Imagine you are at a concert with your friends or sight-seeing in Europe, but from the comfort of your lounge room. The Metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual/hybrid space with endless possibilities. The full capability of the Metaverse is yet to be understood, but what is clear is the impact on the world. With 120 billion dollars invested to date already, technology giants and developers globally understand the exponential potential of it and how important it is to be ahead of the curve (McKinsey & Company, 2022).
The Metaverse will revolutionise the way we socialise, do business, government services and entertainment. Current and emerging technology such as spatial computing, blockchain, and Web 3.0 will be the key to the success of the Metaverse. By 2030, the Metaverse it is estimated to be worth between 5 to 18 trillion dollars (Arbol, 2022) (McKinsey & Company, 2022). These estimates support the notion that the metaverse will be a key development that will grab global attention.
What do you imagine when you think of the Metaverse? The 120 billion dollars invested so far tells us that the virtual universe is an upcoming reality (McKinsey & Company, 2022).
The metaverse is going to revolutionise how people live their lives. The Metaverse was first coined in the 1992 science fiction novel "Snow Crash", where Neal Stephenson describes a virtual environment that mirrors reality (Zenou, 2022). The concept of a virtual world has continued to gain popularity as featured in the 2018 movie Ready Player One (eventx.io, 2022) and is now looking to become a reality. 120 billion dollars have already been invested in the metaverse as of 2022 (McKinsey & Company, 2022). While, supporting technology such as VR Headsets to Blockchain Infrastructure is currently being developed and more will come, making the possibilities of the Metaverse limitless. Do you know what to expect?
What is the Metaverse?
The definition of the Metaverse can be quite complicated. Simply, it is virtual or mixed reality world on the internet. It is not a single product or controlled by one entity. It is a collection of various technologies and platforms put together. The Metaverse provides the infrastructure for people to interact and have experiences anywhere and in real time. This means that social interactions, business, consumer services, banking, education, and other aspects of our daily lives can be facilitated in the Metaverse.
The popularity of the Metaverse has grown significantly in the last few years. This was driven by the increase in popularity of owning virtual objects, experiences, or Cryptocurrency. Metaverse platforms such as a Decentraland and Sandbox have become popular. These worlds allow people to purchase land and build buildings in a virtual world using real money/cryptocurrency (Lovich, 2022). Video Games have also shown the popularity for the use of virtual worlds. The game ‘Roblox’ has been labelled as one of the first iterations of the Metaverse. This is due to its ability for multiple users to interact with each other and having community valued assets.
With Metaverse’s popularity, technology giants and developers are racing to create new metaverse platforms that will shift users from the current internet and into a new era on Web 3.0. There is an incoming journey to explore how final versions of the metaverse will be created, regulated, launched, and integrated. Following commercial success, we expect government use to follow to best support their citizens.
Technology backing the metaverse
The potential of the Metaverse is unlimited. It is currently being developed by current and emerging technology such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), the internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud, and spatial computing. As it is not a single product or controlled by a single entity, the Metaverse can continue to develop as more technology is being introduced.
We can look forward to the movement from 4G to 5G and eventually to 6G internet as the speed and interconnectivity of the Metaverse will provide the instantaneous connections needed for users to interact with each other and their products. The integration of Blockchain and Web3 provides a decentralised base, which allows users the ability to protect their identity, privacy and data. This will create inherent trust in using the Metaverse.
Opportunity
By 2030, the Metaverse is expected to be worth between 5 to 18 trillion dollars (Arbol, 2022) (McKinsey & Company, 2022). Meta, previously named Facebook, alone has invested 10 billion dollars into the metaverse their public image (McKinsey & Company, 2022). With 58.8 million daily users on Roblox alone (Clement, 2022), it is a clear indication that people are keen to connect in multifaceted virtual settings.
With the popularity, large investment and unlimited potential of the Metaverse, it is a developing technology that you or your organisation needs to have a look at.
Risks
As all new technology is introduced, there will be some risks that need to be kept in mind. There are currently risks involved in the creation of the metaverse include scalability, international regulations, and data security. Blockchain technology will be an essential piece for the metaverse but is developing various tactics to tackle scalability. International business will be inevitable and will force international organizations to address trade and privacy regulations. Governments across the globe are already facing data security through legislation, but it will need to be specialized into the metaverse. We will see the metaverse develop before our eyes while ironing out the issues they cross. However, it will be part of our future.
The metaverse is projected to revolutionise how people interact with the internet. Thus, also changing how businesses, social media and government work. Learn about emerging blockchain-based developments in our continuing blog series.
Meikai Group
Meikai is a Professional Services Consultancy dedicated to facilitating and solving capability problems and challenges for our clients. Meikai specialises in the provision of engineering, project management and program delivery services to support the implementation of emerging and disruptive technology within the ICT, simulation, and training domains.
Meikai holds a R&D/Futures branch, that looks to explore emerging technology. This ensures we foster cutting edge thinking, skills and competence in our workforce, to continue to providing value and quality to our clients. Meikai knows that research into Blockchain, Web 3.0 and NFTs is essential to building an innovative future.
Authors
Adam Rawlings – Director of Meikai
Adam is a Systems Engineer who is dedicated to supporting forward thinking government officials deliver complex technology change. He has spent the last decade supporting Defence to implement transformational change in the way it uses simulation as a disruptive technology. His qualifications and experience in engineering, education, capability development, leadership and stakeholder management provide him the tools in his belt to progress seemingly impossible programs.
Milica Gallardo Petkovich – Resident Data Scientist
Milica is Meikai’s resident data scientist who is dedicated to researching emerging technologies to provide market insight. She is currently pursuing her Master's in Data Science from the University of Canberra. Having received her Bachelor’s in Financial and Global Economics from Rutgers University, Milica’s international education brings in a global perspective to Meikai.
References
Arbol, A. (2022). Metaverse Guide 2022 - Outline -. [online] Blockchain Council. Available at: https://www.blockchain-council.org/metaverse/metaverse-guide/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Arbol, A. (2022a). 7 Key Technologies That Are Powering the Metaverse -. [online] Blockchain Council. Available at: https://www.blockchain-council.org/metaverse/technologies-powering-metaverse/#:~:text=AR%20%26%20VR[Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Clement, J. (2022). Global Roblox games DAU 2022. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1192573/daily-active-users-global-roblox/#:~:text=Roblox%20games%20global%20DAU%20as%20of%20Q3%202022&text=This%20figure%20is%20up%20from [Accessed 21 Nov. 2022].
Deloitte. (2022). The Metaverse Overview - Vision, Technology, and Tactics. [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/metaverse-report.html[Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Gupta, A. (2022). What Is a Metaverse? [online] Gartner. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-is-a-metaverse [Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Lovich, D. (2022) What Is The Metaverse And Why You Should Care? [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahlovich/2022/05/11/what-is-the-metaverse-and-why-should-you-care/?sh=1c330ae42704 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Value creation in the metaverse. (2022). [online] Value creation in the metaverse. McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/value-creation-in-the-metaverse[Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
Zenou, T. (2022). A novel predicted the metaverse (and hyperinflation) 30 years ago. Washington Post. [online] 30 Jun. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/06/30/snow-crash-neal-stephenson-metaverse/[Accessed 16 Nov. 2022].
www.eventx.io. (2022). The Metaverse: How can The Movies Give Us an Insight on It? [online] Available at: https://www.eventx.io/blog/the-metaverse-how-can-the-movies-give-us-an-insight-on-it [Accessed 21 Nov. 2022].
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