Metaverse Trends: What’s Next for Virtual Reality?

Metaverse and Web 3.0 forever changed how customers interact with brands, consume content, collaborate, and perform other daily activities. Companies witnessing this powerful influence invest heavily in metaverse development. However, to embrace the opportunities provided by the virtual world, entrepreneurs should be a little bit of prophets and anticipate the most prominent metaverse trends.

By understanding the latest developments and innovations, you will learn how to build your own metaverse to interact with customers and provide them with immersive experiences.

In this article, OpenGeeksLab has collected the latest changes in metaverse ecosystems that you should know if you want to take advantage of metaverse business opportunities.

So what does the future hold for the virtual world? Let’s find out!

Metaverse Market: A Comprehensive Overview

To help you better visualize the future of the 3D metaverse, we would like to start with discussing the current state of this domain.

Thus, given clear metaverse benefits for business, we can expect massive growth of this sector.

Image Source: Statista

This assumption is backed up by the recent research by Statista, predicting a rapid spurt in global metaverse market revenue from $65.2 billion in 2022 to a tremendous $936.6 billion in 2030.

Major Market Drivers

Here we should mention the increasing adoption of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain and the digitalization in retail, fashion, art, healthcare, and other domains as the main driving forces behind the growth of the metaverse market.

Another growth factor is increasing investment in the metaverse and Web 3.0. The leaders here are Meta and Microsoft, which have spent $10 billion and $70 billion correspondingly for metaverse and virtual world-building projects.

Furthermore, Technavio has recently published a report, where growing smartphone penetration and wide adoption of 5G technology are specified as the key drivers for market growth.

Finally, we cannot ignore users’ keen interest in purchasing virtual assets with cryptocurrencies.

Market Restrictions

To start with, the increasing number of cyber threats resulting in major data theft, software damage, and system failure that hinder a seamless metaverse experience remains the primary concern when it comes to the virtual world.

Another restriction you should know is the expensive installation and maintenance of crucial meta components such as trackers, sensors, and more.

Besides, a realistic and engrossing metaverse experience requires expensive hard node equipment, whose installation comes at an additional price tag.

Morning Consult has recently shared the results of the survey conducted to uncover the biggest concerns of U.S. citizens regarding the metaverse. As it turns out, the majority of respondents are worried about misuse of their private data, online abuse, and personal safety.

The complete list of potential issues looks the following way:

Image Source: Morning Consult

Metaverse Market Segmentation by Domains

When it comes to particular verticals to maximize the value of the virtual world, GlobalData, in their recent report, has listed banking, financial services and insurance, retail, media, and entertainment as the main beneficiaries. According to the recent findings by Emergen Research, the latter had the largest revenue share in 2021.

Thus, eToro, a multi-asset investment company, has created a smart portfolio called MetaverseLife that can be offered to investors interested in cryptocurrencies and various virtual world projects.

Another notable example, this time from the retail domain, is Gucci. Its partnership with an online gaming platform Roblox resulted in Gucci Garden. This metaverse solution features games where winners can get limited-edition Gucci accessories.

Numerous themed rooms on the platform pay respect to different Gucci campaigns and layer on metaverse features that do not require obeying the laws of physics.

Check the image below by Roblox to get acquainted with the Gucci Garden concept:

Image Source: Roblox

Major Industry Players

Finally, finishing with the overview of the current state of the virtual ecosystem, we cannot but mention Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia as the biggest market players.

These companies invest vast amounts of money in the latest innovative technologies such as machine learning, cloud, Web 3.0 as well as artificial intelligence to maximize the value of their offerings.

The Latest Metaverse Trends You Should Not Ignore

Now that you have fresh insights into the current state of the metaverse market and explored the key metaverse challenges and opportunities, let’s look into the future and talk a bit about the most notable changes in the metaverse continuum.

Metaverse Will Become a Powerful Marketing Channel

Today businesses are forced to invent new ways of interacting with customers to stand out.

Thus, using metaverse technologies becomes an efficient promotional technique since it brings a more immersive and unique experience compared to traditional marketing and advertising approaches. Why don’t you create a whole virtual world representing your brand? With metaverse, you have such an opportunity. You can easily create a digital environment for showcasing your products.

Another proven way to grow your brand using metaverse opportunities is to utilize visual search. Owing to innovations brought by Amazon, Google, and other famous metaverse companies, now online shoppers can purchase items through their smartphone cameras.

Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have not lagged behind and have also integrated virtual reality to provide their audience with an interactive online shopping experience.

Also, you can follow the lead of Samsung, Volkswagen, and Coca-Cola and combine metaverse with native advertisements. These brands have invested in placing their metaverse billboards within such popular video games as Hyper Scap and Football Manager.

Finally, let’s not forget about Nike with its virtual world called Nikeland, where users can compete in mini-games and earn reward points they can spend to purchase shoes, clothes, and accessories for their avatar.

Since the concept is pretty new and some businesses still hesitate to use virtual world solutions, the competition is less fierce. It means that with metaverse solutions, you have every chance to stand out.

Web 3.0 Will Decentralize The Internet

Web 3.0, metaverse blockchain technology, and distributed ledgers will promote the creation of an entirely new Internet, which is absolutely free of the control of large corporations such as Meta. This new Internet will fix issues related to censored opinions and user data stored arbitrarily in the virtual world.

The key principles of Web 3.0 include equal access to contribute, and active usage of cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services online, which eliminates the need to rely on the old-fashioned infrastructure of payment processors and banks.

The Sandbox, Decentralend, and other metaverse platforms will serve as autonomous decentralized organizations. Users will be granted ownership rights, which will enable them to establish virtual democracy and manage virtual communities.

A key aspect of a decentralized metaverse is non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs. The main purpose of these metaverse tokens is to present one-of-the-kind virtual goods or properties and establish the connection between the visual world and reality.

Many luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada, launched their NFT collections that allow their owners to wear, exchange, and sell these virtual items within the virtual world.

Virtual Events Will Be Extremely Popular

The pandemic gave rise to various virtual events, making them a hugely popular phenomenon. And even though it is going down, we predict that the number of virtual performances will grow steadily over the next few years.

There are plenty of metaverse events you can think of. Let’s take a look at the most common of them:

• Concerts/Entertainment Events. Such performances give fans an unforgettable feeling of actual presence in the venue. After creating metaverse avatars, they can interact with other fans, clap, and sing along just like in any live concert.
• Gaming Events. Gamers are provided with a shared virtual space where they can compete, socialize, and play their favorite games. Such metaverse events allow people to participate in tournaments and battles without leaving their homes.
• Trade Shows. These are events where buyers and sellers get together in a virtual world environment. By holding trade shows with interactive demonstrations and virtual booths, businesses can creatively showcase their goods and offer their customers an immersive experience.
• Award Functions. These events are held to celebrate the achievements of their guests. They vary from corporate awards ceremonies to virtual red carpets and work well for organizations looking for better ways of celebrating important company milestones than traditional corporate events.

A great example of a remarkable virtual event was Metaverse Fashion Week, held by metaverse platform Decentraland in 2022.

The picture below, provided by BizBash, illustrates a catwalk from a cat-faced avatar model presenting the Dolce & Gabbana brand.

Image Source: BizBash

To sum up, virtual events are a powerful tool that provides businesses with an innovative way of interacting with their customers and increasing their brand awareness. From launching new products to award functions and creating corporate metaverse – endless metaverse opportunities will bring your special event to a whole new level.

3D Avatars Will Be Enhanced

These days 3D avatars delight us with a great variety of forms. Here we can find 2D representations and more complicated forms that look like real people. What all of them have in common is their photorealism.

Primitive cartoon-like avatars of questionable quality offered earlier by Meta have failed. Actually, the avatar of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was laughed at online. There were even some doubts that the corporation would be able to compete in the global metaverse market.

The thing is that 3D metaverse avatars serving as a link between real people and their virtual embodiment when they interact with other users as they play games, and communicate via social media and decentralized metaverse platforms, need to be more realistic.

The technology that made it possible to create photorealistic avatars has been developing for decades but, recently, it has become more sophisticated since it implies the creation of 3D models that have realistic body shapes, facial features, and movements.

We recommend monitoring this trend since it has great potential to modernize many industries, from entertainment and gaming to metaverse and healthcare.

Virtual Corporate Environment Will Gain Traction

Metaverse provides organizations with tools, platforms, and virtual space where they can work remotely with maximum efficiency.

Microsoft quickly picked up this trend by introducing Microsoft Mesh, which is a mixed reality (MR) platform. It enables employees to establish connections, collaborate dynamically, and freely share their ideas within the corporate metaverse.

Employees can create avatars for Microsoft Teams to get a customized version of themselves. This way, they can get the feeling of being present at a corporate meeting without turning their cameras on.

Check the image below provided by Microsoft to get a better idea of how Mesh avatars look like:

Image Source: Microsoft

In the next few years, we will witness how metaverse concepts merge with the idea of a digital twin, which is a virtual representation of real-life processes, objects, and operations. This way, brands will be able to test their innovative ideas or establish new workflows in the digital domain before putting them into practice in the real world.

Another field where metaverse offers businesses multiple benefits is corporate training. Employees get engaging experience, which enables them to better retain information and obtain new skills and qualifications.

Virtual and Augmented Reality Will Become Even More Popular

Since we cannot imagine interactive and immersive experiences without virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, it is obvious that in the next few years, we will witness the boost of these immersive technologies.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft have big plans for virtual reality, which is supported by their launch of new VR/AR/MR headsets. Though it may seem a dubious idea to connect displays to our heads to enter a metaverse world, we cannot ignore the fact that the public meets this effective way of creating even more realistic experiences with joy and enthusiasm.

These latest developments are not limited to headsets only. Thus, we see full-body haptic suits. NASA and SpaceX actively use them to simulate extreme environments. Businesses will be able to create consumer metaverse experiences that will leave lasting impressions.

The Rise of Metaverse Fashion

Earlier, we mentioned several luxury brands that have already embraced metaverse opportunities for business. Fashion companies indeed delve further into the metaverse to gain new customers and retain their leading position in the market.

Thus, ​​brands purchase metaverse land to build showrooms and even virtual shops to appeal to a younger audience.

For example, Selfridges, a chain of British high-end department stores, embraced this trend by opening the first NFT department store within Decentaland. Here users can view unique non-fungible tokens and discover Selfridges products.

Apart from that, they please their audience with augmented reality clothes. Here we should mention the collaboration of an American fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff with the Web 3.0 fashion marketplace Dematerialized. It resulted in the launch of a collection brand NFTs that consumers can interact with via their smartphone cameras.

Similarly, Nike released a collection of 20,000 NFT sneakers that shoppers can visualize with the help of a Snapchat filter.

Immerse Yourself in Metaverse with OpenGeeksLab

Our comprehensive guide on the latest metaverse trends will help you stay ahead of the game and monitor all significant changes in the metaverse space. By doing so, you will make your brand relevant for your audience and maximize metaverse opportunities for business.

OpenGeeksLab has vast experience in delivering digital metaverse services. From building marketplaces for metaverse development and integrating your business into the decentralized metaverse to developing small applications for the 3D world – there are over 100 projects under our belt that enable our technical experts to make the most of the latest technologies to help your business shine.

Check our portfolio to visualize better the scope of metaverse projects we deliver, and contact us to get a free consultation with our tech experts.