Exploring the Metaverse and the barriers to successful adoption

One of the latest innovations that is still finding its feet, and with the rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence, has decreased in popularity is the concept of “The Metaverse.” Looking back, we can see the step changes taking place from text-based chat rooms to voice enabled digital assistants.?

How we interact with the environment and each other is evolving, unlocking new ways, and worlds of immersive experiences. In this article I will be exploring the differences within the Metaverse and the current barriers to successful adoption.

So, what is Metaverse? Firstly, Metaverse as a concept is not new! It was originally coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash, and then adapted by other authors and Hollywood, painting a picture of the Metaverse being a whole new world, such as “The Matrix,” “Ready Player One” and many more. While this might be the ultimate goal, we’re not there yet due to the technology not being quite ready, use cases driving different approaches and the biggest barrier of all… the cultural acceptance.

The difference with Metaverse today is its application to the enterprise. To distil and unpick Gartner’s view of Metaverse, they depict “The Metaverse” as a vision, the one goal to rule them all, whereas?“A Metaverse” are?the emerging technologies to aid in the delivery of “The Metaverse” vision. In my view?“The Metaverse” is a construct to deliver the next level of interaction, changing the way we interact with the environment and each other.?To assist the industry in understanding “The Metaverse,” Gartner have also created “The Metaverse” equation:

The Metaverse = (Transport + Transform + Transact) + (Interaction + Creator Economy + Interoperability + Immersive + Identity)

“A Metaverse” Use Cases

Today, the industry has an emerging market of “A Metaverse” use cases and technologies that can tick a small number of the areas or attributes named within the equation, but there is not a convergence of them at this time, with device independence, to allow a “The Metaverse” to exist.?

A snapshot of “A Metaverse” technology use cases we have seen so far are:

• Immersive Training & Onboarding?– Providing safe ways of training and onboarding new starters across distances and enabling organisations with legacy machinery to entice new workers into a heritage field of work.
• Meeting Enhancements?– Bridging the gap of hybrid work allowing all workers to feel engaged and included whether you are physically in a meeting room or not. Additionally, enabling sidebar conversations using spatial computing to allow attendees to lean into a conversation as you would in a physical meeting.
• Distance Enabled Events & Teaching?– Creating immersive experiences where delegates/students can feel involved in a community, or driving higher conference attendance allowing people to join from anywhere and network as they would physically.
• Enhanced Selling?– Allowing organisations to immerse people into an experience where they feel that the “thing” they want to buy is in front of them when it is not, or it is a different colour. Also allows organisations to keep the sales motion alive and try to close the sale even when the “thing” people want isn’t available.

These types of experiences are delivered today using – in addition to other technologies – augmented reality, virtual reality, spatial computing, and edge computing… But why are organisations interested in this type of technology? Ultimately it comes down to enhancing the customer service experience, providing a new platform to engage and grow brand influence, to gamify and reignite heritage professions and tasks.?

Barriers to Adopting “The Metaverse”

So if “A Metaverse” can deliver all of these benefits, what is holding it back? Going back to “The Metaverse” equation, the?technology?is not ready yet, and it might not be for a period of time. Some of the key players within this area have pivoted to capitalise on generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology based on GPT-4 and large language models (LLM), which will enable people to be even more productive than they have ever been by bridging the human and digital worker divide. That means that we can expect an even longer delay on Metaverse technology being developed.

When “The Metaverse” does become available, the next barrier will be the?complexity and cost?to enable the outcomes that organisations are looking for. This is due to the niche and specific experiences people may want to deliver. We at CDW have seen this already when looking to develop immersive training initiatives for customers or enable construction workers to have heads up displays using augmented reality providing real-time updates and information on building sites.

Another critical component to get right in the Metaverse is?identity. Let’s take one of the examples above about “A Metaverse” solution for distance learning for children. How do we ensure that everyone in that immersive space is a child and who they say they are? We have challenges with identity today on social media and other communication platforms. In “The Metaverse” this is even more critical as it is immersive and could have even more of an impact on individuals or organisations if not managed.?

Potentially the biggest barrier to adoption and scale out will be the?cultural acceptance?of wearable technology on your face. Today, individuals may not feel comfortable wearing or being seen wearing this type of technology. As an example, I personally use augmented reality for working on the move to allow me to have multiple secure monitors whilst on a train. In this situation, people stare and are very inquisitive about the technology and assume that it is taking pictures or live videos of them, and frequently ask me to remove or stop using them. The only way we as an industry can overcome this is through rebranding and education of this type of technology and its benefits, but this will take time. Luckily, the technology will take some time too.

To summarise, the emergence of this technology marks a shift in the way we interact BUT it’s not ready yet. There are use cases and approaches using “A Metaverse” technologies you can take advantage of, changing the way we work, play and socialise. It’s not right for everyone – it can become complex and expensive, has cultural acceptance challenges and in some cases is still seen as a gimmick/hype. That being said, I do believe that this is a component of the way we interact with each other and the environment, enabling us to do great things and be more productive.

Tags: #metaverse #interaction #adoption #identity #technology #safety #augmentedreality #spatialcomputing #virtualreality #mixedreality #thoughtleadership #innovation #opinions #cdw #cdwsocial #Gartner

*An old video created during the pandemic showcasing some VR tech as a bit of fun. Can be found here