The Internet has allowed us to imagine living in another world. Since its creation, numerous novels, films and video games have been published that detail alternate realities in interconnected networks. In the 1984 book Neuromancer, the main character, a cyberspace cowboy, enters a “matrix”. This virtual world is explained as a “consensual hallucination”. The movie “The Matrix” represented most humans inserted into a virtual world, experiencing an alternate reality.
These are what you would call metaverses. “Meta” is a prefix meaning “beyond”, and “towards” comes from “universe”, making the word “Metaverse“.
What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse, to put it simply, is a space in which human beings can participate in a shared virtual universe. The term originates from Neal Stephenson’s novel “Snow Crash”, in which humans interact with each other as avatars in 3D space. Recently, the movie “Ready Player One” featured people who can enter a virtual world and become a 3D being, an avatar. Players experience things they would not be able to do in the real world, such as performing extreme physical feats or driving technologically advanced vehicles.
Market insights:
- The global Metaverse market was valued at $63.83 billion in 2021
- There are currently more than 150 metaverses
- Metaverse sets to be $B-13 trillion by 2030
- Estimated 3 billion Metaverse users by 2030
The idea behind Metaverse is that there will be a single virtual reality in which humans will become avatars and engage in this shared virtual reality space, talk to each other, go out, play games, watch movies, etc. People will meet, watch shows, hang out, visit museums, ride virtual parks, and visit websites, all within the same Metaverse. Still, we may even experience a metaverse connected with our natural world through Augmented Reality, which Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go, is striving for. It is estimated that in a 3-year horizon, AR glasses should come on the market. There is speculation about companies like Apple and Facebook, which introduced its first-augmented reality headset Aria.
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Mark Zuckerberg is known to be able to estimate the potential of individual platforms and innovations very soon. His bet on Virtual and Augmented Reality began already some time ago. The first big step was to purchase the hardware company Oculus, whose headsets are now among the best-selling and to which you are currently signing up using the Meta-Facebook platform. When one of the most prominent technology players announces a similar event and reveals the cards and his focus on emerging industries, it always causes trouble and the need for other companies to react quickly. Meta has just launched an avalanche that will be significantly larger.
What is the future of Metaverse?
At the moment, it’s mainly about video games, but the idea of a metaverse is much broader than just the idea of a video game. Metaverse is designed to replace or enhance real-life features in virtual space. The things users do in their daily lives, such as going to work or attending a meeting, can be done in the metaverse. However, one of the greatest potentials is buying. Metaverse will create a new way for brands to create a shopping experience complete with realistic models, immersive 3D content, and realistic AR filters. Brands will turn their efforts to creating content and marketing strategies for VR and AR. Brands can consolidate their place in the Metaverse by converting products into 3D models or preparing creations specifically for virtual environments. On a practical level, investing in building a 3D portfolio is a step that it’s recommended to any product company.
And let’s look to the very distant future. We believe that the natural end of connecting to any meta version will be to allow direct connection to the human programming interface, the user’s brain. A good comparison would be, for example, the film “The Matrix”.
77% of Americans are joining or considering joining Metaverse.
We presume that users will choose from several meta versions, which may be thematically different or based on a different concept of rules or ownership. However, we also assume that one dominant player will be on the stage. The very idea of Metaverse by Neal Stephenson describes the virtual world associated primarily with Virtual Reality, headsets and 3D avatars. So if we went after the definition to connect to the meta version, a VR headset and our virtual identity would suffice. The possibilities for users and companies are endless, and we look forward to which form of meta version will be most sought after by users. In the long run, the dominant player will be the one who offers the best customer experience for most users.
What are the benefits and features of Metaverse?
We all know that we remember best when we see and experience things. And the numbers show that – immersive learning is 70-90% more effective than traditional learning. Augmented and Virtual Reality confirms this fact. For example, 3D visualization in AR applications helps people better understand a topic or get into different situations. Virtual and Augmented reality provides a playful approach to learning, making learning or experience more emotionally stimulating and memorable.
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Is the Metaverse the future of social media and marketing??
With all the buzz surrounding recent Metaverse developments and investments, you may be wondering if and how the concept will shape the future of social media and marketing. The Metaverse will be an opportunity for all B2C brands to rethink their communication or their marketing strategies perhaps, such as the Saas B2B marketing. With platforms like Meta and companies investing vast amounts of money and resources into the metaverse, people and companies out there think it’s the future of social media and marketing.
Today, it isn’t easy to know what will work in 5 or 10 years in the marketing. Revolutions are on the agenda in this sector, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with change. Surely the trends of the next few years will see the unstoppable growth of Tik Tok, which will probably become the most used social network in the world. Within five years, probably each of us will have an Avatar within the Metaverse, but marketing will not end because it is based on our needs and relationships. On the other hand, companies with a focus on B2B, in particular technological ones, will be able to take advantage of web 3.0 to emancipate themselves from the oligopolistic competition of current tech giants and break through the hitherto impenetrable barriers to entry into the Big Tech market, focusing more on the revolution of web 3.0 – where decentralization will be sovereign.
Marketing will change and evolve, new advertising platforms will come out, and we will have new spaces to colonize. Everything will be faster, smoother, and more integrated than ever. Social media, websites, virtual reality, search engines, emails, and smartphones will still exist. Still, they will probably be integrated and interconnected to have no precise boundaries, but the answer is still a little in the air. This version of the metaverse is very young, and we may see what the next few years will determine its stamina.
66% of Americans think Metaverse can replace Social Media as we currently know and use it.
We at Yord perceive the virtual world or Metaverse as a natural evolution within the digital world we live in today. It is an extension of the 2D little world and a greater immersiveness of the experience, whether we are talking about Virtual or Augmented Reality. The rise of interest from customers and users in these technologies is growing significantly, and in the next five years, intensive growth is expected. Nowadays, technology overwhelms the notion of meta version, which is nothing against it as it connects the world of customers with the imagination of what these technologies will bring.
