3 Exciting Use Cases for the ‘Metaverse’
Work from VR office
Since the pandemic, the way we work has changed tremendously. Remote work has gained high importancy, it no longer matters where we work from. However, the physical distance to our colleagues has increased.
The ‘metaverse’ could change this and bring us as a team closer again, not only collaborating digitally in chats and via video, but also interacting within a digital office. Due to the fact that we work accordingly to our calendars, coincidental interactions have become relatively rare. In a virtual space, we could experience this more often. So the main benefit is not just to add immersiveness to the meeting experience itself, but primarily to create a virtual workspace. Because our brains are built to think primarily in space, we find it easier to make associations spatially. In this way, it is easier for us to recognize information. Beyond that, by creating an imaginary virtual space without limitations, it allows us to adapt them to our purpose.
Go virtual shopping
E-commerce and social media platforms have made stationary retail less important, the ‘metaverse’ will make it even more rapidly. The mirroring or self-creation of virtual shopping spaces will further minimize the disadvantages of online shopping, such as the tangibility and presentation of products. In future we will be able to try on clothes virtually from home or experience products directly in action. From a sustainability point of view, this will minimize the return rate, which is currently one of the biggest CO2 emitters in online shopping. Nevertheless, thanks to new possibilities to present products virtually, the shopping rate will probably continue to increase. Not surprisingly, manufacturers will still tend to present their products as more qualitative than they are, the ‘metaverse’ will not change that.
The stationary retail sector will continue to shift towards further premiumization. Not only due to the rising rents in city centers, but also because the barrier between customers and online retail is shrinking. As a result, flagship stores and showrooms are becoming increasingly important, where haptic products are enhanced by virtual information and visual effects. This will make the physical shopping experience even more attractive, while smaller retailers will need to pay more attention to their product quality, as they are often unable to keep up with the technical requirements of AR experiences.
Make VR-vacation
The romanticized idea of expanding yourself by traveling to faraway countries is driving the explorative growth of long-distance travel. Not least because of a new middle class arising in countries like China, which is developing similar needs —which is reasonable. Considering climate change, we have to ask ourselves whether the entire phenomenon is sustainable.
New providers offering complete virtual trips with VR headsets will enter the market to counteract this contradiction — travel without a guilty conscience. Thanksthis, it will be possible to go on safari or fly through landscapes using a real drone. Depending on the provider, there will be live experiences and pre-recorded ones. By making travel so easy and available to everyone, we will see a further increase in our connection with nature. Perhaps this will convince even the last skeptics of the urgency of climate change.
