The Metaverse – Opportunities, Challenges, and Future.

The Metaverse is about everywhere at the moment. It feels like we are on the same path to a significant change, similar to when the mobile internet was about to erupt in the world many decades ago. You can't escape it, even if you want to. So, what's the Metaverse, and how should companies and organizations think about it?

Your answer largely depends on your business and where it fits in the ecosystem. Whatever it is, a consumer company, a gaming company, or a social media enterprise, things are taking a different turn.

The Metaverse is interactive, immersive, and with a community aspect at the core. At the very least, it works with or without virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). It allows for user-generated content and ownership, which makes it industrial and collaborative.

Serving as a prototype for real-world objects and systems, one exciting phenomenon about the Metaverse is its origin in science fiction. This development makes more people engage and socialize with digital systems. Below is more on what the Metaverse holds for you now and in decades to come.

The Metaverse – Opportunities for Telecoms, Media, and Entertainment

The digital space is becoming saturated. It is a space where a lot of socializing, entertainment, productivity, research, and development are going on. Many telecoms, media, entertainment, gaming, and social media companies are already in the space, and these are consumers' brands and creators ready to serve you better.

These companies are interacting in virtual worlds in diverse ways. Concerts are on gaming platforms, and brands sell digital goods in virtual worlds. Think of the Gucci in ROBLOX.

According to a report by Deloitte in February 2022, titled User friendly: season 6, Mic Locker–Telecom, media and entertainment leader at Deloitte, there is a lot of socialization in the virtual world made possible by people who are also increasingly personalizing their avatars, buying real estate and virtual art in similar virtual universes.

In addition, more companies are building hyper-realistic, physically accurate digital twins that simulate natural environments, physical structures, industrial operations, and even transportation networks, including the human robots and AI agents that work inside them.

Furthermore, they employ the virtual world to accelerate design and plan cycles for all business paradigms. Many find virtual jobs and engage in diverse training and learning activities.

For instance, according to Mic locker, telecom, media, and entertainment Consultant Leader for Deloitte US, Deloitte has a virtual campus set up for her university for employee onboarding. It's an immersive space where colleagues from all over the world meet, collaborate, and have virtual experiences. Mic asserted that more than 50 events for over 4,000 attendees from 15 different countries were hosted in the first three months.

Notable Challenges in the Metaverse

The Deloitte reports also assert that while the Metaverse remains a prototype of the natural world, it still lacks the attributes of an interconnected world where everyone participates. It could take some time. Factors like companies' speed of innovation of the business models and innovation on how users will want to interact with virtual worlds could further hamper the space.

There are also regulatory uncertainties regarding the framework around security and privacy. Furthermore, there are contemplations as to if there are possible means to regulate cryptocurrencies.

How many people are willing to adopt decentralized finance and crypto? Furthermore, inclusiveness, openness, fraud, bullying, and harassment are challenges in these immersive environments. Regulators must try as much as possible to checkmate the impacts of these issues on mental health while trying to manage its other downsides.

Moreso, a lot of the innovations in the space has been from individuals trying to create diverse avatars for themselves. Therefore, there is a need for more enterprises and companies. Their focus would be on the interoperability of the space rather than individual efforts to come on board.

There is a need for them to come around and put in collective efforts. In the long run, the use cases achieved due to inclusiveness would enable practices like remote surgeries, such as a group of people collaborating across several research facilities.

It could also be a team of experts trying to fix an oil rig in the middle of the ocean using real-time augmented reality visual collaboration with other remote experts.

An Exciting Future of Virtual Reality Is Ahead.

There is so much change in the Metaverse, making the space super exciting. While we may not have an entire idea about how things unfold in the future or perhaps, where the pendulum swings, diverse innovations and evolvement in the Metaverse reveal that a bright future awaits us all. For instance, Deloitte recently announced its new reality offering. The launch of Dimension10 Studio.

It helps clients harness the next-generation tools, strategies, and technologies to create and connect the virtual worlds for all possible use cases. Furthermore, it is a physical and virtual destination where clients get assistance to innovate with these technologies, learn quickly, and advance their strategies. These innovations taking place in the Metaverse make the future a bright one.

Conclusion

The Metaverse has been here for a while and will continue to evolve. Recently, we have seen virtual life as equating to physical life. There is also a rapid advancement and connection in technology, driving connectivity, communications, sharing, immersion, sensing, and simulation.

While there are significant players at an enterprise level, there are also significant advancements at an individual creator level, similar to the early days of the internet. Time would reveal the phenomenal growth and potential use cases as it evolves.