It was almost two decades ago, before the term ‘Metaverse’ became a buzzword, that Philip Rosedale launched Second Life, a platform where users could create their own avatars using its simulation software. These avatars could interact within communities, buy virtual clothes, and even own pieces of digital real estate using ‘Linden dollars’ in place of real money. Rosendale was certainly a visionary way ahead of time. But even with the fairly rudimentary computing power available then, which limited the experience to a large extent, Second Life users spent over $3 billion in real money and thousands of hours as well in just a ten-year span. 

Today, the technology is far advanced, and we have most of what it takes to help Metaverse take off in a big way. There are players like AWS and Azure who provide the infrastructure for these Metaverses to run, then you have software providers such as Unity and Unreal, AR/VR devices such as Oculus, and a host of technologies that come together to make the Metaverse experience real. Most importantly, there is a new generation of digital-native users who are already embracing the concept of the Metaverse. 

Led by ambitious players like Roblox Corporation, Epic Games, and Unity Software, the Metaverse ecosystem already involves 200-400 million people, a number exceeding the populations of many countries. Roblox alone has over 25.5 million daily active users of their games under the age of 13, according to Statista. Enterprises are taking notice. A large number of companies have been steadily investing in the Meta world including Microsoft, which spent $68.7 billion to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard. 

The Metaverse has the potential to transform the way we communicate and shape our experiences using an additional multi-dimensional layer by merging the physical and the virtual worlds more realistically. It can bring a paradigm shift in the way that we co-create, collaborate, and network. 

Reimagining CX in the Metaverse 

The Metaverse is made of two distinct worlds – Metaverse creators like Epic or Decentraland, who provide the platform, and the experience creators that include a majority of the players in the industry. For instance, Warner Music Group (WMG) partnered with The Sandbox, a gaming virtual world, to create WMG LAND, its first music-themed world in the gaming Metaverse. Luxury brand Gucci partnered with Roblox to launch 'Gucci Town' Metaverse world. Nike is launching NIKELAND in Roblox where you can shop for shoes and accessories. With increasing buy-in from end-use industries such as media and entertainment, education, and aerospace and defense, the global Metaverse market could grow to $678.8 billion by 2030 according to Grand View Research.

The possibilities are endless. Take, for example, a brand with global followers and a flagship store in a marquee building in a prime location. By replicating the store fully on the Metaverse, the brand could give fans from across locations, the first-hand experience of walking through the store and picking up the products they want in that store and having them shipped in the physical world. If the brand has an extremely influential spokesperson, they could create interaction opportunities in the Metaworld where fans get to interact with an AI-enabled avatar of the influencer. 

Tennis Australia, for example, launched a Melbourne Street replica in the virtual world, where users could step into the street replete with shops and graffiti and have a ‘real-life’ experience using VR. Infosys and Tennis Australia have a long-term Digital Innovation partnership to use technology for enhancing accessibility, learnability, and inclusivity on and beyond the court. 

The Metaverse is Here to Stay

Right now, Metaverse adoption is still at a nascent stage, but the outlook is promising. As the technology matures and VR experiences become more affordable and accessible to more people, the rate of adoption will grow exponentially. The Metaverse will only become more pervasive as users move closer to a more immersive and near-real experience.

The time is right for brands to take a closer look at the Metaverse experiment, explore use cases, and study the competitive ecosystem to see how best they can use the Metaverse to their advantage. Brands that have been focusing on customer experience and working to provide outstanding experiences across all their digital and brick-and-mortar channels cannot afford to ignore the Metaverse. 

While naysayers might dismiss the Metaverse as humbug or as a new ‘shiny object’, there is enough evidence to suggest that the Metaverse is here to stay.