It is not easy to predict the future. Even the biggest businesses can get it very wrong. Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram was largely the result of Facebook being far too slow to tap into the mobile internet. Although Microsoft underplayed the Internet early on, it managed to spend its way out of that particular pickle. And with their lessons hard learned, both Facebook and Microsoft are keen not to miss out on the next evolution of the Internet – the Metaverse.
Briefly, the Metaverse is a virtual digital world where new digital and hybrid services are created. Even if this is not the sector you are in, it is important that you keep across developments because the Metaverse has the potential to change how we access and think about the Internet.
There is plenty of interest from some of the world’s biggest companies: Google is working on its interactive glasses to create a Metaverse updated version, and Epic Games has raised $1billion to support an internal development of a Metaverse.
While three-dimensional worlds already exist in the form of games such as Minecraft and Second Life, we do not have a full Metaverse. There are still a lot of old-fashioned web/app interactions in our early stage Metaverse experiences. For a fresh experience, new models and interface modes are needed. But it is coming.
We will move from the web browser’s two-dimensional experience to a three-dimensional virtual environment where businesses can create a new presence or identity. Our avatars will visit shops, offices, theatres, and meeting places, talking with others, listening to concerts, buying items, conducting meetings and working without the need to be physically anywhere in particular.
If you run a business, sometime soon you should be planning and preparing. Consider the opportunities that a virtual 3D world provides for your business. Understand where there could be value for you.
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