Tech Trend #9: Metaverse

Metaverse technologies are the future of interaction in the virtual and physical world. Learn more about this tech trend and how you can address it in your business here.

For the coming years, the U.S. research and consulting firm Gartner sees four priorities that companies can address with the help of various technology trends. On this basis, Gartner names and categorizes the 10 most important strategic technology trends for 2023. (centron reported)

As the ninth of these ten tech trends, we would like to introduce you to the so-called metaverse in this article. Gartner assigns this trend to the priority “pioneering customer engagement, accelerated responses or opportunities”.

Metaverse

A metaverse is a virtual shared space created by the convergence of virtually augmented physical and digital reality. It is not device-independent, nor is it owned by any single provider. Rather, it is an independent virtual economy enabled by digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In very simple terms, metaverses can also be understood as the next generation of the Internet.

Metaverses are a combinatorial innovation – meaning they require multiple technologies and trends to work. Contributing to this are virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), flexible work styles, head-mounted displays (HMDs), an AR cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, AI, and spatial computing.

Metaverse technologies are the future of interaction in the virtual and physical worlds, providing innovative new opportunities and business models. Some of these opportunities are already emerging – both for businesses and individuals:

Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25 percent of people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse – for work, shopping, education, social media, or entertainment purposes.

Opportunities for companies

There is currently no such thing as “the” metaverse. Today, it still encompasses several new technologies. Gartner advises enterprises to be cautious with investments at this time, as it is too early to determine what will be profitable for the enterprise in the long term.

Ultimately, however, the Metaverse Gartner predicts will provide durable, decentralized, collaborative and interoperable capabilities and business models that will enable enterprises to grow their digital business.
For now, these measures can help you design a strategy that includes Metaverse technologies:

  • Möglichkeiten erkunden, mit Hilfe von diesen Technologien das Digital Business zu optimieren oder neue Produkte und Services zu schaffen
  • Produkte und Lösungen durch eine Pipeline von kombinatorischen Innovationen aufbauen
  • Vom Metaverse inspirierte Möglichkeiten identifizieren durch die Bewertung aktueller, hochwertiger Anwendungsfälle
  • Mit Bedacht in bestimmte aufkommende Metaverses investieren (Achtung: Schützen Sie Ihren Ruf, indem Sie proaktiv eine Data Governance-, Sicherheits- und Datenschutzrichtlinie etablieren!)

Source: Gartner

Einer der zehn Top-Tech-Trends des Jahres 2020 laut Garner ist das Metaverse.