A world powered by virtual reality, where every human being can have a “second personality”: an avatar to walk around, interact with other inhabitants -in this virtual plane-, hold work meetings with a team of colleagues no matter where they are, or make purchases in cryptocurrencies of clothing designed specifically for this new paradigm, real estate on land located in the virtual ether, or works of art under the NFT (non fungible token) model. All in real time and in a perfectly immersive way.

This is not science fiction, but one of the main trends for 2022. The largest companies in the world are strongly betting on this concept and new developments are appearing almost daily. The research firm, Bloomberg Intelligence, estimates that the business will be moving US$800 billion by 2024.

Blockchain as a backbone

One of the main backbones of the Metaverse is the blockchain technology: the infrastructure of this entire parallel universe relies on it to enable transactions in crypto assets. This is not a minor issue, in this space users can buy and sell digital goods.

This behavior has been visualized for a couple of years in video games such as Minecraft, Roblox or Fortnite, where players earn money to be used to purchase weapons or tools within the same game. This model tends to open up: the Metaverse proposes that everything obtained in a virtual space can be exchanged beyond the limits of that space. It will even be possible to play with the same character in different games and then, with that same avatar, walk to a store to buy something, have a virtual coffee with a group of friends or discuss with your boss in an augmented reality office.

Just as users have recently turned to cryptocurrencies as a way of investment in order to capitalize on their volatility in terms of price, the same is happening with several digital “products”: even collectible stickers with images of soccer players have enabled significant gains for their holders. This is also expected to be seen in the Metaverse. In a world where all transactions are digital, crypto assets are consolidating as the best possible currency.

The Metaverse as an opportunity

For businesses, the Metaverse means the opportunity to deliver extraordinary experiences for customers and stakeholders. An eCommerce can deploy extremely realistic virtual suppliers so that people can try what they want to buy.

Natural resource companies, such as mining or oil companies, have the ability to structure virtual tours of their operations as if they were there.

Factories can now train their employees with absolute precision in the handling of heavy equipment or dangerous machinery without subjecting them to any risk until they are perfectly prepared to operate them.

These are just a few examples. The proposition is limitless. And all of this can be integrated into the Metaverse: all these initiatives can enhance each other to form a truly interconnected universe.

Beyond technology

In the specific case of companies, technology is just one of the pillars in which they will have to invest if they want to be present in the Metaverse: they will also need to investigate how processes are modified by this innovation and, fundamentally, its impact on people. This implies analyzing what new behaviors and relationship models will emerge from the increasingly massive use of this virtual platform, and how it will be necessary to reconnect with customers in a more intimate and personalized way.

It is even expected that new jobs related to the Metaverse will appear, just as it happened at the time with the Internet or social networks. This will require profiles specialized in the particular dynamics of each of these environments.

There was a time when people used to say “every time in the past was better”. Innovations such as the Metaverse motivate us to change that saying to: “every future time seems more interesting”.