The Metaverse in 2022: Stealing People and Burning Money to Break the Experience Boundary
Technological innovation world tide
In 1992, the famous American science fiction master Neil Stephenson proposed the concept of "metaverse" in his science fiction novel "Avalanche".
Now, the metaverse is turning from literary whimsy into reality.
In October 2021, Facebook changed its name to "Metaverse Platform Company", referred to as Meta Company, which became the fuse that detonated the development of the Metaverse industry.
Recently, Microsoft Corporation spent about 70 billion US dollars to acquire Activision Blizzard, adding another powerful momentum to the Metaverse.
Essentially, the metaverse is a world of countless interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work, and play using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality (AR) glasses, smartphone apps, or other devices.
When the latest strategic decisions from Facebook and Microsoft coincided, the metaverse world was upended.
In a recent report by the US "Forbes" website, it listed three major development trends in the Metaverse in 2022: competition for high-quality talents, investment in multiple fields, and breaking the boundaries of innovative experience.
Compete for quality talent
Meta is actively recruiting the best talent in the field, including poaching from Apple and Microsoft.
Most of the 100 people who left Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset team last year have been recruited by Meta.
Despite slow sales growth, Microsoft's HoloLens headset is a leader in AR, making its employees especially popular in the Metaverse talent market.
Meta also announced that in Europe alone, it will hire 10,000 engineers to build this new frontier of the internet.
Coincidentally, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard not only hopes to stand on the podium of the global video game, but also hopes to use this to recruit the right talents and platforms to take the lead in the development of the Metaverse.
Chip maker Nvidia has also begun to dabble in the metaverse, with the concept of a "full universe".
The Whole Universe aims to integrate graphics, artificial intelligence, simulation, and scalable computing into a single platform that serves as the foundation for connecting virtual worlds.
Through Universal Universe, artists, designers and creators can use its design application to create 3D assets and scenes from a laptop or workstation.
BMW, for example, is internally promoting the use of a "total universe" platform to coordinate production at 31 plants around the world.
In light of this, Nvidia's need for skilled "universe" engineers has intensified.
multi-sector investment
Many people began to enter the metaverse field, and acquisitions came one after another.
Previously, American game developer Take-Two acquired Zynga for $12.7 billion, which is the "most expensive in history" for the game industry.
In 2021, gaming industry acquisitions totaled a record $117 billion.
Institutional and retail investors are also increasing their investments in the metaverse space.
At the end of November 2021, SoftBank announced that it would invest $150 million in Zepeto, a South Korean Metaverse virtual social platform, which is one of the hottest Metaverse social platforms in Asia with about 2 million daily active users.
In addition, some funds focusing on investing in the Metaverse have also begun to appear, and they have shown a strong ability to attract money.
Many people are also optimistic about the investment value of the Metaverse real estate market.
Digital real estate company Metaverse Group is investing in land in the online world.
Digital worlds like Decentraland and Sandbox already allow virtual developers to build and rent digital malls.
In 2022, there will be more people vying for "premium lots" within the metaverse, although many are wary of the volatility of digital real estate.
Pushing the boundaries of innovative experiences
When companies have the talent and capital to define and develop a “world without borders,” the imagination can run wild as pioneers create new experiences that will make up the colorful metaverse.
Future jobs will be redefined by new metaverse experiences.
In addition to Nvidia's "full universe," Meta's Horizon Studios and Microsoft's Mesh also want people to work better in virtual worlds, enabling remote collaboration across devices through mixed reality applications.
Bill Gates predicts that virtual meetings will move into the metaverse within 3 years, workers will increasingly rely on the use of VR headsets and avatars, and the need for formal workplaces will further diminish.
School and social life will also change.
For example, Robles is planning to bring educational video games to the classroom, and the company sees itself as a future metaverse experience center where people can go to concerts in addition to playing games.
Microsoft's AltspaceVR platform also allows people to come together for live virtual events such as comedy clubs or pub nights.
Within the Metaverse, digital stores sell all kinds of fantastic goods, such as digital pets.
More traditional retailers have also stepped in, with Nike filing a trademark for virtual gear, shoes and accessories, and Gucci, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton also starting to sell e-clothing and e-bags.
Metaverse malls are starting to appear, where people can shop in virtual reality stores and buy related clothing for themselves in the Metaverse.
While the metaverse isn't moving fast enough for its ardent believers, it's all moving too fast for skeptics.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has extended the retrospective time frame of an antitrust investigation into a previously completed virtual reality deal, setting up a hurdle for the metaverse's rapid development.
Expensive headsets could also be a "stumbling block" to the metaverse's widespread acceptance, as spending a lot of time roaming in parallel realities while wearing them could cause as-yet-unknown damage to mental and physical health.
The tech industry, however, is unwavering in its belief in the metaverse, which is expected to reach a market value of $800 billion by 2024, with a billion people stepping into the metaverse by 2030.