The promise, peril, and potential of the metaverse

Many people tend to think of the metaverse as a gaming platform, more widely used by the younger generations. But we see it as an immersive, collaborative, boundaryless world where the physical and virtual converge — with huge potential for businesses if approached the right way. Credit: istock/FG Trade We see the metaverse as an intersection of immersive experiences across the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) spectrums. Businesses can use it, as many already are, to enrich experiences, products, and services with virtual overlays for navigation and context. Others are creating new, fully immersive environments and finding a way to engage customers in them. Behind these new experiences is not one but several technologies. Many of those metaverse-enabling technologies, like 5G, blockchain, and AI, have been maturing over time, and things that were once technically feasible but not practical have become more commercially available, more affordable, and more consumable, like ChatGPT . Key trends There has been a fundamental transition from closed centralized platforms, where users access free information in exchange for their data, to a connected, open, and immersive world known as Web 3.0, or Web3. An example is Roblox , which has nearly 50 million […]

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