The Metaverse has certainly lost steam – but is it dead?

This Metaverse: An immersive virtual world where we can interact with each other using smartphones, PCs, special glasses or VR headsets. A digital world that until recently has enjoyed great buzz and excitement around the opportunities it can present to businesses and consumers alike.

The Metaverse arrived with a variety investment and monetization opportunities, where users can purchase a variety of digital goods and services for their avatars and their own virtual experiences. From brand-name accessories to cars and even being able to buy virtual land in virtual stores. The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets made sports history as the first pro sports team to broadcast a game in the Metaverse, which they called “Netaverse“

Big early bets have also been made on the Metaverse. Meta has spent an eye-watering amount of money on his Metaverse play. Reality Labs, the division within Meta that owns the Metaverse projects, reported a cumulative loss About $24 billion Throughout 2021 and 2022.

Related: What is Metaverse and why is it important for entrepreneurs?

Not as popular as expected

But, as quickly as the hype built around Metaverse (the same time Mark Zuckerberg made a huge announcement about the future of Facebook being connected to an immersive 3D world and Rebranding the company to Meta), interest decreased similarly. Evidence of this can be seen by looking at Google search traffic for Metaverse, which has dropped significantly in recent months to pre-announcement levels.

In the span of a few years, tech and entertainment giants have invested heavily in building these virtual worlds, only to find that most of us haven’t got much of an appetite for the metaverse. It seems we are more connected to reality than technology leaders first thought. Retail and air travel figures confirm that we are returning to the real world following the Covid-19 lockdown. Most people still do not understand what Metaverse is, how it works or what it means to them, which can be classified as a fairly significant failure considering the huge investments and media coverage this space has received.

Meta is actively reducing the performance of its virtual world. Disney And Microsoft Both are closing their Metaverse divisions. Apple seems to have abandoned its virtual reality headset, while Tinder has announced it will abandon its plans. Virtual world dating.

What was once a potentially exciting business and investment opportunity has become a terribly expensive gamble that so far seems to have failed. The Metaverse is turning into a great corporate collapse, at least in the immediate term, with billions of dollars invested in risk and reputation.

Tech innovators and leaders tend to think in terms of the hype cycle: the roller coaster journey from concept to widespread adoption. For now, it seems like a lot of investor money has been spent on a technology whose potential has yet to be realized — and maybe never will.

Recently, Mark Zuckerberg announced to the market about Meta’s renewed focus on AI, which could possibly be a sign that he is quietly winding down the Metaverse project and walking away from the huge investments he has made in the tech. And while Zuckerberg has pointed out that the Metaverse is Long term investment For Meta — and he has vowed to dial down the Metaverse rhetoric — the gamble is looking more and more like an example of corporate hubris.

Related: Why Your Business Needs to Prepare for the Metaverse

Metaverse is out and AI is in

Generative AI Has stolen the thunder of the Metaverse. OpenAI’s real-world application of ChatGPT is hard to compete with at the moment, and rightly so. It has immediate and very real and meaningful uses that can be of great help to individuals and businesses. It is having a meaningful impact on bottom lines all over the world and is not speculative like Metaverse.

AI goes beyond ChatGPT. At the moment it can be classified into four areas:

1. Automated Intelligence: Automates manual routine and non-routine tasks.
2. Assisted intelligence: Helps people to perform certain tasks faster and sometimes better.
3. Augmented Intelligence: Helps people make better decisions.
4. Autonomous intelligence: Automates decision-making processes without the need for human input.

Whether it’s machine learning, smart apps and appliances, digital assistants or autonomous vehicles, AI has very real scope in the global economy right now, and that too. in the future, helping it avoid the tag of being a fad. As a result, it is seen as a safer and less risky investment bet.

What needs to change to recover Metaverse?

For Metaverse to have any chance of success at some point in the future, customer education must be front and center. Dissolve the mystery surrounding the virtual world and for both its applications customers and occupations.

The enormity of the challenge should not be underestimated. At its best, from a user experience perspective, Metaverse requires hyper-realistic 3D display technology that would be offered by a normal pair of glasses. This virtual world is currently too early in its journey to make any real impact, so it is currently seen as a dangerous speculative and risky investment.

Metaverse isn’t just going to die on the vine overnight. Over time, we’ll stop being asked to spend our time in the virtual world using cookie avatars just to chat with friends or hang out on some digital land we’ve bought. With time – virtual space will become more natural and real. And that’s the crucial ingredient: time.

I think as it evolves, we’ll see it adopted more broadly, perhaps in a more narrow and focused way – potentially for short bursts, ie really immersive experiences like product launches, concerts, meetings, education and training, socializing and more. . , rather than the vague or unrealistic notion that we will somehow spend most of our waking days in virtual worlds.

Related: 5 Metaverse Trends That Will Shape the Next Decade

Is the Metaverse dead?

N Investment in the Metaverse The techniques involved are as valuable as the demand. When the hype was at its peak, there were arguments to be made about the value (albeit risky) of investing in a virtual world, but when that hype dries up and the punters leave, that investment quickly becomes worthless.

While Meta has confirmed that it has a long-term focus, and large corporates like Siemens, Procter & Gamble and others are using Metaverse technology for various applications related to their businesses, no one has yet brought that magical application or experience to the table. not Yet, perhaps because the necessary hardware devices to achieve this do not yet exist.

therefore The Metaverse is dead? I don’t think so. Not yet though. It’s too early to make that call. It is not that the real world is back and the online world is in the past, but that both will run in parallel. Not that the online universe will disappear, but it may have reached its limit — for now. If you have a passion for significant risk-based investing, bleeding edge technology and making bets that are wildly speculative, there is probably an angle for you to explore in the metaverse, but seek advice and tread very carefully.