Mentions of the metaverse have shot up since Zuckerburg’s announcement that Facebook is changing its name and pivoting to the metaverse. This has sparked not only heavy investment and interest, but also a proliferation of mostly theoretical use cases. Companies are also getting into the action with largely performative actions like buying so-called digital real estate.

Steven J. Schuchart Jr, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “There are solid reasons to put on the brakes and examine the concepts of the metaverse in a more realistic light. There is hyperbole out there that the metaverse is defined as the ‘new internet’ where everyone moves to an AR/VR version of the internet, using blockchain for transactions, and cryptocurrency for commerce. In these circles, there is a tendency to view laptops, smartphones, desktops, and tablets as legacy access devices. For now, it’s safe to say that even if (and that’s a big if) that vision does come to fruition, it will be years down the road.”

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Navigating the Metaverse: Objects in Mirror are Smaller Than They Appear’, reveals that the metaverse should be divided into the consumer metaverse (CMV) and enterprise metaverse (EMV) which will grow with different intentions and needs. Use cases need to provide actual value, not just the current focus on wow factor and the CMV.

Schuchart continues: “There are great use cases for collaboration involving observation and manipulation of 3D models, telehealth, and use of the shared view VR can provide. However, there seems to be a push to have everyday meetings in the metaverse, where little avatar versions of ourselves sit at a digital conference table and have a meeting. While the EMV will certainly make that possible, but there is little to no value in it. Non-verbal communications including micro-expressions and gestures are lost in the metaverse, unless everyone wants to strap on a full-body VR sensor suite. Plenty of people won’t even turn on their webcams, let alone wear a bulky VR headset.”

However, there is great potential for the metaverse in the enterprise space, if the industry is not led astray by non-core technologies like blockchain and concepts that are around simply charging digital rents, rather than providing solid business value.

Schuchart adds: “One of the greatest early pitfalls of EMV use cases will be the desire to replicate the real world in a virtual one, along with all of the restrictions and limitations of the real world. Use cases that involve doing what we are already doing, but just in the metaverse. Without any additional value, these kinds of use cases become early flashes in the pan, interesting only because of their initial novelty.”