{"id":541682,"date":"2022-09-27T09:49:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T16:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=541682"},"modified":"2024-05-10T05:26:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:26:01","slug":"metaverse-exploration","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/metaverse-exploration","title":{"rendered":"Finding Our Way in the Metaverse"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[17662,114612,21622,481812,166942],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-541682","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-3d","tag-augmented-reality","tag-digital-twin","tag-multiverse","tag-virtual-reality","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"Making sense of the metaverse by exploring what it is and where it might lead us","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Nearly nine out of ten executives expect to find business value in the metaverse<\/a> in the next five years. Others aren't sure what the value will be\u2014or even what the metaverse is. Still others are already knee-deep in defining both."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Article snapshot<\/strong>: If the metaverse has you confused, you're not alone. Some have tried to simplify things by calling the metaverse \"the internet with a sense of place.\" Here we look at what that might mean in the digital worlds of today and tomorrow.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Take Everyrealm, owner of the MetaMall in Decentraland<\/a>. The digital shopping center offers 364,000 square feet of space to companies interested in creating retail storefronts for virtual shoppers. The mall doesn't exist in the real world, but Everyrealm expects it to generate real profits, and recently engaged real estate firm Avison Young as the listing agent for the virtual retail space.\r\n\r\nThe emergence of shopping in the metaverse shouldn't come as a surprise. Given the chance to create unheard-of experiences in a new cyber realm, many companies are opting for a more familiar, less risky path\u2014replicating the world we already inhabit, right down to the malls.\r\n\r\nIt's a natural next step as the internet weaves itself more intimately into consumers' lives. Forward thinkers like Accenture's Katie Burke<\/a> have called the metaverse tomorrow's internet, with at least one key addition: a sense of place.\r\n\r\nIndeed, whether we visit the metaverse to shop, socialize, play fantasy games, or work, it's likely that understanding place\u2014where we are, what we encounter there, and how we navigate in and around those places\u2014will be as important as it is on terra firma<\/a>.\r\n

The Metaverse: Finding Our Way <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIf you've never been to a virtual mall in Decentraland and don't know which cryptocurrency to use for real estate purchases in the The Sandbox, don't worry, you have a lot of company. The metaverse is a phenomenon billions of people have heard of and few have experienced. Just 16\u00a0percent of Americans could even define the metaverse<\/a> in a recent survey. (See sidebar.)"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Who Does Your PR? <\/strong>\r\n\r\nEighty-six percent of Turkish residents are familiar with the metaverse<\/a>\u2014the strongest name recognition in any country, according to the World Economic Forum. (India and China are second and third.)\r\n\r\nBy contrast, the metaverse could use a PR boost in Poland, France, and Belgium\/Germany, where only 27, 28, and 30 percent of residents, respectively, have heard of it.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"But that doesn't mean it won't be part of our future. After all, it's already an artifact of our past. Nearly a generation ago, Second Life<\/a> and other digital worlds emerged, earning enthusiasm from users and investments from corporations as well as some skepticism.\r\n\r\nToday's metaverse is much improved, proponents say, thanks to better 3D visuals, more evolved interactive virtual and augmented reality, tactile experiences, and cryptocurrency-based transactions.\r\n\r\nBut the allure remains: The metaverse is a place where one can virtually interact with friends or strangers, experience games, collaborate on work, and purchase products and services.\r\n\r\nAs with any new land, its geography is worth exploring."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":541692,"text":"Despite its potential for creating entirely new geographies, many versions of the metaverse are tethered to traditional ideas of place.","author_name":"","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"What's the Plural of Metaverse?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDespite its all-encompassing name, the metaverse isn't a single place with a central gateway. Rather, it's a panoply of experiences, each accessed separately and governed by its own company, creator, or decentralized collective of users<\/a>.\r\n\r\nSome realms are accessed through VR goggles; others can be navigated via a desktop browser or a phone. Experiences range from buying real estate and furnishing a virtual home to attending a concert or interacting with holograms of your coworkers around a cyber conference table. Prominent destinations include Roblox, Decentraland, Meta's Horizon Worlds, The Sandbox, ZEPETO, games like Grand Theft Auto, and others. (See sidebar for more.)"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"On the Metaverse To-Do List<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor more on what one can do in a metaverse, check out this list<\/a>\u2014or read about one Vice reporter's recent virtual night out<\/a>.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Such diversity has led to discussions of what qualifies as a metaverse, a multiverse, or an omniverse<\/a>. One antidote to complexity in any new realm is to establish a sense of place\u2014and a means of navigation. Humans have relied on maps to navigate the real world for millennia, and 50 years ago, technology called a geographic information system (GIS) emerged to deepen that relationship by adding information that helps people better understand a location.\r\n\r\nSince then, innovators have applied GIS to many challenges and opportunities. One pioneering biochemist used the technology to map DNA strands <\/a>in an effort to share information about COVID-19 and other diseases. Others have used GIS to create realistic cities for Disney movies<\/a> and digital twins for infrastructure projects<\/a>.\r\n\r\nIn the spirit of innovation, here we explore some of the main uses of the metaverse and share a few thoughts on how location\u2014and location technology like GIS\u2014might factor into each:\r\n