What impact does Metaverse have on our lives?

Due to the huge interest and impact of Metaverse, Industrial Metaverse, etc., Rightsourcing continues with the series of short, precise articles to get a deeper understanding.

What does it really mean? Is it just the next buzzword? Does it affect our lives? How does it affect our lives? Will it reshape our work? What do companies need to do? What is the best way to address this?

In the second article from this series, we will try to understand what is the impact of Metaverse. To read the earlier article, please click here.

– A contribution by Suchi Shinde & Parag Shinde, January 2023

The impact of Metaverse

To understand the impact of Metaverse on our lives, first, let us see what metaverse means to people. The metaverse means different things to different people. Some believe it is a digital playground for friends while others think it has the potential to be a commercial space for companies and customers. Depending on their beliefs, people envisage its applicability to enhance their environments.

Figure 1: How would you like to use the Metaverse

To comprehend the impact of metaverse, a survey of global internet users was conducted in late 2022. When asked about the different ways people would like to use Metaverse, it was found that interacting with family and friends was perceived as the biggest use of the metaverse. Interacting with work colleagues was ranked second with 39 percent of respondents claiming this as a possible use. /1/ The metaverse also holds promise for gamification, shopping, real estate, and exploring new ideas and concepts.

Immersive learning is used by leading Business schools to venture into the metaverse. INSEAD has launched a Virtual reality Immersive Learning Initiative for learning and research for management and business. An example by INSEAD https://www.insead.edu/vr-immersive-learning

There is ample skepticism right now from people who think the metaverse is a new fad. That’s also what some people thought about the internet during the 1990s.

Although we didn’t know which companies would shape this new technological evolution, consumers are flocking to it.

More than 20 percent of the population survey, on a net basis, say they will spend more time online exercising, working, reading, and shopping in the future. Furthermore, people’s interest in immersive digital activities and experiences is growing. In fact, roughly 10 percent of the population has already tried augmented reality (AR) or metaverse dating, and a majority enjoyed it more than the real-life alternative.

On average, respondents expect to spend nearly four hours a day in the metaverse in five years. 59 percent of respondents say that they prefer to conduct at least one daily activity, such as socializing, shopping, fitness, or education, in the virtual world rather than in person. /2/

Figure 2: Time spent in Metaverse in 5 years

It is not just individuals who are excited: private capital is also betting big money on the metaverse.

The latest McKinsey research shows that the metaverse has the potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030 (equivalent to the size of the world’s third-largest economy today, Japan.) /3/

It is shaping up to be the biggest new growth opportunity for several industries in the coming decade, given its potential to enable new business models, products, and services, and act as an engagement channel for both B2C and B2B businesses.

The following chart illustrates the study done to understand the business point of view by considering companies worldwide that have already invested in the Metaverse as of March 2022. The respondents of the study are decision-makers in their companies and are designated as CEO, presidents, board members, and members of senior management./4/

We see that over 60% of the companies agree that Metaverse is “The future”, is “Full of opportunities”, and is a “New way of doing business”. These positive signs help the business world to take concrete steps towards an exciting future.

Figure 3:Global business point of view

The metaverse has the potential to impact everything from employee engagement to the customer experience, omnichannel sales and marketing, product innovation, and community building.

The Metaverse impact will change the view people have about the internet. In its current avatar, the metaverse will ride piggyback on the internet, taking immersive experiences and discoveries to a new level. The impact will be more pronounced in the field of education, where students will be able to “learn by doing”, instead of just videos and text. The impact of metaverse on the global economy will lead to newer revenue streams and generate opportunities for multiple industries to operate in the virtual world.

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 on 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, we will look if Metaverse is here to stay?

References for the series of articles:

/1/ Monsanto, C., Shankavaram, D., Huestegge, N., et al. Total immersion – how immersive experiences and the Metaverse benefit customer experience and operations. page 54. Capgemini Research Institute; ID 1353425, 2022

/2/ Aiello, C., Schmidt, J., Probing reality and myth in the metaverse, McKinsey & Company, June 13, 2022

/3/ Elmasry,T., Khan,H., Yee,L., et al. Value creation in the metaverse- The real business of the virtual world, McKinsey & Company, June 2022

/4/ Sortlist. Business point of view regarding the metaverse according to companies worldwide that have already invested in the metaverse as of March 2022. Chart. April 1, 2022. Statista. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1302156/business-point-of-view-regarding-the-metaverse-worldwide/