In four years, 25% of people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social and entertainment, Gartner forecast.
“Vendors are already building ways for users to replicate their lives in digital worlds,” said Marty Resnick, research vice president at Gartner.
Gartner defines the 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.”
“From attending virtual classrooms to buying digital land and constructing virtual homes, these activities are currently being conducted in separate environments,” Resnick said. “Eventually, they will take place in a single environment — the metaverse — with multiple destinations across technologies and experiences.”
It also forecast the metaverse will effect how work gets done. It believes enterprises will provide better engagement, collaboration and connection to their employees through immersive workspaces in virtual offices. It also forecast virtual events 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,” Resnick said. “By 2026, 30% of the organizations in the world will have products and services ready for metaverse.”