The Metaverse: A New Perspective

The metaverse is constantly part of public discourse, and experts agree that it will change our lives. So, it's high time to look at this trend: What is the metaverse? What makes it so special? And what potential does it hold for the future?

Avatars, virtual reality, NFTs – the metaverse is currently shaping the digital industry like no other phenomenon. As a virtual reflection of our reality, it offers users the opportunity to gather immersive experiences and serves as a social hub. From a business perspective, the three-dimensional successor to the Internet also opens new opportunities: advertising space can be used in virtual space and the customer journey can be expanded. The consulting firm GlobalData Plc estimated the global metaverse market to be worth $22.79 billion in 2021, with an annual growth rate of 39.8 percent right up to 2030. Metaverse is synonymous with a new internet, a merging of real and virtual worlds, an advancement designed to enable potential and new experiences. 

Although the metaverse is one of the most important technology trends today, the term dates back as far as 1992. Back then, it first appeared in the science fiction novel Snow Crash by author Neal Stephenson. The metaverse is described as a parallel world in which avatars – another term coined by Stephenson – exist. Today, 30 years later, the metaverse is a collective term that summarizes many technological developments. Some see primarily 3D worlds ahead, with virtual and augmented reality glasses and technologies as the drivers. Others associate the term metaverse with blockchain technologies including virtual goods and trading in so-called “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs), meaning tokens that are unique and cannot be copied. Still others think of Facebook because founder Mark Zuckerberg renamed his company Meta Platforms in October 2021. This has given a boost to the topic, which has increasingly appeared in public since the beginning of 2021, but there is much more to it.

Web 1, Web 2, Web 3

One of the technological foundations of the metaverse can be the decentralization of the so-called Web 3. At the beginning of the internet, websites were static information pages, with little to no interaction possibilities. In Web 2, the focus was on exchange: social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and Co. founded a new era. Platforms such as Airbnb or Uber also shaped this era. These are all central players that control access to information and interaction. This is important in distinction to Web 3, where the Internet becomes decentralized. Instead of large, centralized platforms, blockchain technologies now allow information and value to be stored decentrally on different servers.

NFT and virtual assets

In the 3D worlds of the metaverse, created by providers such as Meta, Decentraland, or Sandbox, we move around with avatars, meet friends, pass the time and – like a stroll through a real city – can shop for virtual goods and objects, digital clothing for our avatars or new skills in games.

In the future, this exchange in virtual value can also be handled via virtual means of payment and through decentrally structured currencies. And digital goods can be clearly assigned to their owners as NFTs. 

Virtual and Augmented Reality

We can also use most metaverse applications via the screen. But they become more immersive, meaning more real and engaging, via virtual reality and augmented reality. The way to do this is through devices that are well known: Virtual Reality involves large goggles that we put on. Augmented reality is familiar to us today, especially from smartphones. When we place virtual furniture in the room or have arrows in the navigation app projecting the way into a "real" view.

All of this is still in the early beginnings, happening playfully – often like in an online game. There is a need to explore all the possibilities of the new world, also for us at Henkel. What growth opportunities will arise for us if people start spending parts of their everyday lives in virtual space? Various innovation teams are working at full speed to leverage the future potential for Henkel.

There are also concrete ideas in education: In the metaverse, we can create a place where we bring people from all over the world together. Through the immersive environment, we can thus create an optimal learning environment – without having to travel long distances. 

Especially from a legal perspective, however, there are also some challenges that affect companies: What about trademark rights in the virtual space? Who controls and checks these? On a platform level, it is not yet possible to predict which platform will prevail and in which virtual worlds we will be active in the future.

And then there's the issue of hardware: not many consumers own the special glasses needed to experience the full immersive experience of virtual reality. There is also a lack of computing power to process the gigantic amounts of data produced in the metaverse. The big tech companies are working hard on making the technology more accessible and powerful.

Despite all these uncertainties of an early hype trend, a look at the developments of the past few years and the numerous companies and startups dedicated to these virtual worlds all seem to point towards one conclusion: Something big is happening here.