Everywhere you look these days, everyone is talking about Metaverse and how it will revolutionize everything people do. To help you navigate around your current and future conversations we have prepared an illustrated review of things, ideas and notions that define or impact evolution of Metaverse right now. So, here they are – in no particular order, all of the same importance.
Metaverse forecasts
McKinsey & Co's preliminary forecast shows the metaverse has the potential to grow up to $5 trillion in value by 2030.
A quarter of people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse by 2026, research company Gartner predicts.
According to Accenture 71% of global executives state that the metaverse will have a positive impact on their organizations, with 42% believing it will be breakthrough or transformational.
Roblox, Decentraland, Sandbox and other multi-experience virtual worlds
What will happen if you give users an online game world creation platform, where they can create their own games and experiences, as well as play ones, created by others, or simply hang out and socialize with friends and make new ones? The best answer to this question is ‘Roblox’, the single most highly populated early Metaverse world, that lets you create, share experiences with friends, and be anything you can imagine.
It’s the destination visited by tens of millions of users from all over the world monthly, and it should come as no surprise that many globally renowned brands are flocking to Roblox to engage with their customers there.
Promoted as a virtual sports world, where the future of sport is yours to create, NIKELAND on Roblox offers visitors hours of fun while exploring the world of sports where everything is possible.
Explore SUNSILK City, a world where nothing holds you back! Play fun mini-games, customize your avatar, and learn something new in the House of Skills.
Roblox has also become a popular music venue, hosting real time concerts and dance parties by such stars as Lil Nas X (attended and watched around 33 million times over multiple viewings), Twenty One Pilots, Zara Larsson and many others.
Other notable examples of multi-experience virtual worlds, where one can create, play, socialize and even earn money include Decentraland, Sandbox and several other blockchain-based early Metaverse platforms. Most of these platforms attract a lot of attention and involvement from investors, celebrities, consumer brands and game players.
The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 has begun!
Come and explore a decentralized metaverse that is built, governed, and owned by its users.
Healthcare in Metaverse
Metaverse is "the next horizon" in healthcare according to the Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2022 report.
Kaveh Safavi, Accenture Health’s senior managing director, believes that "in healthcare, today's biggest opportunity is capitalizing on the potential of the space in between the real and fully virtual worlds".
Metaverse-enabling technologies – such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) – are already reshaping human experiences in new and innovative ways.
Over the coming years, these new experiences will transform health delivery, from operating clinical trials to coordinating patient experiences and creating new ways to serve the patient.
Imagine the world where surgical teams can learn new procedures without having to be physically in the same operating room.
The world where secure personal authentication is an everyday reality. For example, traveling patients will be able to securely provide their medical information to caregivers without a need to authenticate with the physician.
The world where cultural norms, gender stereotypes and traditional rules are no longer a barrier for anyone to get medical help wherever they need it or want it.
The world’s first Metaverse hospital is set to start accepting patients by October, 2022, thanks to the United Arab Emirates healthcare company Thumbay Group. Through the power of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), the Metaverse hospital will allow for more immersive and inclusive doctor-patient experiences.
Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency and NFTs
Digital humans
Digital twinning
Extended reality (XR)
The umbrella term 'Extended Reality' (XR) describes a number of different, yet related technologies, like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and several other ones, that enhance our perception and interaction with the world around us (AR, MR), or replace the physical reality with a virtual one (VR), providing methods and tools to interact with it and experience it in a multi-sensory way.
Uses, benefits and other pieces of knowledge for the VR technologies have been brought into mass conscience by such Hollywood films like Lawnmower Man, Matrix and Ready Player One. Today, the most widely known VR platform is possibly Meta Horizon Worlds introduced by Mark Zuckerberg in 2021 and launched across many parts of the world in 2022.
In a nutshell Augmented Reality (AR) is “just” a digital layer to our daily life, that brings a lot of value to the existing routines and practices. True to their name AR technologies do exactly what they promise – augmenting our daily reality – making it more understandable, more
helpful, more rewarding, often all of these at the same time and on a global scale.
The most widely known uses of the AR technology include globally mega-successful Pokemon Go! game, Instagram and Snapchat filters and lenses, as well as smartphone 'try it on before you buy' smartphone apps like IKEA Place.
Deloitte Digital believes that "by 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users".