Metaverse Trends

One of the hottest themes in technology, as well as in social and economic arenas, is the metaverse. Indeed, metaverse news stories are all around us, with particular media attention following Facebook’s change of name. ‘Facebook’ became ‘Meta’, reflecting its new strategy focused on the metaverse as a platform for social interactions.

The metaverse has also recently been included in the corporate strategic plans of several companies spanning various industries. 

The metaverse is a virtual environment where individuals use their avatars to engage in numerous real-life activities. For example, individuals can socialize, work and play video games in the metaverse. Recent metaverse news has included two types of trends emerging in the metaverse space, which have both received media attention. These are metaverse technology and functionality trends, and trends relating to the use of the metaverse (i.e., application-related trends).

Technology trends

Firstly, when considering this area of metaverse news and trends, it is necessary to define exactly what we mean. Metaverse technology trends are mostly related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Web3.

AI and data science fields like deep learning will play a crucial role in advancing users’ metaverse journeys. Moreover, businesses have a chance to develop innovative ways for their community and customers to interact with their brands. AI powered by deep learning makes such experiences possible.Virtual worlds are already utilizing software based on deep learning, for instance chatbots and other natural language processing applications. Another illustration from the metaverse news is the world of augmented reality (AR). AR technology uses camera pose estimation, immersive rendering, real-world object detection and 3D object reconstruction.

More advanced avatar and digital human technology

Digital twins, digital avatars, humanoid robots and conversational user interfaces are common examples of digital humans. In other words, they are AI-based systems that share some of the traits, personality, knowledge and attitudes of real people. 

As you might be aware from numerous metaverse news stories, digital avatars are gaining traction. In fact, avatars that represent users in the digital world will become more and more similar to their owners. This is thanks to more photorealistic technology allowing us to look almost exactly like we do in the real world. Additionally, avatars will adopt our own unique gestures and body language.

From a business perspective, digital humans will be employed within metaverse environments in customer-facing roles. These include customer service, customer support and sales roles. For example, digital humans might work as brand ambassadors or influencers. We recommend that you follow the metaverse news for more developments in this area.

Furthermore, AI brand ambassadors can be used to spread the brand message about any product or service throughout the metaverse. These brand ambassadors would receive training about the particular linguistic style and product of the organization.

Virtual Content Creation

Despite lots of metaverse news in recent times, there is a lack of content to populate the metaverse. AI is now used to generate assets for virtual worlds. Moreover, data collected by Internet of Things devices can be fed into deep learning models. As a result, they can build more realistic artificial worlds faster than human workers.

The most popular Roblox metaverse has over 40 million games, with users and AI creating all items, characters and environments. 

Web3 and decentralization

As can be seen from various metaverse news stories, the metaverse offers many opportunities. What’s more, the potential to create virtual economies using digital currency is one of the main benefits of the metaverse.

To run a business in the metaverse and safeguard the ownership of digital items, Web3 technology is required. The native cryptocurrency of a platform can, of course, be used to buy digital assets online.

Application-related trends

The Corporate Metaverse

Businesses now have a great opportunity to connect with their clients by opening up virtual stores on various metaverse platforms. Some companies have also developed their own “virtual worlds”, which have appeared in metaverse news stories. These include Gucci’s “Gucci Garden” and Nike’s “Nikeland”. Virtual worlds such as these enable greater interaction by allowing users to play different games and have customized experiences.

Metaverse as a new marketing channel

Businesses can benefit significantly from creating interactive shopping experiences rather than static websites. This is because there is a growing desire to explore new methods of connecting with customers. In fact, the way that companies interact with their customers is evolving as a result of the metaverse.

For instance, there have been metaverse news stories about buying digital real estate. Indeed, many people have bought land in the virtual world. Other companies have created virtual storefronts where customers may enter with their avatars and browse physical and digital stock.

Brands have the option of developing digital assets that can generate new revenue streams thanks to the metaverse. Companies such as Gucci and Nike are creating avatar items that can be bought with cryptocurrencies. 

As we have discussed, the avatar business is expanding significantly. This is partly because users are increasingly looking for unique ways to express themselves online.

Metaverse influencers

In other metaverse news, the metaverse is becoming a primary platform both for marketing and for advertising products and services. Of course, this is mostly due to its interactive nature allowing real-time engagement amongst users and between users and brands.

Human influencers that we know from traditional social media platforms will be joined by AI-based digital humans.

Education and training

As a result of Covid-19, most of the world has switched to remote working and online education. Metaverse technologies can drastically change how people acquire and retain knowledge even further. Technologies that were previously the domain of those following metaverse news stories have become more widespread.

For example, schools can concentrate on developing 3D lectures to help students visualize and retain material. They can do this simply by leveraging immersive technologies like virtual reality and AR.

Turning to the business space, immersive technologies can also enable companies to build interactive training sessions for employees and customers.

Shared experiences and Virtual spaces

Lastly, another area of metaverse news and trends involves shared experiences and virtual spaces.

In a virtual setting, people can share experiences like gaming, social networking and event participation. The metaverse offers chances to connect, collaborate, interact, participate and share experiences across applications, consumer events and services. Moreover, the metaverse will become the primary platform for social media applications, event planning and other tasks requiring human interaction. 

Similarly, the virtualization of real-world places will enable people to experience such places virtually rather than physically. This evolution will affect enterprise e-collaboration platforms and the travel and tourism sector.

Conclusions

In conclusion, amid the metaverse news stories and all the hype, various trends can be identified. On the one hand, these involve technological developments (mostly related to AI and Web3). Other trends include the adoption of the metaverse by large companies with different use cases.

The metaverse can be used for social networking, shared experiences and virtual spaces, customer relations, marketing and education and training.

Various world-class companies are also committing resources to innovative metaverse-based projects. Above all, it is this trend that best shows the potential of the metaverse.

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