The metaverse or metaverse is currently considered to be the future of the internet in the tech scene. However, the term is still largely unknown in the German economy. Just over half of companies (55%) say they've never heard of the Metaverse. 17 percent have heard the term before, but don't know exactly what it is, another 17 percent can at least say roughly what it means. Only 6% feel confident explaining what the Metaverse is about. These are the results of a representative survey of 604 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany on behalf of the digital association Bitkom.
To fill this knowledge gap, Bitkom has published the guide “Guide to the Metaverse”, which, among other things, aims to provide an overview of the concept, technologies, possible applications and business models, as well as the social significance of the Metaverse. “With the Metaverse, we are at the very beginning of a development that promises great things,” says Dr. Sebastian Klöß, Metaverse expert at Bitkom. “The Metaverse can be seen as the next logical layer of the Internet, a three-dimensional Internet that is always around us and happening in real time.”
After an introduction with six theses on the metaverse, the 84-page guide “Ways into the Metaverse” provides an overview of the origin of the term as well as the state of technology and further developments from the early Internet to Web 2.0 and so-called Web3 . Then it comes to the question of what actors and business models make up the metaverse and what use cases it offers, from the world of work to training to production and the area of events. The merging of real products and virtual items with the help of so-called NFTs is also shown.
Another chapter discusses legal issues, such as which law applies in an internationally interconnected virtual world and how virtual goods are to be legally valued, but also data protection issues and the topic of taxes are addressed. Additionally, a chapter is devoted to the importance of the Metaverse to society, such as digital participation opportunities and accessibility challenges. Finally, the guide's authors provide their own predictions for the Metaverse in five to ten years.
Pathways into the Metaverse guide is available Here ready for free download.