By Region”, the global digital twin market is anticipated to register growth at a formidable rate. The market growth can be attributed to the accelerated adoption of 5G and rise of industry 4.0 for manufacturing operations.
NFTs Play a Lead Role in The Metaverse
The metaverse economy will be based on digital assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are stored and granted to the owner on a blockchain platform like Ethereum, Polygon, or Solana. These tokens authenticate ownership of the virtual items that only exists online. Each NFT has a unique digital identity, makingit a uniqueitem. Hence, they are expected to become a universal store of value for the metaverse. Almost any item can be turned into an NFT including collectibles or branded items such as shoes and purses, video game assets, artwork, domain names, songs, sports memorabilia, etc. Moreover, businesses are creating immersive marketing experiences integrating NFTs into metaverse. Recently, the trend of phygital (physical+digital) metaverse NFTs has been gaining popularity. These non-fungible tokens can be accessed and interacted with in the digital world as well as in the physical world.
Nike is a fantastic example of a brand interested in Virtual Reality and NFT marketplaces. With its own virtual platform, "Nikeland," the brand has been dipping toes into the metaverse. Now, Nike has also bought a studio (RTFKT) recognised for creating NFTs of things. In addition, many museums and art galleries are placing NFT artworks, powered by blockchain, over metaverse platforms such as Cryptovoxels where audiences can view art with every detail and angle. Users can now buy digital lands and territories for further user development on metaverse. For instance, Decentraland allows users to buy plots of lands, and everything represented in 3D, which can be later sold as NFTs. Samsung has also announced the ambitious initiative of including NFT support in the line-up of its new TVs in the Decentraland metaverse. Adidas marked its entry in the domain of NFTs by introducing “Into the Metaverse” NFT line, including virtual wearable that consumers can use in the Metaverse. All 300,000 NFTs sold in one afternoon, earning the brand a profit of USD22 million.
AI and Metaverse
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), the metaverse is coming closer to realization more than ever. The AI technology is playing a significant role in creating and improving the virtual world with its ability to generate environments, characters, objects, and other elements of the metaverse. AI has the capability to generate immersive landscapes that mimic the textures, lighting effects, weather patterns, etc. Besides, AI algorithms enable the creation of animate characters with advanced facial expressions and body movements, creating a wholesome experience for the users. AI also facilitates natural language interactions within the metaverse, allowing users to use their own language on the metaverse platforms and perform activities like interacting with other users and virtual assistants, making purchases, etc. The technology is already paving way for user-centric content creation by customizing their virtual environments.
One of the best uses of AI that streamline many company processes and helps users find solutions to their problems much more quickly is chatbots. This method of communication will be used in the Metaverse as well. Chatbots can help users in the Metaverse by giving them instructions and information about various goods and services, answering their questions, carrying out transactions on users' behalf, taking orders, etc., in addition to their current roles in customer service, marketing, sales, and other areas. For instance, if a user is having trouble finding a particular item, the chatbot can quickly fix the issue by pointing the user in the right direction within the Metaverse.
In addition, artificial intelligence can be used to design inclusive user interfaces that will facilitate users’ journey through the system, including those of persons with impairments. AI can therefore contribute to the Metaverse being a user-friendly and simple-to-use platform. Users will be able to communicate with the Metaverse in their local language and through photos and videos thanks to technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP), speech recognition, computer vision, translation, and augmented reality, which will improve user-metaverse interactions.
Social media firms are using AI for content privacy, safety, and moderation while the game makers are using AI to increase the intelligence of some non-playable characters or avatars. As cutting-edge technologies like VR and AR develop over time and more people use the Metaverse in the next years, the importance of AI is expected to soar. Finally, AI will surely be needed for intelligent data analytics due to the enormous volumes of data that will be produced and exchanged on the Metaverse.
Meta has developed a new AI tool model called Segment Anything that can capture real-world objects for the metaverse and its core ad business. The AI tool can cut any object out of digital image or video. The technology seems similar to that in the iPhone’s photo app where users can remove the background from images of people or things. However, Meta’s AI model is more powerful and versatile, able to recognize any object—from cancer cells to undersea creatures—regardless of context.
Web 3.0 and Metaverse
The next generation of Web3-native Metaverse experiences is being developed by agile disruptors as technology continues to advance. This change in focus from well-established platforms and service providers exhibits how significant the metaverse is becoming in the digital sphere. The metaverse is swiftly emerging as an important area of attention for many businesses due to its potential to revolutionise how people interact with one another and the world around them. Integrating metaverse and internet, users can gain complete access to their online identities, assets, and data, which they can seamlessly move between physical and virtual worlds. For instance, in the Metaverse, users can own digital collectibles, real estate, and buildings. These digital goods may be tokenized and kept on a Blockchain thanks to the capabilities of Web 3.0, allowing consumers total ownership and control over their possessions. Users can now buy, sell, and trade their virtual assets in the same way that they can do so with actual physical ones in the real world. Additionally, the ownership of virtual assets can be confirmed and secured against fraud or theft with the help of web 3.0, which is essentially important in a highly immersive environment like the Metaverse.
The Metaverse and Web 3.0 technologies have a lot of potential in changing the way we live, work, and engage with one another. About 46% of finance apps in 2022 were built using Web 3.0 technologies, and the figures are consistently rising. The capacity to interact with digital items in a 3D setting gives users of the Metaverse a more immersive and captivating experiences.
According to TechSci Research report on “Web 3.0 Blockchain Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Competition, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2017-2027 Segmented By Blockchain Type (Public, Private, Consortium, Hybrid), By Application (Cryptocurrency, Conversational AI, Data & Transaction Storage, Payments, Smart Contract, and Others (logistics, IoT, Identity Management, Settlements, Supply Chain, etc.)), By Vertical (BFSI, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, E-commerce & Retail, Media & Entertainment, IT & Telecom, and Others (Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Real Estate, etc.)), By Organization Size (Large Enterprises, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), By Region”, the global web 3.0 blockchain market is projected to register growth at a significant rate. The market growth can be attributed to the rowing expenditure capacity of consumers and rapid urbanization, globalization, and digitalization are making the users aware of the advancements in technology to live a quality life.
Metaverse Trends to Dominate in 2023
Metaverse is expected to increase the value of the global economy by $5 trillion by 2030. 2023 is going to be a crucial year for determining the metaverse's course.
- Rise of Enterprise Metaverse
Working from home both benefits and problems for retaining long-term employees and fostering a sense of community among new hires. Companies like Mondelez in India have started introducing new hires to the metaverse space as part of the onboarding process. Imagine watching office procedures in real time while donning a virtual reality headset. This would go well beyond the 2D webinar or Zoom training that is currently available. Nestle Purina has demonstrated the viability of 3D immersive teaching from any location in the world using the metaverse. Microsoft and Nvidia are developing metaverse environment for collaborations and working on digital projects. Accenture has created a metaverse environment, The Nth Floor that features the replicas of real-world offices and allows employees and new hires conduct HR-related functions within the virtual setup. In 2023, more organizations can generate value from Metaverse space by developing remote and hybrid programs and hiring leaderships that can spur innovation.
The metaverse space is a fun and creative environment that has enormous potential for brand marketing, sales, advertising, and market expansion. While BMW uses the metaverse to generate prototypes and digital twins to build and refine metaverse models of factories, Mercedes-Benz uses this immersive method to customise and configure automobiles. The business can improve the comfort and safety of its vehicles by simulating real-world situations using the immersive metaverse experience—creating significant benefits in terms of cost savings and decreased material waste in production. In the realm of fashion, Balenciaga makes use of this immersive technology so that you may experience the runway show for the full collection on a spiritual level in addition to seeing new outfits.
The potential for businesses in the Metaverse is just going to get bigger in the coming years, depending on how organisations respond to the desire for innovation with vision and commitment. By the end of 2023, leading organisations that prioritise technology investments will likely be in a far better position than they are now. This will be especially true for businesses who already operate in industries that move quickly and have their own rapidly changing trends.
- Emergence of More Metaverse 3D Avatars
Avatars are not a new concept as gamers have been using them for decades in video games. In the metaverse universe, users see themselves physically represented in a virtual environment, so they are more conscious about the experience, which lets them participate in a more engaging manner. When users communicate with one another via gaming, social media, or metaverse apps, avatars act as a bridge between a real user and their digital incarnation. Hence, photorealistic avatars are becoming more popular in some metaverse trends. Avatars currently exist in a variety of shapes, from simple 2D images to complex models that resemble real persons almost exactly. Microsoft, for example, is working with AI to create responsive avatars designed for corporate use. It is simple to generate avatars and export them to many metaverse applications using apps like Zepeto. Meta announced a series of technological upgrades, including projects to advance its avatar development projects. Leveraging artificial intelligence and sophisticated modelling techniques, Facebook is planning to create Avatars with more realism, expression, and depth.
The Metaverse makes extensive use of avatars to portray a user's psychology and behaviour in virtual settings. Ready Player Me, an Estonian company, has pioneered this technology with its highly customized, interoperable avatars. On metaverse locations like Timberland's Fortnite or Izumi World, users can accomplish gaming tasks to earn tokens, visit virtual marketplaces, and buy digital items. On the other hand, Microsoft Teams users may now design customised meeting participant avatars using Microsoft Mesh technologies. The avatar functions essentially as a "passport" that individuals can use to reflect their identity. They'll soon be linked to blockchain technology for saving data and travel between worlds.
A growing number of new businesses, like Nevermet, are developing avatars that users can utilize for dating. Users of this rapidly expanding avatar-based services can connect with other VR enthusiasts and arrange to meet up anywhere in the metaverse. There will be more and more opportunities for entrepreneurs to enter this market as this trend continues to rise.
- Advances in Extended Reality Technology
The metaverse is built around the concept of immersive and experiential technology. Therefore, the use of immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed/extended reality (MR/XR) prevalent in many concepts for how we will engage with it. For instance, the Metaverse gaming sector has been keen on making the virtual experiences for users more realistic. The foundation of any metaverse endeavour is AR and VR. Since AR apps can be downloaded and used on any camera-enabled device, they have a higher acceptance rate than VR apps. AR enriches objects with immersive components that increase information. Ad-hoc wearables are not necessary for users to benefit from augmented reality. While VR is totally simulated and takes place in a digitally created world, the former is not. It is employed to provide sensory experiences that are on par with the user's physical reality. The cost of VRs is slightly more than that of AR systems since they require additional hardware such as a head-mounted display or multimodal projection screen(s).
Some popular fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger are providing their customers an immersive experience of fashion shows leveraging in-store virtual reality headsets. The shoe company, Toms collaborated with the VR technology company Within for a digital donation campaign, “Virtual Giving Trip” that allowed customers to see the reactions of children receiving their shoes by using virtual reality headsets in-store. Apps like Tilt Brush enables users to paint in 3D space through virtual reality technology so that they can unleash their creativity without the limitation of painting on a 2D canvas.
IKEA has created a smartphone application called "Ikea Place" that enables users to utilise augmented reality (AR) to place the brand's furniture pieces inside of their own homes so they can see exactly how the things will appear there. With the creation of games like Pokémon Go, Niantic has already established a presence in augmented reality platforms. The company just released the Lightship AR Developer Kit (ARDK), making it freely accessible to the public. The technology produces tools to assist game designers in producing augmented reality (AR) games. Niantic has been creating the groundwork to become a metaverse firm since the outset. There are already a number of products like Ingress and Pokemon Go available that use software and mobile devices to overlay animations on top of the actual environment.
According to TechSci Research report on “Extended Reality Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity and Forecast, 2017-2027, Segmented By Component (Hardware [Sensors, Cameras, Transducers and Speakers], Software and Services [Professional Services Managed Services]), By Type (Mobile XR and PC-tethered XR), By Delivery Model (Consumer-Based and Business-Based), By End User (Healthcare, Media and Entertainment, Manufacturing and Industrial, Retail and E-Commerce, Transportation and Others), By Application (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality), and By Region”, the global extended reality market is anticipated to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. The market growth can be attributed to the high-end investments in R&D activities and rise in adoption of cloud platforms by enterprises. Besides, the advent of smart eyewear technologies is also one of the driving factors for the growth of global extended reality market.
Most Popular Metaverse Platforms 2023
Decentraland, a virtual social network driven by the Ethereum blockchain, enables users to customise their digital personas, build digital structures, curate experiences, and earn money while doing so. Decentraland has produced a wide range of entertainment events over the past year, including the Metaverse Music Festival, Fashion Week, and Art Week. Additionally, marketers have discovered fresh methods to interact with Web3 consumers here, hosting brand experiences in this space like Heineken, Samsung, Nike, Cola-Cola, Starbucks, Domino's, and Adidas.
On The Sandbox metaverse platform, players can create, own, and sell video games. The Sandbox gives users the ability to construct 3D games a collection of potent game-making tools in order to build a dynamic and sustainable environment. You can create games even if you don't know how to code. The platform has no restrictions on the player’s experience, which has led to its enhanced likeability. The addition of capabilities for multiplayer gameplay and options such as video and audio streaming will help the platform to reach even more audiences in the coming years.
Users can create, explore, and interact with one another in the free, online 3D metaverse known as Substrata. The Substrata team has a wealth of expertise in professional graphics. They created a 3D engine that can handle the massive quantity of dynamic content required for the metaverse while ensuring the output is of the highest quality. Users must own a parcel in the Substrata main world in order to construct an object.
In this virtual environment of Voxels, users can create, explore, exchange, and own properties. As the NFT craze gained momentum in 2021, Cryptovoxels gained notoriety but changed its name to Voxels. It continues to be one of the most well-known metaverse platforms today, drawing programmers and digital artists to create a variety of 3D structures and venues. Artists appear to prefer Voxels over Decentraland and The Sandbox.
A 3D metaverse platform called Spatial enables companies and creators to establish custom venues where they may come together to share their passions and cultures. It offers customers powerful and simple-to-use tools for quickly and easily producing eye-catching and interactive content. The platform attempts to strengthen use cases for the metaverse such social networking, Web3 marketing, branded events, and others. The seamless experience and amazing images of Spatial have already helped brands and users. On the virtual platform, users have created futuristic cloud pubs, skyscraper workplaces, scenes overlooking New York, cyberpunk woodlands, and much more.