Gartner Predicts 25% of People Will Spend At Least
One Hour Per Day in the Metaverse by 2026
Metaverse Hype to
Transition into New Business Models that Extend Digital Business
By 2026, 25% of
people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping,
education, social and/or entertainment, according to Gartner, Inc.
“Vendors are already
building ways for users to replicate their lives in digital worlds,” said Marty Resnick, research vice
president at Gartner. “From attending virtual classrooms to buying digital land
and constructing virtual homes, these activities are currently being conducted
in separate environments. Eventually, they will take place in a single
environment – the metaverse – with multiple destinations across technologies
and experiences.”
Gartner defines
a metaverse as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence
of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. It
is persistent, providing enhanced immersive experiences, as well as device
independent and accessible through any type of device, from tablets to head-mounted
displays.
Because no single
vendor will own the metaverse, Gartner expects it to have a virtual economy
enabled by digital currencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The metaverse will impact every
business that consumers interact with every day.
It will also impact
how work gets done. Enterprises will provide better engagement, collaboration and
connection to their employees through immersive workspaces in virtual offices.
Businesses will not need to create their own infrastructure to do so because
the metaverse will provide the framework. In addition, virtual events that have
gained popularity over the last 18 months will offer more collaborative and
immersive networking opportunities and workshops.
“Enterprises will have the
ability to expand and enhance their business models in unprecedented ways by
moving from a digital business to a metaverse business,” said Resnick. “By
2026, 30% of the organizations in the world will have products and services
ready for metaverse.”
The adoption of
metaverse technologies is nascent and fragmented, and Gartner cautions
organizations about investing heavily in a specific metaverse. “It is still too
early to know which investments will be viable in the long term, but product
managers should take the time to learn, explore and prepare for a metaverse in
order to position themselves competitively,” said Resnick.
Gartner clients can
read more in “Predicts 2022: 4 Technology Bets for Building the Digital Future” and "Quick Answer: What
is a Metaverse."
Source: Gartner media announcement
