What the Metaverse Means for the Future of Business

The future of business and the Metaverse

The idea of the Metaverse is supported by global technology leaders like Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia. But even outside of their scope, there are immersive, persistent virtual worlds that have established their native economies.

The foundation of the Metaverse is already here and used by millions of people. But as of today, the most notable examples in the gaming world, and the use cases for AR and VR technology are fairly limited. Some experts are calling these instances "a lot of glimpses of the Metaverse" or "Metaverse moments."

The full manifestation is probably 5-10 years out. By that time, there will be more tech and competition involved. It will also be tied to advances in XR technologies and require more bandwidth and processing power.

The future of business in the Metaverse: 3 changes to watch out for

Without further ado, let's look at three possibilities in the upcoming years as the Metaverse becomes a bigger deal.

Better work culture and collaboration

Some platforms promise to establish a seamless environment where real-life interactions move into virtual reality. It can take the form of:

• VR and AR for meetings - To bring senior leaders and frontline workers together and form closer connections, with body language and non-verbal cues.
• Remote job training - To learn in simulated environments, whether it's customer service or medical trainees.
• Virtual office - To make surroundings infinitely malleable without multiple screens and a complex dashboard of tools.

Thus, the Metaverse may minimize the feeling of disconnectedness between teams, departments, and branches.

Higher productivity

Suppose the Metaverse manages to improve communication, that alone will boost workplace productivity. What's more, it will provide companies with an opportunity to develop more tools and products to achieve it.

The Metaverse can also help companies avoid low productivity hacking experiments like with Intel. Their "back to the basics" program consisted of logging employees in and out and plummeted productivity.

But now, companies can create digital twins of offices and employees. These digital spaces will be the perfect ground for testing theories on productivity before they are introduced company-wide.

More security concerns and solutions

With the rise of NFT scams, the idea of Metaverse hackers scamming and stealing identities is not far-fetched. Of course, it is important to consider the financial and reputational damages businesses might suffer because of leaked data. Other concerns are network credential theft, social engineering attacks, and ransomware attacks.

New cybersecurity landscapes leave no other choices for businesses - they must develop or integrate new solutions. The "Security as a Business Partner" model might be the next logical step for many companies.

Does the Metaverse need Crypto, and do businesses need to adopt it?

There's no specific reason why the Metaverse must be on the blockchain or somehow involve cryptocurrency. But crypto has a few unique ways of pushing the Metaverse and what it stands for forward.

For many, the Metaverse is about identity and digital ownership. It might become one of the first places where users will be able to claim ownership of digital assets. For this, they will need blockchain-based records.

The concept of interoperability is also worth mentioning. For example, you want to buy an outfit for your avatar in the "Balenciaga-verse" and then play Fortnite wearing it. For this, you will need to port your virtual possessions between different virtual worlds. The role of cryptocurrency here is to make these transitions smooth.

What should executives do now?

Here are a few recommendations to consider:

• Be responsible - Early on, make decisions that will govern the issues of privacy, security, accessibility, and sustainable energy consumption.
• Focus on customer needs - Make sure to provide value for the user, e.g., content, partnerships, etc.
• Do not underestimate the potential - To be more specific, do not underestimate the good and bad influences of adopting the Metaverse.
• Think about the long-term perspective - Since the digital transformation agenda has a low ROI, other investments maybe better for revenue generation.

Conclusion

A lot about the Metaverse is still unknown. But there are many predictions that it might be hugely beneficial to keeping corporate jobs alive and prosperous. Whether to act now or wait it out is the decision each company will need to make on its own. Those who seek the be at the forefront of the future of business, will ensure they know how the Metaverse can benefit them.