The Metaverse has been presented as a breakthrough that will radically change the way we relate and communicate through the Internet, turning this virtual space into a place where it will be possible to work, socialize, play… much better than what we do so far.
Metaverse publicity is plummeting and users are losing interest in what it offers before the idea materializes.
However, its advances are not quite there, many people are confused and don’t know what it refers to, nor do they see progress in the short term. This has caused discordant voices to begin to emerge, even within the industry itself.
In this sense, the vice president of Epic Games, Marc Petit, has pointed out that one of the main problems is that the Metaverse is not interesting for individuals and, to top it off, the avatars look like poorly made cartoons and have no legs, something that is strange and that is not attractive to any potential consumer of the service.
Facebook has already launched its own realistic avatars with legs, but the problem goes beyond avatars. There are other factors that explain why the Metaverse, for the moment, can be considered somewhat of a failure. They would be the following:
-The public is confused. Many people who are not part of the technology world or who are not related to it do not know what the Metaverse is and what it offers. This is not surprising, since every advertisement touting this technology indicates that it is 10 to 15 years away, causing everyone to lose interest immediately.
The downside is even greater when confusion about what the Metaverse is has nothing to do with age. An analysis of data thrown up by Taking Stock of Teens points out that 5% of U.S. teens don’t know what the Metaverse is for and don’t want to buy virtual reality devices.
Meanwhile, as far as adults are concerned, a 2021 study by Forrester indicates that only 34% are interested in the Metaverse and just 30% think it would be useful and positive for society. The problem lies in the fact that the companies in charge of the project do not know very well how to develop it. Even Zuckerberg himself stated that “the path to follow is not yet perfectly defined”.
-The first results have been a disaster. Many believed that the Metaverse would be a kind of Matrix that would immerse us in a virtual world in which we could interact with every element. Nothing could be further from the truth, nowadays, the platform and its avatars seem to come out of Nintendo’s Wii console, which was launched in 2006. In other words, the virtual plane offered by the Metaverse is terribly delayed and outdated, no one will want to be part of it.
The solution to this obstacle is simple, until the creators of virtual worlds are able to recreate the wonders they promote, it will be almost impossible to convince people to join the platform in question.
-Virtual is not better. Another flaw of the Metaverse is that it wants to take its idea to extremes, i.e. that users perform 100% of their work, play and social life within the system. This could bring terrible consequences for any society, such as cases of depression, addiction and mental health problems produced by the alteration of reality. This is another difficulty to be faced, since the Metaverse must offer security to its community, in terms of regulatory standards, codes of conduct, inclusion, age, etc.
So, the Metaverse is a developing technology, it has positive qualities, but there are also many doubts surrounding it. One crucial thing is that it must start adding users right now and start delivering the immersive experience it promised because, otherwise, it will lose all the potential consumers interested in the platform.
