With the caveat that intentions are not outcomes, early investment in metaverse capabilities is unevenly distributed. Industrial processes are getting early investment, often in the form of digital twin platforms that allow managers to monitor complex systems in real time, as well as test “what if” scenarios.
And we might also keep in mind that early visions of what is possible, and what will be popular and useful, often diverge from ultimate reality. Humans have a hard time envisioning futures that are based on radically-different assumptions than the present.
The fact that early automobiles were known as "horseless carriages" illustrates the point: we imagine the future in terms of our past. Early refrigerators were known as "ice boxes," as that is the technology electrical refrigerators replaced.
The other area of early investment are content and applications, both for roughly analogous reasons: metaverse offers a potentially richer and more-realistic virtual experience.
Many observers will point out that the metaverse is not here yet, but is going to be built over a period of time (one decade or more). The evolution will happen from current use cases and capabilities.
The eventual metaverse will be built from today’s sensor use cases, automated control systems, applied artificial intelligence, faster processors and cheaper storage, plus more capable access and local and private networks, payment systems, specialized devices and software.
Realtors will use digital twin technology to allow homebuyers to experience in three dimensional sense what a potential home looks like, without being there, physically inside the property.
Industrial process managers will be able to analyze data from their operating processes and machines in real time, and also use virtual replicas of those processes and machines to conduct “what if” games of the sort financial analysts began to do when the first personal computer spreadsheets were created.
Videogame players were early beneficiaries of computer-generated graphics, and will likely be among the first to see applied versions of immersive and persistent gaming. Traffic engineers might someday be able to use real-time traffic data to relieve some congestion at peak rush hours, or reroute traffic around temporary obstructions.
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