How will the metaverse change the way you work?
“Metaverse” has been the trendiest buzzword of late!
The term "Metaverse" was taken from a science fiction novel named Snow Crash, where human avatars and software demons live in a parallel universe. This novel was written by the American writer Neal Stephenson and published in 1992.
The metaverse is often described as the "future of work" wherein our daily lives will include the entire world online or as the next version of the internet that has a shared virtual space that is constantly active. [Source, The Adecco Group] This sounds like a sci-fi movie, isn't it? But in reality, we will soon be performing our day-to-day activities in a new digital world. We will spend time with family and friends and work using augmented and virtual reality headgear.
Phase-shift towards the metaverse
A metaverse is a 3D digital model based on popular virtual reality games. Top brands in the fashion industry are also experimenting with digital-based clothing collections, allowing users to log in with their identities and leverage these platforms to hang out and purchase clothes sported by celebrities or social media influencers. The AR/VR universe helps you build social connections virtually, and numerous competing companies are already using the metaverse to create stellar social media experiences. E-commerce networks are also changing the way customers collaborate and transact online. This, of course, is key for industry leaders to learn the impactful ways wherein the metaverse paradigm will drastically influence the future.
How did the metaverse transpire and become the most integral part of our lives?
The metaverse primarily started to emerge into our daily lives as entertainment. The global pandemic drove most companies to reanalyze their processes and shift toward a digital future. Business leaders have learned that old standard practices do not work in this new era and need to start extracting the benefits with metaverse adoption. Every business must constantly reinvent itself to keep up with the competition and learn to steer well with the tech industry disruptions. Most tech companies want to use the metaverse as an advanced use case for their day-to-day operations, especially with 3D VR headgear and immersive engagement experiences becoming more productive in every sector.
Recently, Gartner has named the metaverse one of the top 10 strategic technology trends and predictions for 2023. The global spending on AR/VR technologies is projected to increase from $12 billion in 2020 to $ 72.8 billion in 2024. Leaders from every industry are exploring potential ways to position themselves as key players in this ecosystem. The immersive capabilities have set it apart from today's technology; the metaverse is expected to become an epicenter where people can collaborate for information and work.
Benefits of working in the metaverse
The metaverse can change the processes and the ways of how, where, and with whom we work. The possibility of being there from anywhere in shared spaces will change the game. This will increase the scope of potential prospects for projects or jobs while fixing the gaps created by remote work.
Some examples from different industries explain how the metaverse will change how we work.
- Virtual real estate brokers' jobs will be available in the metaverse, providing property tours to potential clients.
- While onboarding new employees, companies conduct training and upskilling programs for a few days or months at HQ learning centers, where they can attend in-person sessions. Some provide online sessions, allowing new employees to attend them remotely on their devices. In both cases, employees learn passively, just sitting and reading or listening to the information. Now, imagine how the metaverse can change how a company approaches its employees for a learning and development program, especially with its rich experiences.
- Companies will be able to dissect their business models to bypass process disruptions as the metaverse favors decentralization, especially with the advent of Web3. This will form various opportunities that can help break down the walls of geographic boundaries and time zones, creating new opportunities that do not exist today.
- Companies in various industries can build an immersive learning environment that engages employees at a level that would make them more efficient while relishing the interactive learning process.
- The metaverse as a concept would simulate technology that will allow us to interact in a more physically inspired way than we do while working remotely. This can boost efficiency levels and keep everyone engaged through the project roadmap helping us achieve the desired goals while building trust and long-term business associations.
Companies in various industries can build an immersive learning environment that engages employees at a level that would make them more efficient while relishing the interactive learning process supported by experiential learning. According to the World Bank Group's study, students exposed to immersive learning are 30% more efficient. Also, the recent neuroscientific research by ScienceDaily suggests virtual reality environments can promote neuroplasticity in a more significant amount than the real-world environment; this potentially can help develop long-term memory.
A recent video shared by Virti Insights explains how investing in immersive technology can help companies enable their learning and development programs. Watch here.
Gartner has named the metaverse as one of the top 10 strategic technology trends in 2023 and beyond.
The metaverse will enable us to resolve real-time problems and design across large manufacturing businesses. Companies can prototype their systems into the metaverse, where they analyze and test applicability to assemble optimal approaches, excluding the need to access actual hardware. Robots could perform software testing in the metaverse and impersonate physical integrations in the virtual environment before executing in real-world scenarios. Customers can be virtually involved in the product development phase from the initial level, excluding on-site visits that can save time and also avoid health and safety risks in circumstances like COVID-19. This will allow them to review and share feedback on new products at every development stage and work on the product launch and marketing strategy accordingly.
How will the metaverse change the functioning of cryptocurrencies?
The metaverse as a concept is supportive of decentralization. Hence, any supporting platforms based on this concept would have their digital currency, as the preferred method of selling and buying virtual items just as we buy goods with any other currency. For example, games like World of Warcraft and Fortnite allow users to earn money and buy virtual items — how we do it in the real world. Not limited to this, even salaries will be paid in cryptocurrencies, as many experts have predicted. Digital currency will replace the physical ones if the metaverse gets into most work roles where the economy is carried out. Most of the old norms or rules will not be applicable, and it will make more sense for companies to pay their employees via crypto/digital currencies in the metaverse.
Cryptocurrency is quite popular in countries where conventional currency exchange rates keep fluctuating. Crypto ownership has increased from 10% to 18.6% in just 12 months; the share is considerably more with men than women. According to GWI research, 12.7% of male internet users aged between 16–64 own crypto such as Ether or Bitcoins, whereas women own only 7.2%. The majority of the ownership is seen in millennials, and the trend is declining beyond the age of 35; fewer than 1- 20 internet users aged between 55–64 own any cryptocurrency.
The adoption rate of any technology grows gradually from 8% — 10 %, then explodes to mass adoption, as it happened with the internet. Global cryptocurrency adoption in the metaverse would take 2–5 years or more. However, there are certain advantages to learning more about crypto before mass adoption occurs. This will help companies and individuals in a smooth transition at a later stage, the way early internet adopters had the upper hand before it became a necessity.
Considering the benefits of cryptocurrency, there is an increase in the number of companies worldwide using Bitcoin or any other digital currency in investments, operations, and transactions. Of course, several risk factors exist, but the incentives are massive. The effort could be complicated, so companies have decided to pilot crypto adoption along with the metaverse. Typically, the treasury is responsible for the company and its subsidiary'sies' internal funding. They can begin with a pilot by buying crypto that the treasury can use for transactions. Once the crypto is paid out, received, or revalued, they can keep following the thread for future payments with the metaverse.
Establishing a Metaverse-based infrastructure and global spending in augmented & virtual reality is expected to upsurge up to $72.8 billion by 2024, from $12 billion in 2020 — Forbes.
Are Banks and Fintechs entering the metaverse?
The augmented reality world has influenced digital banks and fintechs to develop virtual environments in the metaverse that can support financial services. JP Morgan — the US investment giant, is the first bank to enter the metaverse. Kookmin Bank from South Korea has started providing one-to-one customer services in the metaverse. HSBC is also in the process of commencing its branch in the metaverse through a partnership with Sandbox. Sokin, a UK-based payments fintech, will use the metaverse in planning to host a 3D community of brands and retailers, wherein the customers can communicate, meet, transact, invest, and buy items through a mobile app.
Gartner's research describes elements of the metaverse in the above diagram. The research suggests that the metaverse will enable organizations to extend businesses digitally by providing continuous, decentralized, and collaborative opportunities.
The metaverse economy could be worth $8 trillion as per Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
The interest of banks and fintechs in the metaverse is quite surprising to some experts. The alternative reality in the gaming industry is understandable but does investing so much in the metaverse that it is not in the entertainment business makes sense?
Adoption of the metaverse technology is still developing, and experts recommend withholding from making heavy investments, as it would not be feasible in the long run. This is the time to learn & explore the metaverse and prepare ourselves before enactment.
To get started, organizations can collaborate with their employees and achieve improved engagement levels through advanced learning and development models or enhanced employee productivity models. Users can interact with three-dimensional avatars on social channels, and e-commerce companies can extend their reach by providing immersive shopping experiences. Over a period of time, virtual events have become quite popular, and now these can be presented in a more integrated format.
The virtual world that most games offer is luxurious regarding aesthetics, whereas the current form of the metaverse is unpolished. In the virtual environment, financial institutions' success will ultimately depend on how effectively they offer their products or services to customers. It is uncertain how this new process or technology will evolve. At the same time, some are excited and preparing themselves to leverage all the transformative capabilities of leveraging the metaverse. Instead of watching it unfold, now is the time to explore and rapidly scale to create a new experience for their employees and customers.
Customers will use AR/VR as an alternative channel as per 47% of bankers for transactions by 2030 — The Financial Brand.
Building trust will be the most essential part while adopting new experiences. The human impact will become imperative, and the future will lead us to understand how the metaverse will create a difference in our physical and virtual lives.
Banks and fintechs must research how the metaverse can be leveraged to reduce risk and implementational costs. They can start enabling 3D experiences before getting into building immersive technologies for transformation.
Conclusion
Amidst all the uncertainty about AR/VR, one thing is for sure; the metaverse is here to stay, with its implications for the future of work. It will impact every industry just like earlier revolutions. Eagerness around the metaverse would start from the customer's end, and enterprises still have time to prepare for the future. Companies will be better positioned if they rapidly work towards making a futuristic transition. Extending the metaverse to broader possibilities will lead to upgrading technologies used in education, from teaching how to drive a car to doctors performing surgeries in a metaverse environment. Training and hands-on experience without risk can sharpen their skills with improved efficiency from the metaverse to real-world scenarios. Nevertheless, from the beginning, the metaverse was always intended to be more than just a virtual or augmented reality application.
Currently, we don't know what it would look or be like. However, we all have agreed that it is coming and will influence our lives. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and keep following this space for more information.
