Is Metaverse the future?

Due to the great interest and impact of Metaverse, Industrial Metaverse, Industrial Metaverse for Sales, etc., Rightsourcing continues with its series of articles to gain a deeper understanding on the topic. What does the metaverse really mean with all its facets? Is it just the next buzzword? Does it affect our life? How does it affect our life? Will it change our work? What must companies do? What is the best way to tackle this?

In this part – B of the third article in this series, we will explore the question of whether Metaverse will just be a fad, or will it be the new way of connecting with customers and doing business? Given the expansive nature of the topic, we had divided it into two segments. In part – A, we had delved into the most recent developments in the Metaverse, and now in the part – B, we will examine the major trends shaping our professional lives as a result of technological advancements.

To read Articles 1, 2, 3A please click on the links below.

1- What is the metaverse?

2- What is the impact of the Metaverse on our lives?

3- Is Metaverse the future? Part A

– A contribution by Suchi Shinde & Prof. Dr. Markus Hesse, March 2023

In Part A of this series, we saw how several factors have come together that could allow for exponential growth in the Metaverse. It appeals to people of different genders, locations, and ages. Businesses are making significant investments in the necessary infrastructure, and brands that test the waters in the Metaverse find that their customers are delighted with the results.

In an April 2022 survey, approximately 95% of business leaders expected the Metaverse to have a positive impact on their industry within five to 10 years, and 61% expect it to transform the way their industry works. The shift in mindset towards using technology to increase efficiencies in business operations makes it effortless for the Metaverse to adopt.

Comparison with trends from the past

Let us take a quick look at the megatrends of the past and their acceptance and development. When the Industry 4.0 initiative was launched in Germany at the beginning of the 2000s to prevent the migration of production to Asia, the Acatech working group formulated the vision of Industry 4.0 together with industry and research institutions in Germany. Cyber-physical systems should produce intelligent, highly complex products in batch size 1 in a highly efficient manner across company boundaries. If you look at the implementation today, you will find that not every company has fully implemented this vision. Depending on the industry and company size, the degree of implementation varies. However, about 20 years later, the approach and the use of the associated technologies have become an integral part of Germany as an industrial location and one of the reasons for Germany’s competitiveness as a location.

The situation is similar to the “Internet of Things” trend, which was launched in the USA at about the same time. The Internet of Things refers to the networking of objects/products with each other using the Internet. The purpose is for these objects to be able to independently communicate over the Internet, thereby allowing them to perform various tasks more efficiently or conveniently for the owner. The area of application ranges from general information supply to automatic orders, maintenance functions, and changes in product properties to warning and emergency functions.

If we look at the products of everyday life today, we find that these original ideas have been implemented for many (but not for all) products. Today we use intelligent building technology for more energy efficiency and more convenience, intelligent robotic lawnmowers, and intelligent vacuum/mopping robots. Are all products self-thinking and steering machines and robots? No, of course not. Where the benefit is unfavourable compared to the effort, the classic product still has its right to exist.

Image Source: Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies (2022)

Trends are always driven by technology. Every technology has a life cycle before it dies or is superseded by another. If you classify the technologies associated with Metaverse, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, speech recognition, etc., in the maturity phase of the hype cycle according to Gartner, you will find that they are on the curve in the area in the middle and relatively far to the right. Good prerequisites for the fact that the technologies behind Metaverse are constantly evolving and have already found significant acceptance on the market.

One should also not look at the development of the acceptance of metaverse in the B2B and B2C areas independently of each other. In some market segments in the B2C area, there is certainly a higher level of acceptance than in the B2B area. However, users are used to diving into the Metaverse from their private environment and find it more pleasant and efficient. This fact will also act as a catalyst for the B2B world, especially for Generation Z.

In view of the technological developments, the significant investments of key players in the market, the increasing number of users and the increasing acceptance among Generation Z and Y (demographic boost), it is very likely that the Metaverse will endure and have a significant impact in the coming years will have on our lives.

Rightsourcing has been engaged with this topic for years and thus understands the needs of the future. Our founder, M. Hesse researched the topic “Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Design Processes” as early as the 1990s. Rightsourcing has developed products and services to help companies achieve their business goals in the metaverse. We have developed several industry-specific 3D virtual showrooms where companies can not only showcase their products and services in 3D and AR, but also show videos, documents, and configurators in addition to one-click video conferencing to resolve urgent questions or consultations. With our integrated AR solution, a customer can see any product (e.g. machine, spare part, etc.) of the supplier in his factory floor, office building, etc. with one click to get a quick and realistic impression of how the product to be purchased would look like in his individual real world.

We urge you to visit our Metaverse offering for a taste of the future at https://rightsourcing-gmbh.com/metaverse-virtual-headquarter.

For a regular text-based approach on Metaverse, you can visit https://rightsourcing-gmbh.com/metaverse-industrial

Stay tuned in… in our next article in this series, could Metaverse reshape our work?

References :

/1/ Aiello, C., Schmidt, J., Probing reality and myth in the metaverse, McKinsey & company, June 13, 2022

/2/ shorturl.at/fxzCN (Reid Hoffman talks at yahoo! finance podcast)

/3/A CEO’s guide to the metaverse, Mckinsey Quarterly, January 24, 2023 – By Homayoun Hatami, Eric Hazan, Hamza Khan, and Kim Rants

/4/ Hazan, E., Kelly, G., Khan, H., Spillecke, D. et al. marketing in the metaverse: An opportunity for innovation and experimentation, McKinsey Quarterly, May 24, 2022.