Historically, retail, fashion and apparel companies have been some of the first movers into the metaverse. Now, there are a growing number of companies across a variety of sectors that are becoming increasingly active in the Web3 space, Guy Parsonage, PwC’s Metaverse Lead, Partner & Leader of PwC Experience Consulting Leader (Hong Kong and mainland China), told Arabian Business.
For B2B and B2C companies, the metaverse provides opportunities for new ways to do business, rethink & reimagine customer journeys, business models and operational processes, he said.
The industries include real estate, energy, education, gaming, tourism, consumer goods, healthcare, entertainment and media, logistics, finance and e-commerce.
Dubai made an announcement on the first day of the Dubai Metaverse Assembly to measure the Metaverse’s contribution to their economy through a new metric in the future called as ‘Gross Metaverse Product’, where people can contribute to the economy without the need for physically being there, and as UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, Omar Al Olama said this will be applied to include tourism, education, retail, real estate and the government sector, Parsonage explained.
Major announcements were made at the assembly, indicating that many industries are taking a leap into the virtual world, Ministry of Economy’s Metaverse headquarters was launched where people can hold meetings and sign legal documents, Barbados’ announced their aim to set up an embassy in the Metaverse, where the virtual facility will ensure diplomatic parity, future-proofing national services, international coverage, and much more.
As per PWC 2022 Business and Consumer Metaverse Survey, the top five use cases for businesses range from providing on boarding training, interacting with work colleagues, creating visual content for customers to engage with, engaging customer staff and providing entertainment.
“These are most likely areas which companies will invest significantly in the short-term,” Parsonage said, “What is interesting however, is that consumers on the other hand want to explore new places virtually, interact with healthcare providers, customer service agents, familiar brands and attend training.”
Some of these business priorities and demands may overlap but it is still a long way from the ‘perfect’ metaverse experience that has the capacity to hold some of these demands, however, it is crucial for businesses to invest and start building towards a fully immersive metaverse that is expected to cross multiple, interoperable environments.
The Dubai Metaverse Assembly was held in the Museum of the Future on September 28 and 29, placing the emirate as a major hub. During the assembly various business sectors announced their expansion and entry into the metaverse, including but not limited to, government services, aviation and more.
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