Are you wondering how the metaverse will impact the future of business? Do you want to know why the metaverse will improve business opportunities? In this article, you will discover business applications for the metaverse.
There is no denying there is a lot of hype and confusion around the metaverse and Web3. So what is what? The simplest breakdown is that Web3 is the technology and the metaverse is the experience.
What is the metaverse?
The metaverse is not something new that is coming. The metaverse is the evolution of the internet and it is already here, developing every day to give us increasingly immersive and interactive experiences. Whether people realize it or not, many of us interact with the metaverse every day. We attend meetings via real-time video, use FaceTime, watch live streams, participate in Twitter spaces, play games together from separate locations, and so on.
As these user experiences become more engaging, more things that we do in the physical world will happen in digital spaces. We will host parties, attend concerts, go to art exhibitions or fashion shows, and meet friends or colleagues, all online. What are the key points that differentiate this latest version of the internet from previous versions?
The first is the collapse of siloed user experiences. In the past, our user experiences with communications, media, commerce, gaming, and finance were separate. Today we can experience all of these on a single website or within an immersive application environment. The second is the emerging ability for us consumers to own our digital identity, thanks to decentralization. Instead of logging in and out of applications, platforms, and experiences using multiple versions of our identities owned by corporate gatekeepers like Facebook or Google, we will use a single identity that we own across the metaverse.
Entrepreneurs and marketers who focus on these two points and are able to transform what were siloed customer experiences into a single, frictionless customer journey will lead in their industries. Metaverse integration may seem like something only large companies can achieve today. But there are everyday applications that millions of small businesses around the world can leverage now or in the very near future, thanks to decentralization.
Small Business Applications for the Metaverse
Business applications for the metaverse have not really changed from Web2 business applications. What hasè changed is the emergence and accessibility of Web3 technology that empowers small businesses. What if your small business could offer the same kind of simplified and elevated customer experience based on a consumer’s digital identity that large companies like Amazon offer today?
Amazon’s business model is built on commerce, media, and gaming. They have interconnected the user experience across all of these so that each of us receives highly personalized recommendations and conducts near-frictionless transactions. Think of the ease of purchasing with the “Buy Now with 1-Click®” button registered by Amazon.
The entire Amazon customer experience is predicated on owning the identity data of each customer—unique data, browsing history, purchase history, and payment preferences.
Personalized Customer Experiences
Two types of Web3 technology can help your small business offer the same level of customer experience, right now.
One is digital identity registration. Services like Unstoppable Domains or Ethereum Name Service enable anyone to register their digital identity for use with Web3 technology and metaverse experiences.
The other is WalletConnect. Enabling WalletConnect for your website or decentralized application allows customers to access your experience with a digital identity via their mobile/digital wallet, bringing with them all of their online history and preferences so that you can offer personalized customer experiences.
Frictionless Payments and Improved Commerce Flow
The other side of technology like WalletConnect is around transactions. Remember the “Buy Now with 1-Click®” button registered by Amazon?
Small businesses currently have to pay third-party vendors to enable payment functionality on their websites or apps. This means consumers often have to enter payment details every time they make a purchase.
Open-source protocols like WalletConnect simplify the payment process and will make third-party transaction vendors obsolete because consumers will have logged into your experience with a wallet that also holds their payment details. Because money will exist in the same domain as data, commerce will flow at the same speed as information, providing a better and faster experience for consumers and businesses.
Of course, it all depends on mass adoption across the board, and that could be anywhere from 3 to 5 years from now.
Why the Open Metaverse Matters
When Facebook was rebranded as Meta, they had everything they needed to win in the metaverse right at their fingertips. So how did they miss the mark? It all comes down to digital identity or the digital self and who owns the data related to digital identity.
In Meta’s version, they own that data for every person using their service, regardless of whether that person logs into Facebook or a third-party website via Facebook Login. Meta then collects, aggregates, and sells that data to other companies who want to persuade us to change our minds about something, buy something, and so on. Meta wins because we give them our digital selves.
People are becoming increasingly aware of how much their digital selves truly matter. They are deciding that it is not okay for one entity to own so much data about them. So we are at a kind of crossroads. Do we continue to let entities like Facebook or Amazon own our data, or do we embrace a new path? The Metaverse offers every individual the tools and technology to take back and fully own their digital selves while still enjoying the seamless experiences they are used to with Facebook Login.
But if we simply trade one walled-garden provider for another, we won’t be any better off. This is why open-source technology protocols are important. Regardless of who creates an open-source protocol, everyone can use it. No more walled gardens.
Futureverso
Futureverse is building open-source technology protocols for communications, identity, and money and demonstrating their uses in the hope that the protocols will become universal standards that everyone can build with. This, in turn, will draw more people to come and build experiences in the metaverse.
This brings us to artificial intelligence (AI), the Altered State Machine, and the metaverse.
Altered State Machine
Altered State Machine has created an open-source protocol that allows people to own AI agents such as
Sidekick AI.
They have also created a suite of applications that help people learn how to train and utilize AI not only to create 3D objects and characters but entire metaverse experiences. This opens doors for all small businesses to leverage Web3 technology and the metaverse.
Aaron McDonald is the founder of Futureverse, a metaverse platform, and Fluf World, a universe of metaverse characters and content. Aaron also co-founded Altered State Machine, a decentralized AI protocol.
Source Socialmediaexaminer
Pubblicato in E-commerce
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