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Metaverse

Metaverse: evolution, then revolution

janeiro 4, 2023 5-minutos de leitura

RESEARCH REPORT

In brief

  • Executives expect 4.2% of their revenues coming from metaverse in the next 3 years – a value of $1 trillion (Source: Accenture Business Trends survey).
  • The metaverse isn’t a single entity. It’s a continuum that will transform all parts of the business: customers, enterprises and ecosystems alike.
  • There is untapped value in the metaverse right now, and major players have already started their metaverse journeys.
  • It’s the creative, people-driven experiences—not just the tech—that sets the metaverse apart and will make it stick.
  • The metaverse represents a unique opportunity to build a more sustainable, diverse and inclusive future.

Cutting through the hype

The metaverse has a lot of buzz today. Despite the ongoing discussions and debates about it, it is clear that it will bring immense value once we move past the hype.

To better understand the metaverse and its potential, let’s define some key terms: 

The Internet of Place: A 3D iteration of the internet that adds a sense of space to the digital world and brings digital elements to our physical lives.

The Internet of Ownership: A digitally native infrastructure powered by blockchain, decentralized identities, confidential computing and more. It allows people to carry their identities, money and objects from place to place in the digital world.

Web3: The driving cultural force behind the Internet of Ownership. It’s a user-led movement that emphasizes digital ownership and transparency in the products and services that make up the Web3 ecosystem.

The Metaverse Continuum: Accenture’s distinct perspective on the metaverse, where immersive technologies and new types of ownership combine to bring about the next era of our digital lives.

The metaverse is evolving rapidly, shaping (and reshaping) how enterprises function, so companies must be able to adapt and pivot quickly to embrace the future of work.

212%

increase in total mentions of metaverse-related keywords during 2022 Q2 over 2022 Q1.

What will the Metaverse Continuum change?

The metaverse will change all parts of society, from the financial institutions that underpin our economies, to the way we view the ownership of belongings. It will change the way enterprises work and consumers socialize, while also unlocking new opportunities for businesses to improve their products and services.

Here’s how the metaverse is transforming and creating value for customers, enterprises and industry:

Customers: Meeting customer needs in the metaverse means creating purposeful, value-adding and frictionless products, services and experiences. By delivering new ways for consumers to connect and socialize, these experiences build strong bonds within close-knit communities where brands can form stronger ties of customer loyalty.

Where’s the value? 
People are finding joy, delight and fun in immersive experiences and even more value with incentivization and self-expression, enabled by tokenization and avatars.

Enterprises: The metaverse will underpin the core enterprise software and functions of an organization, enhancing the ways people engage, learn and collaborate. In virtual worlds, employees can practice and apply skills in a real-time immersive setting alongside others.

Where’s the value?
Employees can collaborate no matter the distance, feel the presence of colleagues in virtual meetings, and work across remote sites seamlessly.

Industry: The metaverse optimizes how products are sourced, created and brought to market by virtualizing industrial systems and processes with augmented reality (AR) and digital twins. The industrial sector is already realizing the benefits today within operations and supply chains.

Where’s the value?
Businesses can measure and predict the effects of changes and improve connections between workers and supply chains, through advanced true to life simulations or digital twins.

89%

of executives surveyed agree that the metaverse will have an important role in their organizations’ future growth.1

Reaping value from a responsible metaverse

The metaverse offers an opportunity to make this new internet era more responsible than those of the past. It must be a chance for humans to collectively imagine and build a future that is more sustainable, diverse and inclusive.

When taken with the rapidly emerging technologies enabling the metaverse, this can all seem daunting.

Businesses can move forward by keeping three key rules in mind:

Be creative and keep it simple:

Only develop metaverse experiences that are within users’ mental models. Go back to the basics and build upwards with creativity at the core.

Start small and focused:

Approach the metaverse with a rigorous, customer-focused mindset that artfully services their needs. Otherwise, there could be multiple tendrils of innovation.

Engage with early building blocks:

Target the right areas quickly but thoughtfully. Early engagement engenders true long-term trust with customers over time and grants an edge over the competition.

The Metaverse Continuum will define the next era of digital transformation, revolutionizing life and enterprises in the years ahead. Yet in the end, the metaverse comes down to people. As it continues to grow and evolve, the metaverse will encourage an ecosystem of players to work together toward common goals that will swiftly change the world, much like the internet of the past.

1Source: Accenture CxO Survey, April-May 2022: (n=3200)

Mark Curtis

Global Sustainability and Thought Leadership Lead – Accenture Song

David Treat

Global Metaverse Co-Lead and Innovation Incubation Group Lead

Katie Burke

Global Thought Leadership Lead – Accenture Song

Raghav Narsalay

Accenture Research Lead for the Metaverse Continuum Business Group

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