The metaverse. It is widely accepted that science fiction novelist Neal Stephenson first coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, where characters access a 3D world through VR goggles. More recently, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One provided a visual interpretation of the metaverse (The Oasis) with multiple worlds populated by avatars in every describable form. While we’re still years away from realizing the depictions of the metaverse in novels and film, today’s metaverse provides an exciting glimpse of what’s on the horizon for virtual engagement and the future of work.
Metaverse Defined
What is the metaverse? Simply stated, it is a virtual world(s) where people interact as 3D avatars, gaming, socializing, and working. That immersive experience is made possible by several technologies. Virtual reality and head-mounted displays, coupled with spatial technology and augmented reality bring the immersion to life. Other technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning act as the brains for the metaverse, enriching the virtual environment through automated transactions, decision-making, and world-building.
The metaverse ecosystem is a vast network of hundreds of companies from a variety of industries all working toward developing specific metaverse attributes — infrastructure, economy, user experience, etc. And there are many metaverse platforms (e.g., Decentraland, The Sandbox, etc.) to put your virtual stake in the ground as no one owns the metaverse (yet).
Transition from Gaming to Business
Much of the metaverse is rooted in gaming. Unsurprisingly, children (and adults) are well-versed with virtual worlds through Minecraft (140 million monthly players), Fortnite (250 million-plus active users), and Roblox (30 million daily players). This bodes well for future generations adapting to the virtual world of work. As consumers take several steps into the virtual realm with products like Meta’s Oculus and HTC’s VIVE, corporations are now moving closer to their own metaverse offerings. McDonald’s, Nike, Amazon, and companies in sectors like healthcare, finance, and hospitality are taking the plunge into the virtual expanse.
The culmination of virtual worlds leads to a vast decentralized multiverse of metaverses. The Meta metaverse, the Microsoft metaverse, the Nike metaverse, and so on. Does the future hold a centralized, singular metaverse where users can interact with other virtual platforms outside their metaverse sandbox? Whether it’s attending a virtual conference, reviewing specifications with a global supplier, or brainstorming at a virtual corporate retreat, the ability to engage other metaverses or link them together could forever alter business and the future of work as we know it.
A Virtual Work Future
The pandemic itself propelled the world’s workforce into remote work, ushering in a new normal where video conferencing replaced in-person interaction and collaboration. Today, as many companies recalibrate, there’s an urge to bring remote workers back into the office. Instead, now is the time to embrace hybrid and remote work as the future that it is. The timing for the metaverse could not have been better. It has the potential to offer not only enhanced remote workforce experiences but entirely new business models. Here are just a few examples of how the metaverse could impact and revolutionize the future of work.
- Talent recruitment. Recruiting talent can become a more immersive experience for candidates through virtual and augmented reality. Application submittals could launch a link to a virtual environment that allows virtual interaction with human resources or company recruiters. Using augmented reality, candidates might be asked to complete certain virtual tasks related to the job. Results of those exercises can provide greater insight into viable candidates and narrow the talent pool to gold and silver applicants.
- Employee onboarding. Company onboarding can be hit or miss. Some enterprises have a specific onboarding process, complete with presentations and meet and greets. What some companies fail to realize is that onboarding is the first official interaction with a new hire. If that process is disorganized or nonexistent, retention rates could suffer. The metaverse can automate the onboarding experience, bringing to life virtually how the company operates, its mission, and how a new hire’s work is purposeful in achieving enterprise objectives.
- New Zealand-based UneeQ, for example, specializes in the development of digital humans who serve as AI-powered customer experience ambassadors. With this technology, a company can create a virtual onboarding experience using digital humans to automate the process of introducing new hires to all that the company has to offer.
- Team collaboration. Much of the metaverse is about social interaction. Critics of remote work and the ability to collaborate effectively are missing the bigger picture. Virtual collaborative technologies are now available from dozens of providers (e.g., Gather and NOWHERE) that are innovating the space. Whether it’s creating a virtual workroom or lounge, gathering our digital selves (avatars) together for brainstorming and deep learning can bring a sense of immersive that can’t be replicated in a 2D Zoom session. One could argue that utilizing cutting-edge virtual technology to collaborate may result in even more out-of-the-box thinking.
- Training and development. Using virtual and augmented reality, coupled with gamification, training and development can be redefined. Enter a 3D space to learn how to operate a new machine or medical device using haptic gloves to replicate the feeling of a physical object. Or attend a virtual training session followed by activities that test what was learned. All of these examples can be enhanced with gamification elements to build excitement and participation around T&D. Earning virtual badges for completed training modules or high scores on virtual tasks, for example, are ways that companies are flipping the script on learning and development and increasing employee engagement with the process.
The metaverse holds incredible promise for enterprises and the future of work. Part Two on the metaverse will explore how organizations can use virtual reality for product development and operational efficiencies, as well as the emergence of virtual enterprises and economies.