Metaverso: a way to a new world
by Renata Perobelli Borba
The world is starting to talk about the metaverse in the same way it referred to the internet in the early 1990s. Back then, the 56k modem and dial-up service were the reality, and few would venture to predict the things we do today in the online world. Popularly, the term gained strength from mid-2021, after Facebook announced full focus on the metaverse (with the change of the group’s name to Meta), and with the accelerated entry of new users in 3D environments, game rooms and on social networks fueled by the arrival of high-quality 5G technology, with greater bandwidth and download speed.
Meta means beyond, verse has correlation with the universe, that is, beyond it. “Metaverse consists of several layers of technology, which will place us inside this physical-digital experience in shared, interactive, immersive and collaborative 3D virtual spaces. Everyone can teleport to this parallel world using a digital avatar, through 5G, as long as they have glasses or augmented or virtual reality (AR or VR) devices. The metaverse is not an isolated experience, but a social space”, explains Rafael Coimbra, executive editor of MIT Technology Review Brazil and author of the book Cérebro Digital.
“The metaverse is not an isolated experience, but a social space.”
The origin of the term metaverse is not recent. It’s from the 1990s, originally used by science fiction author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which recounts a three-dimensional virtual world where humans interact with each other in the graphic forms of themselves called avatars. A decade later, in 2003, Second Life was created, the first similar experiment that failed because most people didn’t have high-speed internet access.
Plataforms
The platforms that provide the technology of the metaverse are the owners of the spaces. Thus, if Meta builds, it is up to her to sell. Known players are Microsoft, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Valve, Epic, HTC, IBM and Apple. All these tech conglomerates are dreaming of new ways to connect online. According to experts, they will not reach 10 due to the need for a billion-dollar investment.
To be in the metaverse, industry and retail will need to buy spaces or “land” to enter the new world, whether through apps, games, virtual stores or simply presenting themselves in this new concept. It will be up to developers, programmers and computer scientists to devise strategies to commercially exploit this parallel world.
In terms of business, the metaverse is an opportunity for the company to get closer to its target audience, increase revenue and position the brand as an innovator. “Despite being a great market opportunity for companies, entering the metaverse requires high investment, making big brands come out ahead”, comments Kelly Carvalho, technical advisor of the Digital Economy and Innovation Council at FecomercioSP. Another point to consider is the Brazilian reality in relation to the cost of virtual reality glasses, which varies from US$ 400 to US$ 3,500, very high values even for developed countries.
“Entering the metaverse requires high investment, making big brands come out ahead.”
In practice, there are already environments similar to the metaverse, such as digital games (such as Roblox and Fortnite), which allow the purchase of digital products through cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and/or Ethereum. In this case, there are 2.8 billion gamers in the world who spent US$ 200 billion on games in 2021. At the forefront of this squad, with projects in metacommerce, are Epic Games, with its Fortnite, Microsoft, owner of the Minecraft, Roblox and the IMVU social network. Globally, in 2021, $2 billion was spent on augmented and virtual reality headsets. For 2026, OmdiaResearch projects a rise of 148% to $16 billion.
Popularization
Curiosity about the metaverse is huge all over the world, due to the understanding that people begin to have that it generates business. The idea is that the peak of expectation will attract investors. The next wave will involve large companies that need to find practical applications and make it viable for those on the other side. “The metaverse will only work with the popularization of technology”, says Rafael.
“It is a fact that the recent pandemic has intensified the search for alternative methods of interaction between physically distant people and, in this regard, the metaverse provides a valuable degree of connectivity for social interactions or even in the work environment, allowing, for example, digital meetings become interesting and aggregating commitments”, says Pedro Sanches, specialist in digital law, privacy and data protection at the Prado Vidigal Office.
“There is no agreement that it takes devices with VR or AR to reach the metaverse, but they practically go hand in hand. And therein lies the great opportunity for manufacturers and retailers.”
The specialist in consumer culture at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Benjamin Rosenthal, adds: “We are going to experience this technology very intensely, but it has to be democratic to gain scale and reach popular stores. The metaverse tends to start out elite and then go to the masses, just like the cell phone did. But it took two decades for that to happen.”
Time
The experts consulted for this matter differ on the timeframe for popularization. The most optimistic say that it will take place within three years, others risk five years, but most believe that it will take 10 years for people to experience the new technology, including Brazilians. In practice, we have almost a decade ahead of us, but both industry and retail need to run.
“If entrepreneurs fail to understand this rapid and accelerating change, economic empires will be destroyed. You have to go in and get ahead. We are accelerating particles through 4G, 5G, 6G technologies. I believe that, in less than 10 years, the metaverse will be popularized in Brazil,” says Dani Lui, a professor specializing in human development and at the Mundo 4.0 postgraduate course at the University of São Paulo (USP), in Ribeirão Preto.
“If entrepreneurs fail to understand this rapid and accelerating change, economic empires will be destroyed.”
“While we haven’t arrived at the ideal world, it is a fact that industry and retail must start to create the feeling of experience, and the most interesting path, within what is currently possible, is a mixture of games with 3D environments. It’s not ideal, but it’s the beginning”, observes Rafael.
Devices e gadgets
“There is no agreement that it takes devices with VR (virtual reality), which are closed glasses, or AR (augmented reality), such as a cell phone with sensors, to reach the metaverse, but they practically go hand in hand. And therein lies the great opportunity for manufacturers and retailers”, says Maurício Morgado, coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Retail at FGV and a partner at Lumina.
With more than 25 years dedicated to technology, Rafael comments: “Today’s large glasses are a bureaucratic element, as a rule it is a solitary experience, and metaverse is not that. At first, they will be visual experiences. In another stage, come haptic devices, which, in short, are technologies of sensation, such as gloves, vests, mats and helmets. Everything is very expensive, heavier, I have already had an experience of operation.”
“The metaverse provides a valuable degree of connectivity for social interactions or even in the work environment”
Only devices or gadgets will give access for the person to live real immersive sensory experiences in the parallel universe. Benjamin, a specialist in consumer culture at FGV, anticipates: “These accessories will be objects of desire, just as many aficionados are waiting for the launch of smartphones.”
“When devices and gadgets become cheap, Brazilians will stop eating to have these tools, such as a state-of-the-art cell phone and a 5G data plan,” says Dani. “There is no doubt that simpler devices will be created and incorporated into the human body, with people literally chipped. Maybe some will no longer turn off. If today there are already ways for them to abstain from reality, imagine when they can enter parallel worlds, be whoever they want and navigate wherever they want”, he adds. For her, in a short time, there will be three types of beings: very few humans; most metahumans; and methanoids, people who will no longer be able to leave the metaverse.
Impact on the productive chain
“Industry can now prepare to create equipment that allows interaction with this medium, in terms of interoperability. If, for retail, it has become a channel, the industry has to generate content for the shopkeeper. Anything bytes and bytes, looks great in the metaverse. When the atom, the matter, the physical product such as food arrives, we start to make a parallel to compare with what the internet did in the period from 1995 to 2000 in distribution and retail as a whole”, evaluates Maurício, from FGV.
For ESPM’s business and digital transformation specialist, Fernando Moulin, the advantages of including the metaverse in production lines are efficiency, high level of automation, cost reduction and simulations in a virtual environment. “The industry will start working with digital twins – a solution that uses data to simulate tests before any part is manufactured. Production time shortens, and the product can be launched faster. China is very advanced in this, and with the metaverse the process will be infinitely more agile.”
“We are going to experience this technology very intensely, but it has to be democratic to gain scale.”
The gains could be even greater in the medium term. “In a second moment, I see the possibility of profit with incremental revenue. If you have direct interaction with the consumer, if you know their habits and preferences, you will be able to develop products in a digital environment at a much lower cost and test them with them before launching them. Thus, they will go on sale in the final version. Everything can generate new business modalities and engaging experiences, giving the industry direct channels that do not exist today”, explains Fernando.
For Dani, the gradual entry of the metaverse could affect production chains in such a way that it will no longer be necessary to have a person producing in China, for example. “At some point, the whole logistics chain is considered to be broken because I no longer need to have my shoes or a fan produced abroad. A person who has the 3D printer makes the product I want here. The templates are on the net. Anyone who owns large parks needs to understand that the world is changing,” he says.
Shopping journey
“The metaverse is yet another arm of the omnichannel by recreating the physical experience in the digital environment, as it interconnects different tools, improving the user experience.” Through it, the consumer will be able to visit the virtual store of a certain brand and buy products for their avatar and for their own use. The offline version goes to the customer’s home from the nearest physical store. It will be a new way of consuming and relating, says Kelly. “Physical retail will not end”, says Fernando. “The mindset that one ends the other doesn’t make sense in the consumer’s mind. The entrepreneur needs to understand that the customer wants one and the other.”
“The industry will start working with digital twins –before any part is manufactured.”
Thinking about the matter, improving the customer journey and making their shopping experience in the metaverse one thing, breaking down barriers, is necessary for retail, says Maurício. “I see the metaverse as marketing or business for marketers. In the parallel universe, avatars will be able to have televisions and refrigerators in their homes; brands will be able to explore the spaces and, through applications, seduce the customer. When talking about informational products, I imagine a very big impact on the metaverse. It is yet another channel to facilitate purchases, a media alternative.”
The operations carried out in the metaverse are transacted in cryptocurrencies, and the person can use them to buy physical products from online stores, for example. “Just as electronic commerce will not end the metaverse, it will not end other types of commercialization (physical retail and electronic commerce), nor will it be the end of other means of payment, such as credit cards. The metaverse will be a new way of relating and buying, whose payment will be made through cryptocurrencies”, summarizes Kelly.
Digital security
Specialist in cyberdefense and executive director of IT by Insight, which works in the area of information technology, Álvaro Massad Martins is concerned about the metaverse due to its characteristics. “Surely, the level of defense is much lower at first. It is very easy to invade the parallel world, it is another gateway that can cause problems.” Kelly recalls that artificial intelligence (AI) is not regulated in the country, “which can cause conflicts”.
An important question is: how will digital law be applied to the metaverse? “It’s difficult to answer and define precisely, because we don’t know how this will actually work. What can be said is that the LGPD, created to encompass new technologies, would be applied in this new environment, but it remains to be seen how the technology will be structured”, says Pedro.
“It is very easy to invade the parallel world, it is another gateway that can cause problems.”
One more question: what will the future look like? It is impossible to anticipate. The answer will come with time, but it is a fact that part of the objects will no longer need to physically exist. Other markets may emerge, such as products that work in the digital environment for avatars. On the other hand, there are irreplaceable cases in the real world, but it will be possible to add experiences to these physical products.
Source: Revista Eletrolar News Edição #147
