The Metaverse or Metaverse is currently considered the future of the Internet in the tech scene. But the term is still largely unknown in the German economy. Just over half of companies (55 percent) say they have never heard of the Metaverse. 17 percent have heard the term before, but don't know exactly what it actually is, another 17 percent can at least roughly say what it means. Only 6 percent believe they can explain 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 Bitkom. In order to close this knowledge gap, Bitkom has now published a 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.
“We are at the very beginning of a development in the Metaverse that promises great things. With this guide we want to enable as many companies as possible to deal with this important tech trend. The Metaverse can be seen as the next logical stage of the Internet, a three-dimensional Internet that is always around us and happening in real time. It will not be a virtual parallel world, but rather the further development of the mobile Internet, with which we are already connected at all times - whether at home, in the car or on the train.
Dr. Sebastian Klöß, Metaverse expert at Bitkom
The 84-page guide “Paths into the Metaverse” provides, after an introduction with six theses on the Metaverse, an overview of the origin of the term as well as the status of the technology and the further developments from the early Internet through Web 2.0 to the so-called Web3. The next question is which actors and business models make up the metaverse and which use cases it offers, from the world of work to education to production and the event sector. The fusion of real products and virtual objects with the help of so-called NFTs is also shown. Another chapter discusses legal questions, such as which law applies in an internationally networked, virtual world and how virtual goods are to be legally assessed, but data protection issues and the topic of taxes are also discussed. In addition, a chapter is dedicated to the importance of the Metaverse for society, such as the opportunities for digital participation and the challenges surrounding accessibility. Finally, the authors of the guide provide their personal forecast for the metaverse in five and ten years.
The publication was created as part of the Bitkom Metaverse Forum. This brings together the central players in the Metaverse from the Bitkom network and beyond to jointly advance the Metaverse. It shows what the Metaverse is and what opportunities it opens up for society and the economy - including in a series of roundtables. More information is available at www.forum-metaverse.de .
The guide “Paths into the Metaverse” is available for free download: HERE
Note on methodology: The information is based on a survey that Bitkom Research conducted on behalf of the digital association Bitkom.
604 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany were surveyed. The question was “Have you ever read or heard of the term metaverse or metaverse?” This might also be of interest: Elon Musk vs. Twitter
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )