The Future Is Metaverse - No Surprise, You Are Already In The Game

 Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg has acted as a crazy scientist by trapping seven of his employees (part of an experiment) for six days in his metaverse laboratory. Alysa Taylor (CVO for Industry, App, and Data Marketing for Microsoft) joined a meeting with host Karuana Gatimu as a MS Teams Avatar. This is no surprise, as Mark has already expressed his desire to establish a "virtual dystopia of the Metaverse." And Taylor was part of a meeting at Microsoft Build 2022, where Microsoft brought together a panel of its experts to discuss the company’s future metaverse strategy.

Now the question is, are we ordinary people new to this feel-like-crazy virtual 3D world of Metaverse that creates a virtual social connection of rich user interactions that imitates the real-world scenario? Absolutely not, as we have already been introduced to simulated digital environments using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain via games, aren’t we?

Well, by the time we interact with the virtual world, we are a step ahead of entering the metaverse, which is the future of all our activities. Next, simple questions can be how and why so?

From Old Game to A Slightly New Ball Game

Try to remember when the virtual reality-based game Second Life was introduced way back in 2003. How people go insane in order to start a new life in the virtual world! However, it was not the first introduction of virtual reality, though avatars gained popularity for giving people an extended life, which is nothing but a new way of creating better social connections via rich user interaction.

The world was first introduced to Augmented Reality (AR) in the year 1968 at Harvard by computer scientist Ivan Sutherland. He created an AR head-mounted display system. However, the first commercial AR application appeared in 2008 when German agencies in Munich designed a printed magazine ad for a model of BMW Mini. They showed how, by holding a piece of paper in front of a computer’s camera, a virtual model (it connects the markers on the physical ad with the computer) of the Mini can be controlled by a user on the computer screen by moving the paper around to view different angles of the car. It was one of the first marketing campaigns that allowed user interaction with a digital model in real time. Well, we can also recall our craze around Pokémon Go (2016) that engaged 45 million users! It showed the future potential of fast growth in virtual social connection of the future.

The Covid Fuel to the Rocketing Metaverse Journey

We have to admit that the pace of development towards the metaverse was indeed rocketed by the COVID-19 pandemic. People were forced to stay at home, and they could not simply keep playing games! They have to work to earn and live their lives without getting infected and affected. Multinational corporations have already begun to use the metaverse to onboard employees, and they see a brighter future to offer their customers as a result of these technological advancements.

We can site examples of Accenture, Capgemini, and other such MNCs that have launched metaverse-based hiring. While Accenture aims to introduce its newly hired 150,000 employees in India to interact in the metaverse world from the first day of their work at the virtual campus they named Nth floor, Capgemini hosted a "Metaverse Career Fair" for students from five universities in the U.S. The event gave potential job seekers the opportunity to interact with avatars to explore job opportunities and different elements on the platform. One step further, they talk about how Job Descriptions have evolved from text-based documents to picture-based videos and 3D experiences to showcase the "day in the life" of a typical employee.

A new Trillion Dollar Economy!

In a recent report PWC predicted that the metaverse ecosystem can go beyond 1.5 trillion USD by 2030. They identified how cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other blockchain-based digital currencies, assets, and exchanges will likely reinforce value exchange across the metaverse platforms. They also point out how innovation will be needed by governments and all other companies to build trusted digital monetary systems, offer new data monetization propositions, and conduct lending and payments, to sustain this fast growth taking place in the metaverse.

Do Not Purchase Land on The Moon, Consider Metaverse Properties Instead…

The future of the metaverse is as versatile and vast as its name suggests, "beyond reality" for sure. The discussion has pages, touching many aspects of what it is offering us via its virtual and augmented presence that is overpowering the real world. The metaverse real estate is available to invest in and big companies are buying it. Such a purchase of virtual land came to light after US hip-hop recording artist Snoop Dogg partnered with The Sandbox last December to open sales of 122 LANDs and 67 premium LANDs plots. PWC has purchased such digital land for over $10,000 USD as a non-fungible token (NFT) using The Sandbox’s SAND cryptocurrency. So next time you dream of buying land on the Moon, consider the many available metaverse real-estate options available around you. Yes, if your budget does not permit such fantasies, search for easy-to-purchase avatars or merchandise from many other celebrities who sell online.

Sustainability An Important KPI for All Businesses - What Is Your Stand?

Once the word sustainability is heard, we directly relate it to the environmental issues. There is no harm in doing so, as it is a matter of a fact that the entire world is nowadays giving it serious thought.

A recent study from Nielsen shows that 66% of consumers are likely to spend on products coming from a sustainable brand, while 81% of consumers believe that companies should improve the environment. For instance, there is a huge area for potential business growth by investing in renewable resources apart from the energy market alone, which is expected to be $2.15 trillion by 2025...!

However, if we are to talk about the sustainability of a business and how it has become a key performance indicator, we have to broaden the idea to economic and social ground as well as environmental.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measured on many grounds, and sustainability as a whole has a great impact on businesses' ability to grow and keep pace with what is happening in the environment. After all, everything is interconnected, right?

Nothing Can Survive on Quicksand

When the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, how long can businesses keep the direction of their business vision or strategy aloof from environmental sustainability?

A recent report from The New Climate Economy, 95% of plastic packaging (worth $120 billion annually) goes to waste after the first use and results in the generation of microplastics that can be found in 114 aquatic species. Similarly, over 140 million people could be displaced from their homes by 2050 if such a scenario continues. Overall carbon emissions have to be reduced by 40% before 2060 to stop the overall increase of the earth’s temperature by two degrees Celsius or more! Another sad part is that another study revealed that only 100 companies are contributing to 71% of global carbon emissions.

After All, Businesses Revolve and Evolve Around Social Beings

All businesses know that customers are fast and last if they have to survive. In fact, they create their strategies while keeping customer satisfaction and retention in mind. Well, who is making these strategies and for whom—human beings, right? The strategy makers are out of society, the executing employees are not aliens, and the consumers are not dumb animals.

Studies again show that 90% of executives in companies globally think that overall sustainability is important for business growth, while only 60% of companies have proper sustainability strategies developed or applied.

A company that does not align its strategy towards sustainability is likely to gradually lose its revenue. A Nielsen 2019 study found that 73% of global consumers are ready to opt to change their buying habits to shift towards products that have a less negative impact on the environment. This has also shown that consumption/sales of sustainable products grew by nearly 20% until 2014 itself.

Good people make a company great. Nowadays, a large salary is insufficient to attract talent in any organization! A recent EY study indicates that 89% of executives believe an organization needs to have a sustainable outlook to increase employee satisfaction. It also points out that, out of 100 employees, 85 say general or buddy referrals go up if they find their chosen company has a strong purpose for others—the world at large.

When a business adheres to the well-known triple bottom line theory of caring for profits, people, and the planet as well, the overall business growth boosts up to higher percentages. A recent study of CPD finds that S&P 500 companies that inducted sustainability into their core business strategies have outperformed others that failed to adapt to sustainability.

Why Not Tap into The Trillion-Dollar Opportunities?

We all know that businesses will ignore anything that does not smell like profit! Small changes can have a great impact on business profitability. Studies show that thousands of commoners (including employees) waste 2.9 billion gallons of gas stuck in traffic (some reaching offices, others to whatever earning places they go), and each person forfeits close to $710 in productivity per year – doesn’t it affect profitability?

A2011 McKinsey survey on the business of sustainability points out towards 33% of businesses that have improved 19% in operational efficiency and reduced costs by integrating sustainable practices.

Well, sustainability is always going to leave its mark on the overall future growth of businesses. Sometimes the impact is related to reputation (not supporting environmental or humanitarian causes), as in the case of Shell, which faced massive protests over its oil purchase from Russia despite being aware of Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine. Otherwise, there will be huge areas for growth possibilities, just like investing in the renewable energy market can alone open up more than $2.15 trillion by 2025.

To sum up, we can see how China's initiative to fight air pollution has the potential to create investment opportunities worth more than $3 trillion through 2030. There is almost no path that a business can take without considering sustainability - in general, in strategy.