Future collective virtual spaces will create new consumer experiences and generate new business models, Gartner says.
Is metaverse the new hype? What Gartner defines as a collective virtual shared space, might soon become a daily reality. “25% of people will spend at least one hour per day in the metaverse by 2026,” the US technology research and consulting company forecasts.
The concept combines multiple technologies including augmented reality (AR), cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial technologies. These are accessible through devices such as tablets, smartphones and head-mounted displays.
Metaverses will allow people to replicate or enhance some of their physical activities in a virtual mode. Such as: purchasing outfits and accessories for online avatars, buying digital land and constructing virtual homes, participating in a virtual social experience, shopping in virtual malls via immersive commerce, using virtual classrooms to experience immersive learning, buying digital art, collectibles and assets (NFTs), interacting with digital humans for onboarding employees, customer service, sales and other business interactions…
Nascent and fragmented
According to Marty Resnick, VP Analyst at Gartner, the new trend is expected to provide persistent, decentralised, collaborative and interoperable opportunities and business models that will enable organisations to extend digital business.
“Organisations will provide better engagement, collaboration and connection to their employees through immersive workspaces in virtual offices,” he says. “By 2026, 30% of the organisations in the world will have products and services ready for metaverse”.
This will impact every business that consumers interact with every day, Resnick sees, adding that “vendors are already building ways for users to replicate their lives in digital worlds”.
However, no single vendor will own the metaverse. Hence, Gartner expects to first see a virtual economy based on digital currencies and non fungible tokens (NFTs).
“Moreover, businesses will not need to create their own infrastructure to do so because the metaverse will provide the framework,” the research and consulting company sees.
Despite its bullish predictions, Resnick warns that the adoption of metaverse technologies is still nascent and fragmented.
“We recommend refraining from heavy investments in a specific Metaverse. It is still too early to determine which investments will be viable in the long term, and the priority should be to learn, explore and prepare for a Metaverse without going overboard with implementation, based on a few use cases,” he suggests.
