The Metaverse: Is It Just a Buzzword or the Next Big Thing?

What if I told you everything that you know about life was going to change? How you play games, how you eat, how you shop, how you hang out with your friends, and even how you go to work. You can hang out with your friend in a separate physical space with a small, packable rectangular headset that greets you into the astoundingly fabulous digital world when you put it on your eyes.

Recall back to the pandemic, when everyone was locked down in their stifling room restrained to go out and work, play, and socialize. The usage of the internet and social media increased, and people started to value the digital presence of the world more. Technology is rapidly developing. The world is gradually digitizing.

The Metaverse is what’s next. This is a three-dimensional world where you are watching people in a digital world where you can’t even tell the difference, and walking around a three-dimensional version of yourself in this alternative universe. That’s the Metaverse. The universe is physical, and the metaverse is an alternative reality that’s going to be an additional layer on the top layer of where we are today.

The development of Metaverse is triggering a huge impact on the world and is relentlessly transforming our daily lives. Virtual reality like Metaverse is and will become an influential and pervasive aspect of the whole world’s future, which will dramatically impact the lives of current society. Its leverage will greatly impact the everyday life of people, thus affecting the trend of business and the job market. Augmented reality is rapidly developing, and is poised to greet every customer to use it in the near future. Hence, it’s integral for firms to embrace the unfamiliar, but influential technology in their business.

Metaverse is and will dramatically upend people’s socialization. One example that best epitomizes such socialization can be a concert. GameIndustry revealed the stunning 20 million dollars and 12.3 million players that worldwide pop star Travis Scott grossed on his performance in Fortnite. This is much more than one of his best concerts, which yielded 1.7 million dollars with only 50,000 audiences. Physical concerts are expensive and frantic due to the congestion of people. However, the experience in the metaverse removes all those flaws. Imagine not having to drive in 20-minute traffic lots to go to a concert. Imagine being able to do this cheaper, more effectively, and then also just getting this more immersive experience that you never could before.

Moreover, Metaverse will upend the customer environment in buying the commodities, making it more convenient for customers to determine the purchase. Nike and Adidas already have their own metaverse collections. Other luxurious fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Gucci are all hosting their digital fashion shows. People are going to obtain the preference for shopping via the digital world, in matters of convenience and contracted dissatisfaction. According to Internet Retailing, 89% of surveyed customers had complaints and dissatisfaction on affording cloth online, owing to delivery issues, size issues, etc. Imagine putting on a headset, having a three-dimensional avatar of yourself having exactly the same physique, and you’re able to buy clothes, fit them on that virtual self of you, and determine the purchase. And this applies not only to cloth but to everything you buy.

Metaverse will dramatically impact people's vocations as well. TechnologyMagazine states that the digital workforce connects myriads of members in the corporate world to convene with each other and work without any limitation of time, place, and cost. With the Metaverse, people can interact with their co-workers and bosses and feel immersed in distant meetings. Forbes says Metaverse will also have huge leverage on businesses in film, healthcare, real estate, e-commerce, manufacturing, etc.

Various technology firms are investing considerably in the development of augmented reality to answer those skepticisms. An article from ThoughtsWork stated that “the use of Metaverse has been further entrenched with Meta’s recent $10 billion bond issue and many other related Metaverse investments.” Google also invested 69 and a half million dollars into private equity funds for the Metaverse. All technology behemoths want to monopolize such a lucrative business, as they already penetrate the prevalence and instrumentality of augmented reality to every aspect of the gradually digitizing world. Competitions between firms along with tremendous investments will imminently lead this technology to its peak.

The change that’s stated above is only the tip of a giant iceberg. Metaverse can affect how you socialize, shop, and work. It can also dramatically change the workforce environment and trends. However, the immense endeavor and investments from big firms will make it possible to impact the everyday factor of your life. The firms embracing such novel technology will be benefited, while the firms neglecting it will encounter a bleak future.