INTHEBLACK July 2022 - Magazine - Page 57
Right: With Tado’s
Smart AC Control, you
can optimise comfort
and energy usage via
a mobile app.
Above: Mesh adds an immersive 3D experience to Microsoft Teams.
Above: Microsoft’s HoloLens offers augmented
reality business applications, such as training
manufacturing teams or remotely assisting
healthcare workers.
CLICK HERE
TO READ
Above: Meta’s Horizon Workrooms is a virtual meeting app where
teams to join meetings as avatars.
phone or computer. Again, this type of app
isn’t new. Second Life has offered a virtual
meeting space for years, allowing
organisations to hold events and team
meetings in a 3D environment.
“METANOMICS”
As with many tech trends, monetising the
metaverse will be a challenge. Software
and hardware sales may suit the likes of
Microsoft, but may not satisfy many other
companies.
Blockchain is seen as a key technology,
with its “ledgers” that provide a way of
permanently recording decentralised
transactions. Blockchain is used for
cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but has far
broader potential.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are an early
example of how the metaverse might be
monetised.
These blockchain-based tokens represent
unique digital assets, and are already being
used to buy and sell things like digital
artwork – sometimes for millions of dollars.
In the metaverse, NFTs are used to buy and
an INTHEBLACK
article on
non-fungible
tokens
sell virtual land, clothes and other goods.
It’s these possibilities that have mainstream
firms like J.P. Morgan bullish about
“metanomics” – the economics of
the metaverse.
“The metaverse will likely infiltrate every
sector in some way in the coming years, with
the market opportunity estimated at over
US$1 trillion [A$1.39 trillion] in yearly
revenues,” the financial services giant says in
its Opportunities in the Metaverse report.
The report points to companies like
Walmart, Gap, Verizon, Hulu, PwC, Adidas
and Atari that are investing in the metaverse.
Nike, for example, recently acquired virtual
shoe designer RTFKT. The brand’s virtual
sneakers are not only valuable in their own
right, selling for up to US$10,000 (A$13,900)
a pair, but they can offer a “bridge” between
digital and physical merchandise. The
company will, for example, provide NFT
owners with physical sneakers that match
their digital shoes.
BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS
The decentralised nature of the metaverse is
one of its key selling points. For example,
Decentraland is a community-run virtual
world with an economy powered by
blockchain, potentially offering more
third-party opportunities than centralised
systems like Second Life.
Much will depend on whether metaverse
technologies will become standardised or at
least interoperable, so we can move easily
between different metaverse applications like
we currently do between websites. That may
not be straightforward as the tech giants
become more involved and battle to become
standard-bearers.
The big question is, what will the
metaverse mean for most businesses?
It is easy and perhaps even sensible to
be sceptical about hyped applications like
virtual real estate. On the other hand, it
would be foolish to underestimate what the
likes of Meta can achieve.
Given this uncertainty, it may be better to
look at the metaverse as a trend rather than
an end state.
For businesses, this might initially mean
being alert to opportunities to improve
employee or customer engagement using
more immersive channels. Then, as
metaverse technologies and applications
mature, companies could consider more
transformative opportunities, such as new
digital products or transaction platforms.
However, as with all tech trends, it will pay
to make informed decisions about the
feasibility and pace of adoption of metaverse
technologies.
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au July 2022 57