Reports have stated that the metaverse is an industry set to eventually surpass U.S. $1 trillion in annual revenue. Tech conglomerates like Microsoft and Meta – along with video game publishers (e.g. Epic Games) – are investing billions into the technology and the concept. This begs the question – what industries will the metaverse impact?
The metaverse sector is set to transform a number of different industries including: the fashion industry, the gaming industry, the entertainment industry, the retail industry, the architecture industry, the advertising industry, the art industry and the remote work platform industry.
Our team will explain how each of these industries will be affected in addition to providing examples of the specific lines of business that are most likely to transform in the shortest time horizon. In particular, we will examine the fashion, the remote work industry, and the insurance industry more closely in the following sections of this educational resource.
The gaming industry is likely the most obvious on our list… nonetheless one that will likely be hit the hardest. As the technology increases for full immersiveness, creator economies are built out, and social identity becomes more sought-after, games that are unable to provide the core characteristics of the metaverse will likely see less user retention.
Adapting is always important; for example, Second Life – one of the first metaverse related games launched in 2003 – has seen massive improvements from its original release.
Today, the game allows for voice chat and the use of the Oculus Rift (Meta’s VR headset). Second Life has played an integral part in the development of metaverse related games. If you would like to learn about the history and development of metaverse related technologies and games, click here.
Aside from interactiveness, the trend for games to give users the ability to create their own world and monetize their work – through non-fungible tokens – will greatly increase and therefore make users less likely to play games that lack these core concepts.
The entertainment industry is another that is undoubtedly going to be affected by the metaverse. We’ve already seen virtual concerts with The Notorious B.I.G., Ariana Grande, and Travis Scott take place.
Our team should note that these concerts didn’t meet a core concept of a true metaverse – real time viewing and interaction.
For example, with the Travis Scott concert, players were logged into numerous different servers to watch the experience with a maximum number of avatars (i.e. 100 people per server) even though there were 12 million people “watching”.
The technology was not sufficiently evolved to host that number of people concurrently – 12 million – on the same server (in what many would consider to be a true metaverse).
If you are interested in learning about the other widely agreed upon core concepts of the metaverse and precisely what the metaverse is, click here.
The technology currently being used to (fully) experience metaverses like Meta’s Horizon World requires VR goggles. As VR goggles become increasingly advanced, the need to attend movie theaters to watch films diminish as these devices will eventually be able to provide the same level of experience.
The architecture industry is an industry that the metaverse will impact as home purchasers and those looking to remodel their existing homes will want to virtually preview what they may build/purchase.
It will likely become standard practice for buyers to visualize the new aesthetics of what they are paying for before the actual designs are built out.
Before the design has come to life, 3D designers and architects are likely to create the model using (for example) the INVIDIA Omniverse tool; this tool allows you to create advanced 3D models, amongst many other things, in real time with other users.
The INVIDIA Omniverse tool is one our team has written about in our article touching on the top 10 best metaverse related projects – you can find that article here.
Advertising is a billion dollar industry in the U.S. and one that will evolve with the rise of the metaverse. As people spend increasingly more time within the digital world, advertisers will adapt and create 3D ads within the virtual environment.
There are already a number of firms that have popped up in order to position themselves for the rise of metaverse advertisements.
3D creators will likely be in higher demand, especially advanced artists, that can cater to the needs of advertisers.
Art is an industry that has already seen the impact of emerging technologies – i.e. NFTs. Immense amounts of publicity and new coverage came from Beeple’s sale of ‘Everydays, the First 5000 Days’ which was an NFT that sold for US $69 million.
Sales like those show the interest of high net worth individuals looking to gain exposure to digital assets; this is likely a trend that will increase as more people want to digitally flex their NFTs via metaverse related games (and even on social media through platforms like Twitter where NFTs are already distinguishable when used as a profile picture).
It is highly likely that NFTs will act as the foundation for the creator economy of the metaverse; ownership of digital items like art have become more mainstream as people have begun to understand the use cases and the importance.
People will want to display digital art within their metaverse home and NFTs will allow them to sell and prove they own the item.
We’ve already seen this take place in Decentraland – which many would consider to be a top metaverse related game at the moment – as Sotheby’s has launched virtual art galleries for NFTs within the game.
An industry our team hasn’t touched on, but is already seeing real world use cases is fashion.
How Will The Metaverse Impact The Fashion Industry?
The metaverses’ use of AR and VR technology allows users to try on outfits and articles of clothing without visiting an in-person store. Regardless of materials and garment, anything can be tried on in a virtual, 3D space. Additionally, the design process and even fashion events will become increasingly virtual.
This is something we’re already seeing on a smaller scale with iPhones. Following the release of Pokemon Go, augmented reality became more mainstream and has already impacted a variety of different platforms.
Although the depth perception on phones isn’t as good as Microsoft’s HoloLens 2, the iPhone is still able to allow users to virtually try on products (an existing example of this is sun glass maker Ray Ban). More on Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 can be found in our article about metaverse devices, linked here.
Aside from the ability to see how a product looks without physically having it, the fashion industry will become increasingly digital. With the design process, designers will be able to quickly draft up prototypes more cost effectively by trying out designs on avatars or using augmented reality.
The design process will essentially be streamlined as no material will be needed and the manual labor of cutting fabric will no longer be needed until a design is already virtually created.
This will save materials by eliminating the creation of many iterations of an article of clothing as well as time.
The fashion industry itself will become more digital as runways become an event in the metaverse. Fashion brands will also begin to sell digital clothing as NFTs; brands like Burberry have already sold NFTs which shows their acknowledgment and acceptance of this new sector.
Another sector that will be heavily impacted is remote work platforms.
How Will The Metaverse Impact The Future Of Work And Life?
The metaverse will affect the industry of remote work platforms as more immersive ways to collaborate evolve. The metaverse will also enable the acceleration of knowledge transfer as people will get hands-on experience, virtually. Digital tools – like AI colleagues – will also increase the rate of productivity.
We have already seen Meta attempt to disrupt communication technology companies like Zoom through Horizon Worlds. People are able to have the feel of a real work setting while sitting at home if they have a VR headset.
Horizon World workrooms already allow for shared whiteboarding among other features that already improve upon some of the limitations that remote work platforms presently have.
While there are currently great barriers to entry, given the expense of this technology, it is likely that headset prices will come down and more mainstream adoption will take place.
Virtual hands on experience though augmented reality tools will foster faster learning; this will especially revolutionize industries considered hazardous and/or dangerous. For example, the healthcare industry, but more specifically surgeons, will be able to realistically practice without risking harm to a patient.
Other examples of industries where image overlays through AR will occur are bomb technicians, automotive mechanics, and even the insurance industry (which we will touch on in the next section of our article).
More digital tools will also be available in a metaverse work setting; this includes the ability to pop up more screens while working, change the virtual background you are working in, and likely even ask an AI colleague for help or information with a given task.
Research based questions and math based questions will likely be answered by AI colleagues in a matter of seconds.
The final industry we will examine is the insurance industry.
How Can The Metaverse Benefit Insurance Companies?
With any new sector, proper risk management needs to be taken and this affords new opportunities for insurance companies.
Insurance companies will be able to conduct virtual investigations – especially for dangerous tasks. They will also be able to ensure new lines of business such as digital items (i.e. NFTs) and even servers being down (as that could negatively impact business running in that 3D virtual environment).
New insurance companies will likely pop up for the sole purpose of ensuring risk within a metaverse setting.
With regards to ensuring the security of your digital assets, our team would highly recommend taking the proper risk management step of getting a hardware wallet; we will link Ledger products here.
Not convinced, but want to learn the importance of cold storage? Click here.
With image overlays, the training process for claim investigators – especially those dealing with dangerous situations – will be taught in a 3D, virtual setting.
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