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title: "What is a Metaverse?"
canonical: "https://www.1truth.nl/space/1TRUT/blog/9336684549/What%20is%20a%20Metaverse%3F"
format: markdown
---
Gartner expects that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse for work, shopping, education, social media and/or entertainment. But what exactly is a Metaverse?

It is a collective virtual space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. In other words, it is device-independent and is not owned by a single vendor. It is an independent virtual economy, enabled by digital currencies and [nonfungible tokens (NFTs).](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/3-themes-surface-in-the-2021-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies)

A Metaverse represents a combinatorial innovation, as it requires multiple technologies and trends to function. Contributing tech capabilities include augmented reality (AR), flexible work styles, head-mounted displays (HMDs), an AR cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, [artificial intelligence (AI)](https://www.gartner.com/en/topics/artificial-intelligence) and spatial technologies.

To understand the concepts of a Metaverse, think of it as the next version of the Internet, which started as individual bulletin boards and independent online destinations. Eventually these destinations became sites on a virtual shared space — similar to how a Metaverse will develop.

### Why is there hype around Metaverse?

There is a lot of excitement around Metaverse, much of it driven by technology companies preemptively claiming to be Metaverse companies, or creating Metaverses to enhance or augment the digital and physical realities of people. Moreover, activities that currently take place in siloed environments will eventually take place in a single Metaverse, such as:

- Purchasing outfits and accessories for online avatars
- Buying digital land and constructing virtual homes
- Participating in a virtual social experience
- Shopping in virtual malls via immersive commerce
- Using virtual classrooms to experience immersive learning
- Buying digital art, collectibles and assets (NFTs)
- Interacting with digital humans for onboarding employees, customer service, sales and other business interactions

It is expected that a Metaverse will provide persistent, decentralized, collaborative and interoperable opportunities and business models that will enable organizations to extend [digital business](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-build-a-digital-business-technology-platform).

![image](media://47711b47-bd1d-4708-9b6d-ad8225f39cb7)

### What are the business opportunities of a Metaverse? 

Today there are many individual use cases and products, all creating their own versions of a Metaverse. Opportunities across multiple industries include:

- Higher education, medical, military and other types of trades can deliver a more immersive learning experience. They don’t need to create their own infrastructure, as the Metaverse will provide the framework.
- Virtual events, having gained popularity over the last two years, can now present more integrated offerings.
- Retail can extend its reach to an immersive shopping experience that allows for more complex products.
- Enterprises can achieve better engagement, [collaboration and connection with their employees](https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/employees-seek-personal-value-and-purpose-at-work-be-prepared-to-deliver-) through virtually augmented workspaces.
- Social media can move to the Metaverse, where users can interact through three-dimensional avatars.