We may have just recently heard of the “metaverse,” but it is a rapidly expanding place that is already promising to revolutionize how we work, live, and play. The metaverse is a catch-all phrase for the integration of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) to give us an immersive experience of a virtual world into our daily lives, with early adopters saying that it will radically revolutionize industries such as retail, sales, marketing, training, education, and health. This anticipation begs the question, “How will the Metaverse revolutionize business and corporate operations?”
Stick around and we’ll show you.
Change is On The Way
Meetings are set to be altered by VR, with most systems allowing users to mix VR and non-VR individuals on the same call. Early adopters are already using Meta’s Horizon Workplace, which can be used with Facebook Messenger, and Zoom has announced that it will interface with Horizon’s Workrooms early next year. We already know that the metaverse is making progress with the fashion community, where digital-only clothing is gaining acceptance and is likely to fuel a push toward a more immersive fashion experience.
This immersion is also having an impact on shopping, with consumers being able to try on garments or experiment with product placement in their homes using AR before having them delivered in the physical world. A really great way of using immersive technology to provide better interactions with consumers and solidify customer loyalty. Many consumer brands in the retail sector believe that a meaningful interaction is essential to boost sales.
Real Estate Meets Immersive Tech
This involves realtors providing virtual reality / augmented reality house tours, as well as builders and interior designers designing virtually and allowing potential buyers to see the finished result before it is created. Sales and marketing professionals, on the other hand, can meet with their clients without having to travel thousands of miles (did we mention: Business travel is dying). Everyone from customer service representatives to industrial workers can benefit from on-the-job training in a safe, confined environment thanks to virtual spaces, now that’s convenient.
Education in Digital Worlds
VR and immersive learning, as well as AR and MR, are enabling new ways of learning and teaching in schools. This includes replacing traditional dissection in biology with virtual reality, using AR to view constellations and planets, allowing students to interact with local speakers for language study, and bringing students on field trips to otherwise inaccessible or expensive locations. This is especially important in light of current travel limitations, which are encouraging more individuals to sightsee from the comfort of their own homes (or classrooms).
It’s still in the development process, but it’ll be no time before the education sector is taking students on field trip to the pyramids using immersive platforms.
Manufacturing and Metaverse Technology
Companies are exploring for ways to incorporate extended reality technologies into product prototyping, design, and testing. Boeing revealed late last year that its future factories would use 3D engineering, integrating mechanics with robots via Microsoft HoloLens headsets to build a digital ecosystem in an entirely new manufacturing system.
The Fitness Industry Has Digital Alternatives
COVID may have normalized working out from the comfort of your own home, but the metaverse promises to be a game changer. In augmented reality, your coach may be teaching you in real-time in your living room or home gym, but in virtual reality, your avatar can attend fitness sessions from the comfort of your own home.
A New Economy in The Metaverse
The internet didn’t just provide new ways of working; it also brought a whole new digital economy, with new businesses, jobs, and positions. As the immersive 3-D economy gains traction over the next decade, so will the metaverse. IMVU, an avatar-based social network with over 7 million monthly users, has thousands of producers who create and sell their own virtual products for the metaverse – designer clothing, furnishings, make-up, music, stickers, and pets — generating over $7 million in revenue every month. The “meshers,” or developers, work with the makers to create the fundamental 3-D templates that others can tweak and tailor as virtual objects.
A successful mesh can be duplicated and sold thousands of times, giving the developer a substantial profit. The Decentraland platform is generating virtual realtors, allowing users to buy, sell, and develop enterprises on tracts of virtual land while earning “Mana,” a digital currency.
Science Fiction Meets Physical Space
Technology must be made accessible, which will only happen once additional tech players enter the game. That includes developing the hardware (headsets, data gloves, and glasses) necessary for VR and AR, as well as the space itself with software and usable apps, and, most significantly, migrating a population of people who want to “hang out” or conduct business virtually. Meta and Microsoft each have their own headsets/glasses, while Apple is expected to release its first AR/VR headset later next year.
Is it coming to a workplace near you soon? Yes, most likely, however reaping the long-term benefits of the metaverse will need years of commitment.
Want to hear more about the Metaverse revolution? Do you want to learn how to make money as a Metaverse early adopter? Be sure to click here for FREE access to the Metaverse Beginnings online course and community. You can’t afford to wait.
