A new survey conducted by consulting firm Protiviti and the University of Oxford has found that global leaders are excited about the metaverse, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the nascent space will develop.
The survey is focused on understanding the perspectives of global leaders who believe that the metaverse will have a significant economic impact and will contribute to their respective company’s overall business success over the next decade.
According to the report, “Fully two-thirds (66%) of respondents say the metaverse will have either a somewhat significant or significant impact on global business by 2033.” That same percentage says it also will be important to their companies’ overall business success over the next decade.
The vast majority of the remaining respondents said the metaverse would have a moderate impact, with only 2% saying it will have little to no impact on their business success over the next decade.
North American executives believe in the metaverse
The survey found that North American executives (84%) are more positive about the impact of the metaverse than executives in other regions such as Europe (54%) and Asia-Pacific (53%). Conversely, an impressive 85% of North American executives say the metaverse will play a crucial role in their future business success compared to Europe (46%) and Asia-Pacific (57%).
Business leaders in North America are seemingly well ahead of the game in adopting the metaverse. While it may take years for many businesses to adopt the space, 65% of North American executives say they already have a metaverse strategy in place, which is more than Europe (32%) and Asia-Pacific (27%).
Come 3-5 years, 50% of Europe’s business leaders and 40% of executives in the Asia-Pacific region plan to establish a metaverse strategy. However, in North America, only 17% of business leaders anticipate having a complete metaverse strategy within that timeframe.
Metaverse engagement among customers and employees
Interestingly, 45% of global business leaders say they’ve already begun using the metaverse to engage with customers, with 20% saying they’ll commence in one or two years while 32% say their timeline is three to five years.
When given various responses to choose the primary ways they expect to utilise the metaverse for customer engagement, 79% said they would use it for Marketing/Advertising, followed by Immersive Shopping/Product Simulations (43%). Other selections include Conferences/Trade Shows (40%), Entertainment Experiences (23%) and Gamification (14%).
Emerging technologies in the metaverse
There are various emerging technologies underway and although they’re not close to global adoption, 65% of executives say they’re most excited about the potential of AR/VR and XR with 58% being very excited about AI.
Other technologies include the Internet of Things (28%), Blockchain (23%), Edge Computing/5G (15%) and 3D Reconstruction/Digital Twins (10%). AR/VR and XR were the top choice in Asia-Pacific while AI took the lead in Europe and North America.
As for roadblocks that are likely to hinder the metaverse from reaching global adoption, Executives cite cost (44%), privacy/security (42%), interoperability (34%), technology infrastructure (30%), user experience/enthusiasm (25%), regulations/agreement on standards (15%), and miniaturisation of devices (10%) as primary obstacles to their metaverse plans.
The Protiviti-Oxford survey indicates that global leaders are increasingly recognising the transformative potential of the metaverse. However, concerns around data privacy and security remain significant hurdles that need to be addressed for the metaverse to realise its full potential and reach global adoption.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
