Rethink what you think you know about the Metaverse

Odds are you heard and said the word “metaverse” over the last year.?Like many emerging technologies, experts differ in how to define it. And it’s generating hype, excitement, confusion and skepticism.?Most are focusing on the consumer applications of the metaverse.?And many are taking a wait and see approach.???

But that is a mistake.?When it comes to the metaverse, you procrastinate at your own peril.

It’s time to rethink everything you think you know about the Metaverse .?The time is now to think big, start small and scale fast – advice I gave to clients back in 1999 about .com, and again in 2013 about digital.??

We’ve worked across this space for nearly 15 years, and we have a very different view that cuts through the hype, demystifies the mythology, and outlines a clear path forward – starting today.?In this year’s Technology Vision, we present a distinctive and broader perspective that goes well beyond the current prevailing wisdom:?the Metaverse Continuum. ?

We see the Metaverse as a continuum that spans the spectrum of digitally enhanced worlds, realities and business models.?It applies across all aspects of business, from consumer to worker and across the entire enterprise; from reality to virtual and back; from 2D to 3D; and from cloud and artificial intelligence to extended reality, blockchain, digital twins, edge technologies and beyond.?

As the next evolution of the Internet, the metaverse will be a continuum of rapidly emerging capabilities, use cases, technologies and experiences.?And as we evolve the Metaverse Continuum, we must seize the opportunity to ensure that it is developed with responsibility at the core.?From ownership of data, to inclusion and diversity, to sustainability and through to security and personal safety, this work must begin now.?

That is why Accenture not only released its Technology Vision 2022 entitled “Meet Me in the Metaverse:?The Continuum of Technology and Experience Reshaping Business,” but we also announced the launch of our new Accenture Metaverse Continuum Business Group .?Building upon our years of leadership in metaverse-related technology and experience capabilities and over 600 patents filed, we are bringing together 800 metaverse-skilled professionals and leading capabilities from across Accenture into one group dedicated to designing, executing and accelerating our clients?metaverse journeys.?

We’re already working with many pioneering leaders who are set to leapfrog their competitors by staking early claims in the Metaverse Continuum – setting a bold business growth trajectory that will serve them well now and in the future.

We are on the threshold of a new decade of digital transformation, and at another defining moment for all leaders.?The Metaverse Continuum will transform how businesses interact with customers, how work is done, what products and services companies offer, how they make and distribute them, and fundamentally how they operate their organizations.?

Leaders need to step back and reimagine how you will approach your business for the next decade – which worlds you will define and design, starting now.?While we are at the early days of the metaverse, it will advance very quickly.?If companies don’t act now, they’ll find themselves operating in worlds designed by, and for, someone else.?

We look forward to exploring the Metaverse Continuum and our four trends with you as we build the future together, today.