Corporations and small businesses around the world are now working on increasingly sophisticated virtual worlds.

According to IT pioneers, more computing power, new sensors, growing amounts of data and faster Internet transmission create previously unknown possibilities in this area.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg even renamed the group he led to Meta to spread his vision - at least since then, the term Metaverse is no longer an expression that only science fiction fans know.

However, there is also great concern in this technology that Germany has sufficient knowledge, but commercial success may again be achieved by Internet companies from America or Asia.

At the DLD digital conference, Telefónica Germany boss Markus Haas warned that substantial “own” corresponding offers should be made, i.e. services from European companies.

"We shouldn't wait for someone else to build the Metaverse for us," the telecom executive said, adding, "We have the content here."

In Europe there is enough data and ideas from sports, music and other entertainment segments.

This is not a question of a lack of funds, but above all of the willingness to simply implement something like this.

Real digital property rights

The point in time is not only considered attractive by him because various new technologies are now on the same level that flow together in Metaverse offers.

This not only includes the graphic display options, which are increasingly being enriched with machine learning and which make internet environments more authentic.

But also approaches based on blockchain technology to finally enforce property rights online, because users can now acquire digital things and make them their own.

Robby Yung, CEO of the computer games company Animoca Brands, drew attention to this.

He hopes that as a result, various similar games will also be offered, between which users can switch in such a way that they can “simply take their property with them”.

According to his ideas, the Metaverse should mean that users no longer primarily group around streaming platforms or consume closed “island experiences”, as is currently the case when they use YouTube, Meta, Minecraft or Roblox, for example – but instead can easily jump back and forth with their profiles between such offers in a metaverse, precisely because they can secure their own property using blockchain.

And finally, the pandemic could have ensured that users are now more willing to get involved in new, more demanding virtual worlds - because many people have gotten used to, or at least practiced, over the past two years, digitally, for example via video conferences exchange extensively.

With regard to his children, he occasionally had the impression that he was heading towards a dystopia, admitted computer games specialist Joost van Dreunen, who teaches at the NYC Stern School of Business.

But that could have lasting consequences.

For his part, Telefónica manager Haas warns that more entrepreneurial courage is actually needed in Europe.

And also faster approval procedures - he gave as an example how long it takes for a telecommunications provider to apply for and set up a new radio mast.