What is metaverse? – And how can my business benefit from immersive virtual environments?

The pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the push for virtual digital tools and created awareness for a lot of new ideas and concepts like that of the metaverse. A hot topic now that comes with many questions leaving corporations to wonder what is it? And how much attention should we pay to it all? As developers in this space and designers of virtual environments, we, at SKYE Studio, want to help you navigate the waters and show you how your company can use the idea that metaverse represents to your advantage, understand the potential benefit of immersive virtual environments, and how you can implement and create your own virtual experience.

What is metaverse?

To be clear, the metaverse is a concept representing more than just a virtual world and more recently re-made popular by Meta (formally known as Facebook) with their recent announcement of their intentions to shift towards building their own ‘metaverse’. A digital world, also an online economic realm accessible through their Oculus VR headsets.

The general idea is to have a massive 3D virtual representation of what is basically ‘’the internet’’. Imagine a giant, open-ended video game where businesses and organizations would have their own virtual spaces custom developed to promote their products and services. A bit like a giant 3D virtual Trade Show. One would navigate this digital geography and visit 3D spaces, in an ‘’out of this world’’ environment, unbound by laws of the physical world where you can teleport and create all sorts of wacky architectures. However, despite this happening now, it’s not actually here yet and has not yet become mainstream or officially launched.

It’s a very cool idea since there is no limit to innovation and creativity possible in that concept. The rise of technology in software development, network performances, paired with hardware advancement contribute to creating a very promising digital experience for the masses.

Many Giants Players (almost exclusively related to the video game industry or social media) are currently gearing up and preparing by pouring billions into the idea. Companies like Meta (Facebook) Microsoft X-Box, which recently acquired Blizzard/Activision for a whopping 68.7 billion, Unity, Epic Games, and Roblox to name a few, are all extremely active on the subject and are starting to align their ducks.

How can companies use the concept of metaverse to their advantage?

So, right now, as business owners, you’re probably wondering “should my company rent a space in a metaverse?” or “how will metaverse affect my marketing strategy?” “Is metaverse just a trend or phase?” Just like websites a few decades ago and more recently social media, we cannot ignore the tools available to us to promote our product or services. Especially powerful and creative tools such as the metaverse concept that is promising to deliver in a new digital virtual age where in-person attendance can be challenging. Eventually, these concepts become the norm, marketers, and businesses must figure out how to use these tools and stand out amongst the crowd.

It is very possible to develop your own virtual space, virtual showroom, virtual tour of your plant or offices (options are endless) independent from any concept of a ‘’metaverse platform’’ and add it to your own website which is, after all, a virtual network already. When done correctly these virtual tools serve a crucial purpose and support end users’ interaction with your brand. Not to take away but rather enhance their experience.

You can then still leverage all the benefits from a virtual ‘’metaverse’’ concept while operating on your own ground, so to speak. Immersive virtual tools offer users an opportunity to experience your brand, product, or services from a distance, can create a more personalized experience, allow you to reach a wider audience, and set you apart from the average competitor.

The use of those tools can also be very wide. We have designed virtual environments for our clients to use as presentation spaces for sales, educational purposes for clients, and as training environments for employees as it is a very convenient way to lay down your process or collection of products or services in a very visually striking way. You can also easily use existing tools to drive traffic to those platforms, and just like any virtual space, the sky is the limit in terms of innovations and concepts. 

What can we expect from the future of metaverse?

No one can be sure of course, but we suspect there will be a few platforms claiming to be a ‘’metaverse’’, and not only ‘’the one metaverse’’ out there. Each is led by one of those corporate giants and probably aimed at different audiences. A little like we currently have a few different platforms for social media such as LinkedIn, Meta (Facebook), Instagram, Tik Tok, etc. Or different streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney +.  You can bet that there will be a fight amongst them to push their own metaverse platform to their end-users. No one can own the concept of social media or TV Streaming and rule supreme, just as no one can claim to own the only ‘’metaverse’’.

While Platforms might present different features, I suspect all will have some form of advertising format based on a number of views/visits or paid location or even subscription, etc. And you can expect those rules to change often depending on exposure, and what benefits them, the developers, and not really your business. As virtual as it is going to be, there will probably be a premium to access certain areas or promote next to bigger guys that have a large audience in one way or another.  Even though we are dealing with a virtual reality concept, unbound by physical law, you can bet it won’t be easy to have your digital presence insight of the likes of YouTube or Amazon, creating a very strange real estate economy.

Undoubtedly, when the dust settles, a handful will emerge of the battlefield at the end, this process will probably take a few years to unfold at least, and we might have a main platform that promises to attract most players as Google has in the search engine space or Meta has in social media with Facebook & Instagram. 

But remember you don’t have to wait for a giant like Meta or Microsoft to dictate your experience or leap into the virtual world. There are many ways you can take advantage of, deploy, and use virtual tools for your sales team or as part of your overall marketing strategy right now.  

I invite you to explore all the tools at your disposal and investigate how you and your business can expand your reach by creating your own virtual experience. It’s a fantastic way to take user experience to the next level and be ahead of the wave!

When you decide to explore this idea for your company, know that you need to have a focused, goal-oriented strategy to maximize your investment. 

Digital studios like ours, SKYE Studio work with you to develop your own virtual presence and help you to integrate your promotional marketing strategies and to even collect data.