The general consensus seems to be that metaverse is at the same stage of development as the internet in the late 1990s.
Nick Clegg, VP of global affairs and communications for Meta (Facebook), says: “The metaverse is coming, meaning the future of the internet will be more human than the way we experience it today – more physical, interactive and speech-based than flat screens filled with text and images.”
Matthew Ball, author of The metaverse and how it will revolutionise everything confirms this view, describing the metaverse as “a persistent and interconnected network of 3D virtual worlds, which will eventually serve as the gateway to most online experiences and also underpin much of the physical world.” Not an alternative to real life then, but part of our future way of engaging with each other.
According to metaverse expert Lesley Morisetti, director of Morisetti Associates, in the three weeks between late October and early November 2021, Google searches for the term metaverse grew by almost 1,500 per cent. Valuations are high and varied, with McKinsey giving a projected valuation of US$5tn by 2030 and Citi GPS estimating the market could be worth as much as US$13tn by 2030 in its report, Metaverse and Money.
Morisetti says that, as with the internet, it will take time to truly understand the new opportunities and for consumer behaviour to adapt. She says the drivers of growth will be creative content and environments that consumers want to spend time in and which enable them to drive their own interactions.
One advantage of the metaverse is that it has its own economy, with direct transactions between buyer and seller, because digital currencies such as NFTs are used, which don’t involve banks. However, decentralised finance such as this has pitfalls – there are reports of Instagram accounts being hacked, which has led to NFT collectibles worth millions of dollars being stolen. Without a middleman, there’s no protection.
Morisetti says there are further challenges before the metaverse can begin to realise its potential, including achieving realistic graphics to represent the physical world, safeguarding and content moderation. There are also challenges around the incompatibility of big tech such as Apple and Android – as each wants to dominate.
Finally, access barriers need to be solved. Citi GPS believes that to achieve the highest growth expectations access needs to be via more commonplace hardware than VR glasses.
So where is the health and fitness sector in relation to the metaverse and what’s the potential? We talk to experts and those who’ve already taken the plunge...