Visualize walking down the street. Suddenly, you think of a product you need. Immediately next to you, a vending machine appears, filled with the product and variations you were thinking of. You stop, pick an item from the vending machine, it’s shipped to your house, and then continue on your way.

Next, picture a husband and wife. The husband offers to go to the store but the wife can’t remember the name and type of product she needs. Her brain-computer interface device recognizes it for her and transmits a link to her husband’s device, along with what stores and aisles it’s located in.

Welcome to the metaverse, alternate digital realities where people work, play, and socialize. the metaverse, the mirror world, the AR Cloud, the Magic-verse, the Spatial internet, or Live Maps, you name it! but one thing is for sure, it’s coming and it’s a great deal.

On googling the term metaverse and you’ll find several definitions. Wikipedia defines it as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet. The word “metaverse” is a portmanteau of the prefix “meta” (meaning beyond) and “universe”; the term is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.

Currently, you can only experience the internet when you go to it, but with new connectivity, devices, and technologies, we’ll be able to partake in it all around every single day.

In essence, “we are building a 1-to-1 map of almost outlandish scope. When it’s complete, our physical reality will unite with the digital universe.” In other words, get ready to meet your digital twin, and the digital twin of your house, your country, your office, and even your life.

So what happens when the world becomes a billboard, robots have spatial logic and virtual assistants own the relationship with the client?

Today, the metaverse is a shared virtual space where people are portrayed by digital avatars. The virtual world constantly grows and evolves based on the decisions and actions of the society within it. Eventually, people will be able to enter the metaverse, completely virtually or interact with parts of it in their physical space with the help of augmented and mixed reality.

Leslie Shannon, Nokia’s Head of Trend Scouting, referred to the significance of the metaverse, or spatial internet, in a recent talk during the VRARA’s Global Summit. During her talk, she stated that “The spatial internet is the culmination of everything that AR and VR are developing today. It’s the idea of taking information about things, locations, or historical events and locating that information out there in the world where it’s most relevant.”

Marketing and communications specialists need to pay attention to the metaverse because it’s the next frontier for online interaction. Just like social media revolutionized the online marketing landscape, so too will the metaverse. While we don’t have one shared metaverse at this time, companies are positioning and working on creating it.

Fortnite, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing are games now but they already have big user bases, detailed worlds, and user-generated content. Facebook is also positing itself towards the metaverse with its virtual reality social media platform, Horizon (currently in beta), and Live Maps. Niantic, Magic Leap, Microsoft, and many others are working on it too.

The pandemic has redirected culture online. Family reunions on Zoom, weddings relocated to Animal Crossing, graduations on Minecraft, and virtually trying on clothes have all become common practices. With online social gatherings becoming more mainstream and online video games advancing their world-building, “it’s inevitable that brands will play a noteworthy role in the metaverse.”

A new iteration of the internet is being worked on and this will have huge implications for society. Marketing, communications, and branding professionals will face new challenges but also new opportunities. This new era of the metaverse will unleash amazing creativity and open up new frontiers and horizons for brands and businesses. Now the question is, how are you getting ready?