Five important questions for businesses interested in the metaverse

What if you could escape the physical world and create vast virtual worlds where you can interact with other people from all around the planet? The metaverse concept was first dreamed up by sci-fi writers, but it’s now rapidly becoming a reality.

What does it mean for the way we live, work and do business? What risks and opportunities does it bring to organisations and society, and what are the five things everyone should know about the metaverse?

1. What is the metaverse?

We’re used to the division between interactions being either online or IRL (in real life). The metaverse is an attempt to provide a close simulation of the real world by producing a 3D visualization of the internet, as if the online world was a real place you could inhabit.

In this world, connected, virtual experiences could either recreate the real world or take users into carefully created new environments beyond anything we might imagine today.

The concept brings together existing immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) but adds more participants so that content can be scaled for greater creativity and leverage.

Metaverse participants would have continuity of data including identity, history, licences and permissions, payments and communications and more. It could be described as an expansion of the internet, uniting online elements such as social media, online commerce and digital currency into a space that is closer to the experience of living than simply logging on to browse a website.

Mark Zuckerberg describes it as “the biggest opportunity for modern business since the creation of the internet”, however sceptics dismiss the potential of the metaverse, claiming it either delivers an underwhelming experience or will become a space dominated by corporate giants. We are in the earliest days of the metaverse, and only time will tell whether it is truly a game changer.

2. How could the metaverse fit in to the future of work?

If you’re able to remember the early days of social media, you might recall thinking: who is this for? As a platform develops, it often gains momentum and becomes integrated into our everyday communication and interactions in a way that seemed entirely implausible in the early stages. This could well be the case with the metaverse. But for organisations to successfully optimise the potential of the virtual world presented by the metaverse, they first need to develop a clear vision of how the ‘real’ working world is developing.

COVID has significantly, and in many cases irreversibly, transformed the way we work, with many people adopting a more nomadic, flexible working life during the pandemic.

Given this flux, the end-to-end working journey needs to be re-mapped to understand where the metaverse could fit in. It won’t align everywhere and trying to force virtual concepts where they don’t belong could backfire. The potential of a metaverse-based hybrid working model will only be realized where it is a natural fit, and what works for one individual or organisation won’t work for all.

3. How can organisations best deploy the metaverse?

Any organizational programme to introduce the metaverse should start with a question: what are we trying to achieve? It is too easy to implement a new technology without taking the time to consider how it will help an organization to reach its goals and whether there could be unintended consequences.

To successfully deliver the potential benefits of the metaverse, it will be important to recognize the lessons learned during the early days of the internet. For example, when it comes to privacy and cybersecurity, the concepts of “by design” have become enshrined over the years. This means incorporating privacy into systems and technology by default rather than after the fact as a retrofit to achieve compliance. Any intended use of the metaverse should therefore enshrine the concept of “society by design’ (whether use of metaverse technology is fulfilling its core purpose of connecting people and planet).

The early years of the internet also have a lot to teach us about the importance of user and customer experience. These are particularly important where there is caution or a lack of understanding about the metaverse. Well-designed technology will provide users with more control, so they can more confidently decide what they see and how they interact. Combined with strong cybersecurity and privacy controls, they will also help to stop the experience feeling like an invasion of privacy.

4. How can metaverse-related risks be managed?

Although the metaverse has the potential to be a force for good, it is not without risk. As with the internet, there are significant risks for disinformation, security breaches, fraud, cyberbullying and harassment. Effective protections and controls are needed to ensure the platform is adopted in large enough numbers to achieve the vast global interconnection envisaged by its creators.

Adopting a proactive, eyes wide open risk management approach will be critical for organisations seeking to exploit and optimise the potential of the metaverse and transcending beyond buzz into the intended powerful force for good.

5. How is the metaverse being used in practice?

Organizations are already exploring the potential of the metaverse for helping to achieve their objectives. For example:

• The US army is considering using customized HoloLens AR devices to create virtual battlefields to help train soldiers and develop strategy
• Roblox gaming platform allows its 50 million users to create and monetize virtual worlds, with many brands setting up a presence to interact with users
• Universities are working with Meta to launch virtual reality campuses, providing immersive learning experiences
• Omniverse allows users to create portable objects across different toolsets, so users can work together in designing characters and objects that can be used within the metaverse
• Fortnite is an online game that has developed into a virtual world where users attend virtual concerts or interact with big brands

How will the metaverse impact your business in the next year or decade? However the metaverse develops, standards will play a central role in its success. The Metaverse Standards Forum has already been created to help build the first industry standards, and we’re likely to see the development of further bodies in the years to come.

If you have any questions about the future role of standards and the metaverse, BSI members can get in touch with the Knowledge Centre’s information experts.