Wait… so there’s more than one metaverse? Here’s a deep dive into some of them!
You would have to be living under a rock to not have heard the term “metaverse” in the past few months. A metaverse is essentially a world created by putting together augmented reality and virtual reality. It is meant to be the successor to the internet. One of the reasons for the rising popularity of the term metaverse has been tech giant Facebook’s adoption of “Meta” as its new name. The name is based on the company’s vision for the metaverse.
So now that we know what metaverse is, we need to understand its functionality. Let’s take a look at the industries and sectors which are adapting themselves to the realm of the metaverse.
Fashion metaverse
The fashion industry has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to adapting to new trends. From hiring virtual influencers to model for their brands to selling “digital” clothes, the fashion industry is quick to accept up-and-coming tech and make the most of it. All of this shows us that the fashion industry has been actively seeking to expand in both the physical and digital realms, which is what the fashion metaverse is all about.
The industry has also been exploring possibilities of creating fashion for digital avatars. For instance, fashion brand Balenciaga created digital-only pieces for the game Fortnite. In terms of digital “wearable” fashion, the brand DressX has been creating AR looks, like a sweatshirt with Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, on which the swirl print actually moves to deliver a truly virtual experience.
Shark metaverse
While the fashion metaverse is a broader concept enveloping different companies, the shark metaverse is an NFT-based GameFi ecosystem (a combination of gaming and decentralized finance) made by the company Star Sharks. To put it simply, it is a collection of NFT games that are developed by game players, governance committees and game developers. GameFi ecosystems allow players to make money (in the form of virtual tokens) when playing a game.
Star Sharks’ GameFi ecosystem is based on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and recently came into the limelight because Binance Labs made an investment in it. Binance Labs believes that Shark metaverse will play an important role in expanding the gaming sector within the BSC ecosystem.
Industrial metaverse
The industrial sector is another area that could benefit from the advent of the metaverse. The industrial metaverse allows executives to know exactly what is happening in their company at any given moment through real-time data collection. The industrial metaverse, much like other varieties of metaverses, provides a virtual representation of real-world systems.
One of the companies seeking to create a metaverse for the industrial sector is Nvidia. Nvidia is building a “metaverse for engineers” called Omniverse. The Omniverse obeys the laws of physics and would allow companies and individuals to simulate things that might be too difficult to do in real life. It will also facilitate easy collaboration over the digital space.
As metaverse gains relevance, many metaverse startups have begun experiencing financial gain. For instance, metaverse startup Spatial recently achieved Series B funding worth US$25 million, taking their total investment accumulation to US$46.6 million. Similarly, the Australian metaverse startup, iHunt4, has been selected as one of the U.S. National Retail Federation’s top 50 retail startups. The success of both of these companies is a clear signal of the growth potential that metaverses have for any entrepreneur hoping to enter the space.
With all this innovation, it is only a matter of time that we see more industries climb aboard the metaverse ship. And, with that, these metaverses might change from the tech that is used by a few to something that is more universally viable. Till then, we can all simply wait and watch for the tech experts to do their magic!
Header image Freepik
