Hello Friends 👋
Yesterday we started discussing Metaverse. Below is the link to that article -
Today we will talk about -
How Metaverse is used today?
Correlation between Cryptocurrency and Metaverse
The future of Metaverse and more…
How The Metaverse is Used Today? - Some Examples
There are a number of companies that currently have metaverse products or services available to consumers or who have announced they are creating them.
1. Facebook/Meta Platforms
In Fall 2021, Facebook announced that it was changing its name to Meta Platforms (FB) and investing heavily in creating metaverse experiences. In doing so, it will be leveraging its existing ownership of Oculus, a virtual reality equipment company.
Meta Platforms believes that immersive virtual reality experiences are the future of digital social interaction. However, much of Meta’s vision is speculative and relies on technology and server capacity that doesn’t yet exist. It also assumes the widespread adoption of hardware such as VR headsets and digital glasses.
2. Microsoft
Microsoft (MSFT), meanwhile, is focused on adapting technologies it currently has for the metaverse. They have a service called Mesh, a mixed reality platform, that allows users to access augmented reality environments via their smartphone or laptop without having to buy a virtual reality headset. Microsoft also plans to integrate Microsoft Teams into the metaverse, creating a more immersive experience for remote workers and virtual meetings.
3. Roblox
Roblox (RBLX) is creating integrative virtual experiences for gamers. Roblox is an online platform, currently focused on youngsters, where users go to play digital games. The company is hoping to expand to adult gaming.
4. Nvidia Corp
Other companies working on metaverse projects are Nvidia Corp (NVDA) which is building an Omniverse platform that can connect 3D virtual worlds in a shared universe and which is currently used for creating simulations of buildings and factories.
5. Nike
Nike (NKE) is also making a metaverse play by filing for digital trademarks of its main logos for the creation of virtual Nike sneakers and gear and creating Nikeland on the Roblox platform, where players can play sports games.
6. Snap
Snapchat (SNAP) has been creating augmented reality filters since its inception. Their photo filters allow users to manipulate the world via their phone camera. In 2021, they launched augmented reality glasses which can be used to augment users' experience of reality outside their app.
Learn how Snapchat makes money for Snap Inc.
7. Second Life
Founded in 2003, Second Life, the once popular online massively multiplayer game, allowed players to live another life within a virtual world. The concept was an early metaverse experience created by the San Francisco firm Linden Lab and was one of the first popular examples of the virtual economy as users bought tokens to buy things in the game.
8. Epic Games
Epic Games is the creator of the popular digital game Fortnight. While the company started with video games, they have now moved to create virtual social experiences like music concerts or dance parties.
9. Medical Learning
Medical learning companies are deploying virtual reality and augmented reality to disrupt medical learning, allowing for the simulation of the patient and surgical interactions and allowing students to practice new techniques.
Key Takeaway: While broad implementation of the metaverse may be years away, expectations surrounding its potential are already causing numerous companies to gear up, either by creating the hardware and software infrastructure to facilitate it, or by adapting their products and services to run on it.
Crypto & The Metaverse
Cryptocurrency’s connection to the metaverse remains unclear. In addition, regulatory changes for the cryptocurrency sector are still in the process of rolling out and could significantly impact the appeal of the metaverse cryptocurrency opportunity.
Note: Cryptocurrencies are expected to take advantage of the metaverse with Grayscale CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, saying that the metaverse presents a potential $1 trillion in annual revenue opportunity for the crypto world, first through virtual economies in the digital gaming world and then as the currency that could fuel other metaverse experiences. (Source: Coindesk.com)
Metaverse Investing & Risks
The metaverse offers an opportunity for many companies to disrupt industries by offering more effective or efficient ways to do things like:
Train students or workers
Provide services
Advertise
Connect with friends or colleagues
Companies that find a way to deploy virtual and augmented reality effectively will likely perform well and deliver gains to their investors. However, not all metaverse visions will be successful or technically possible, and some could face hurdles from the lack of user interest, privacy regulations, security concerns, cost inefficiencies, or the physical and mental health implications of the technology.
Many startups and established companies are making metaverse plays that could offer good investment opportunities, but they are risky investments as the market is likely to overprice metaverse technology that hasn’t yet proven to be possible or to have an audience. That could lead to investment losses when those companies fail to meet their sales and growth projections. Currently, investing in the metaverse contains significant risk and requires investors to make investment choices without enough data to predict how metaverse projects will be received by customers and businesses.
The Future of The Metaverse
The metaverse is expected to transform the tech sector, where many companies will be creating the architecture, hardware, and software that will power the metaverse version of Web 3.0. But it will also affect companies outside the technology sphere since the metaverse is proposing to shift things as simple as how people shop for groceries, navigate through a city, tour an apartment, and interact with businesses and ads as a consumer.
It remains to be seen whether the vision for the metaverse will come to fruition or pass in time. But it clearly has the potential to disrupt multiple industries and sectors by requiring that they spend more money on technology or compete with others to provide metaverse experiences to their consumers.
How To Invest In The Metaverse
For those interested in investing in the metaverse, companies like Meta Platforms (FB), Microsoft (MSFT), Roblox (RBLX), Nike (NKE), and Nvidia (NVDA) are all investment opportunities that have or are developing metaverse-related products and services. This is not an exclusive list. There's also been a rise in the buying of land or real estate in the metaverse as an investment, but it is also new and untested as a profitable investment vehicle.
Bottom Line
While there is a lot of excitement behind the metaverse, much of that excitement seems to be hype put out by tech and social media companies themselves. Those interested in the metaverse as an investment opportunity may want to be patient.
If you want to share anything or have any suggestions/questions, please leave them in the comments!
That’s it for today :-)
Hope each of you has a great start to your day. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.
— Amit
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