For now, the metaverse will not affect the development of small businesses, but a lot is likely to change in the next decade. Many business-minded entrepreneurs are paying close attention to the development of the metacosm.
You must have heard the word metaverse to a greater or lesser extent, but do you really understand what a metacosm is? It's a great pity that most small business owners don't know what they should know about it.
The metacosm is virtual, but on some level it is also real. It is a networked world that may produce its own independent economic system.
So far, the metacosm was largely created and championed by Zuckerberg, who changed the name of Facebook, one of the world's best-known brands, to align with its vision for the future, changing its name to "Meta" to bring the masses into the metaverse. At the same time, other big brands are also trying to pour into the meta-universe field.
Microsoft is repositioning its products to enable better business collaboration in the virtual world.
Google is creating a more user-friendly, less resistant version of its failed Google Glass so that people can use a new wearable device to access the virtual world without looking like a fool because the device they wear is too bulky.
Other companies such as Magic Leap are making similar devices. Game company Epic Games raised $1 billion to support their "vision" of a virtual world. Walmart has filed several new trademark applications indicating that it will create its own Crypto and a series of NFTs.
McDonald's also recently filed 10 trademark applications, one of which is a virtual restaurant that can be delivered directly to home. Samsung recently launched a new smartphone for the metacosm, and although the phone still has some problems to be solved, it is undoubtedly a pioneering attempt.
Even the old-fashioned and traditional accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has purchased virtual assets on metacostem platform Sandbox.
How big is the metacosm? Simply put, billions of dollars have been invested in it, and some analysts say it could become a $30 trillion market in the next ten to fifteen years. The entire U.S. market will have $25 trillion in 2021.
For people over 30, the virtual world may sound strange, strange, and even a little sad and unacceptable.
But for the next generation, especially Gen Z, born after 1995, and those currently in elementary school, the metaverse will become commonplace. They will be accustomed to living in both the virtual world and the real world at the same time. It's like we're used to online web life.
In fact, the average American spends 24 hours a week online. The average gamer spends nearly 800 hours a year immersed in the worlds of Halo, Minecraft, and Call of Duty. And these are the earliest virtual worlds, and the metaverse will take it to the next level.
At present, major brands have taken the first step into the meta-universe as always, but once the obstacles on this road are cleared, the door of the meta-universe will open the door to a large number of new enterprises.
For small business owners, zoom and Teams, video conferencing software, will soon be abandoned, and in the future, virtual avatars of customers, partners, suppliers or employees will meet in virtual conference rooms to discuss and review virtual documents and projects.
For real estate agents, they will show and explain the house to the client in the virtual house. For people in the property construction industry, properties under development can also be carried out in a virtual environment.
Future meetings will become virtual transactions; sales pitches will take place in virtual locations; and people will have their own virtual versions.
But don't worry, none of this replaces actual interpersonal interaction, it's just an extension of social interaction. This will make interactions between people more enjoyable and personalized than the current independent online meetings.
However, there is a price to pay for this, users need to purchase real estate as virtual conference rooms to hold meetings, and these rooms need to be equipped with art and furniture, and content presentations will also require corresponding tools.
But then again, a lot of business-minded entrepreneurs will sell these things, provide the infrastructure, and offer the hot real estate and products that everyone wants, and it's going to be a huge business opportunity. And how will the metacosm affect small businesses now? The answer is no impact. But what about 2027? 2032? That will definitely have an impact.
Software like iPad, Instagram, Lyft, Square, and Slack has been around for a decade.
In 2022, Amazon's Echo, Apple's Apple Watch and 4G network are likely to disappear. All of this has had a huge impact on the way companies do business.
In summary, ten years can change a lot. There will be more changes in the next decade, and the result of this change is the metacosm. A lot of business-minded entrepreneurs are currently focusing on how to profit from the metacosm, which has become a trend.
The original text was written by Gene Marks, Chinese content compiled by the MetaverseHub team, please contact us for reprinting.