“Metaverse” has been one of the trending words lately of its novelty and its utility in many fields. The Metaverse is still developing to be completed. Therefore, there are many things about it that we need to explore and update every day to avoid being left behind. Along with the advantages it also has some drawbacks that need improvement to provide users with the best experience. In this article, we are going to go through some opportunities and challenges that the Metaverse brings to us. The Metaverse overview The Metaverse is a virtual world designed for everyone from every corner of the real world to enter as long as they have an Internet connection and proper devices. This is where people come to interact, entertain, work together or buy and sell digital properties using cryptocurrencies or even fiat. Opportunities 1. The global market with young customers The Metaverse provides firms with opportunities to approach new and young customers, especially in the realm of gaming. Millions of gamers spend hours daily online on Metaverse platforms such as Decentraland, Roblox or Fortnite. For those young and thus open-minded customers, it’s easy to offer them new products and services. Moreover, young people engage themselves more than other groups of customers in concerts, e-sport events, fashion shows, etc., which are the main products of the Metaverse. 2. Close relations to NFTs (non-fungible tokens) NFTs are said to be the key to the Metaverse as everything in the Metaverse is stored as NFTs, a good solution for ownership guarantee in the Metaverse. Moreover, NFTs can represent real-life assets in the virtual world, which not only enhances the value of the NFTs but also allow brands to widen their product lines to include tangible merchandise. NFTs and cryptocurrencies are on the rise of developing. However, every golden age will be over. According to Chainalysis, the growth of the NFT market has levelled off since 2021 and the growth in the number of transactions has fluctuated. Meanwhile, the crypto market is also very volatile with the crypto winter coming back every 3 or 4 years. With the popularity of the Metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrencies will have a chance to approach more customers and therefore enhance their stability in development. With many applications in the Metaverse, NFTs and digital currencies can be used and developed sustainably. 3. New marketing approach: benefits for both businesses and consumers Advertisement in the Metaverse is way far different from that in real life. Because there are more and more people from different countries spending hours per day online in the Metaverse, businesses have more chances to have access to more target customers. For example, last year, Burberry collaborated with Honor of Kings, a game of Tencent - one of the biggest cooperated companies in China as they allow gamers to buy Burberry fashion outfits to adorn their in-game characters. In reverse, the Metaverse also facilitates users to approach a variety of products. For example, in real-life, global brands have to focus on the taste of the majority of the market share in particular places to launch their products. That means a fashion brand may release a collection in another country but not your area because the market share is not big enough. Hence, it’s hard for you to reach their products because of the geographical barriers. On the other hand, in the Metaverse, you can try and feel new items and decide whether to buy them or not without coming to the stores from far away. This not only benefits users but also helps to boost trading and bring huge profits to businesses. 4. Remove geographical barriers, enhance interaction Using high-tech devices to reduce face-to-face interaction has been popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, but interacting in the Metaverse in a more vivid and real way is still underdeveloped. Imagine when you can meet people in the Metaverse, talk to them and have eye contact with them as in real life, what aspects of the world will change? The most affected field is education. Online education is now becoming more and more common. With the development of the Metaverse, studying online will become more popular as it is more interesting and more effective. On the other aspect, the Metaverse will help to improve online interaction. In this virtual world, users cannot only see and talk to each other but they can even play sports together. Besides, people will be for sure super excited about travelling in the Metaverse, which will reduce travel in real life. Moreover, telecommuting also helps to lessen unaddressed problems in real life such as traffic jams, traffic accidents or restrains from bad weather. Challenges 1. Legal issues and risks Secure as the Metaverse is, users still have to face some unaddressed risks when taking part in the activities on the platforms. First, since the Metaverse ensures users are anonymous, it’s hard to track criminals of cyberbullying, extortion, money laundering, child pornography, revenge porn or terrorism. Besides, with the safety the Metaverse provides us with, we are easy to be depraved to commit crimes as we may think there are no responsibilities that we have to take for that action. Moreover, as the Metaverse is still new and has not been completed, privacy risks still happen. Not only private information but also digital money were stolen. Unfortunately, the governments in some countries have not yet accepted blockchain technology; therefore do not provide protection for users of the Metaverse. 2. High-cost VR and AR gadgets Users can have access to the Metaverse using common smartphones. However, if they want to have a deeply immersive experience, they need the help of many exorbitant gadgets such as AR and VR headsets, haptic suits or gloves. In addition, people in some areas of the world such as the UK, Venezuela, Afghanistan, etc. are still suffering from low-speed or high-cost Internet connections. Besides, using these devices requires users to do a lot of research and be flexible to adapt to new technologies. This limits the popularity of the Metaverse in the youth. It is not common for the old to learn new things, especially new and complicated technology. 3. Negative effects on our health As we all know, immersing too long in the virtual world can negatively affect our physical as well as mental health. As mentioned above, users may suffer from mental trauma caused by bad people, which may lead to autism and even suicide. Moreover, our mental health can also be damaged by staying so long in the Metaverse. Just like online games, the Metaverse can cause users to be addicted to its vivid worlds. Many say that if the Metaverse is designed to be so real then people will lose their ability to tell apart between the real and virtual world. Not only mental health but our physical health will also be affected when using the Metaverse. Watching computers or electronic terminals for so long can do harm to our eyes. Because AR technology totally takes over our vision when it works so it can cause injuries from accidents like falling down or hitting the walls. Some share that they have headaches and dizziness after using the Metaverse. Strategies for expansion and protection The Metaverse is still a new technology so it is, of course, incompleted and has many disadvantages that need every user to contribute and develop. Many lawyers and regulators in many have worked to create legal corridors to protect users of blockchains. Thanks to its useful applications and potential, many countries that are famous for technology development have enacted laws to protect users of the Metaverse such as China, the USA, etc. Besides, with the huge investments of many tech giants like Meta, Microsoft, etc., the Metaverse is developing and completing in leaps and bounds. AR and VR technology is still under research to reduce the price of headsets as well as the bad effects on consumers. Conclusion As we can see, the Metaverse is still at its beginning so there are many weak points that need fixing. However, its potential is enormous. The Metaverse is anticipated to change our lives and bring about many advantages.
