Metaverse pros
A fully realized metaverse may still be a decade or more away, but several positives and emerging applications that technology delivers have already been identified.
Improbable and even impossible experiences
Only a select few can venture into outer space, have the fortitude to scale the Himalayas or are athletic enough to surf the largest waves. The metaverse, however, is expected to deliver lifelike experiences such as these to the masses in their own environments. “One of the advantages of the immersive experience is it allows you to have experiences you otherwise wouldn’t have,” explained Daniel Mintz, chair of the IT department at the University of Maryland Global Campus, which has piloted immersive learning experiences using VR headsets.
More equal access to virtual experiences
The metaverse could be an equalizer, giving people access to existing experiences that were shut off to them for reasons such as cost, distance or disabilities. “A lot of things are possible today, like a ride over the Grand Canyon, but not everyone has the time and money to do that,” said Sachin Mittal, executive director at Singapore-based DBS Bank. With the metaverse, he added, “you’re able to live the life you want to live.”
Heightened social connections and lifelike interactions
Users can expect not only to have new experiences in the metaverse, they’ll also be able to share those experiences in real time with friends, family or anyone they want, as if they’re together in the real world. The metaverse will enable “a richer social experience” than today’s internet and even modern gaming platforms, conjectured J. P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. In addition, the metaverse will mimic elements of real-world social interactions in ways that the current 2D internet can’t, he said. Today’s video conferencing with boxes of talking heads will look, and more importantly, provide the feeling that everyone’s together in the same location. Avatars would gather as a group or break off into smaller gatherings, just as people do in face-to-face social situations.
More accurate representations of physical objects in the virtual world
The metaverse will let people more accurately see and interact with physical objects as if they were real, Gownder said. A car shopper, for example, could visit an auto dealer in a fully immersive spatial web, examine car models and test drive them as if in the real world.
Better collaboration and co-creation
Because the metaverse promises to mimic real-world social interactions and accurately represent physical objects in three dimensions, individuals will be able to collaborate as if they were all in the same room. In fact, using VR headsets, surgeons in Brazil successfully separated conjoined twins with real-time assistance from surgeons located in their own countries. Moreover, people will be able to come together in the metaverse and co-create in new ways, noted Thomas Olsen, partner and global co-lead of the Web3 and metaverse practice at management consulting firm Bain Company.
More effective, efficient testing and training
The metaverse will do more than support remote work and collaboration beyond geographic and physical barriers; it will enable a whole new level of testing and training with great efficiency. Teams will be able to test ideas as well as train and practice in the metaverse with computer code instead of physical resources. The surgeons who separated conjoined twins first practiced the procedure using virtual reality. Many organizations see this type of application as an entry into the metaverse, said Emmanuelle Rivet, vice chair of U.S. TMT and global technology leader at PwC, citing PwC’s “2022 U.S. Metaverse Survey,” whose respondents ranked onboarding and training highest among business use cases, followed The metaverse’s unlimited potential reaches beyond technology companies and gaming platforms. Businesses are beginning to use the metaverse-like experiences to connect, engage and interact with customers in new and different ways. Fidelity Investments, for example, created an immersive experience in Decentraland to educate and engage consumers in the digital world, while luxury fashion brands are already selling virtual versions of their wares in digital department stores.
