Metaverses

Trend Overview

Impact:

Low

Adoption:

5 - 10 Years

Focus Areas:

Customer Experience Health, Safety & Future of Work

Trend Clusters:

Sectors:

The Metaverses trend refers to a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment that is open and interoperable, much like the internet. Users can enter in the form of avatars to gain knowledge, enjoy entertainment, interact with each other, work collaboratively, and consume assets and services in a virtual world that is linked to the real world.

First realized in online video games in the early 2000s, a metaverse is conceptualized as the next stage of social connection and engagement after the internet. A metaverse environment is typically but not exclusively built on extended reality (XR) technology. Prior to the metaverse, XR applications occurred in contained digital environments with targeted functionalities; for example, solutions supporting employee training. Instead, the metaverse is a shared, and immersive world connected to the wider online ecosystem. It can be accessed with or without an XR headset, such as the Microsoft HoloLens, Meta Quest 3, or Apple Vision Pro.

Once the metaverse hype peaked in 2022, critical voices started to be heard, declaring the trend in decline because of continued losses at Meta’s Reality Labs division, amounting to US$ 11.5 billion in 2023, and to the downturn of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The trade and sale of blockchain-supported NFTs were core to the hype around metaverse economies. On the front end, NFTs can take many forms, like digital artwork and representations of real-world objects such as clothes and cars; on the back end, they are digital non-interchangeable receipts that act as proofs of ownership of digital or physical assets.

These doubts were reflected by Google search trends. The search term “metaverse” reached highest popularity in 2022 and subsequently declined. But, despite these indicators, the metaverse market is still predicted to grow. Between 2024 and 2030, an annual growth rate of over 35% is anticipated.

For all industries, including logistics , the metaverses vision remains relatively distant in terms of realization. Currently, different metaverse approaches exist, resulting in multiple “multiverses” that are fragmented, not interoperable, and unconnected. It is yet to be seen whether a single metaverse (or several large and connected metaverses) can form to the extent that the concept suggests.

At DHL, we believe the possible impact of metaverses and their relevance to logistics and the supply chain are yet to be understood. Nevertheless, companies should be monitoring developments around this trend today as the course towards the infrastructure for a single metaverse is being set.

Metaverses

Source: MeTech (2024): Metaverses(VR/AR/XR)

Relevance to the Future of Logistics

New Customer Channels

Retailers and marketeers are exploring metaverses as an opportunity for another channel to drive customer engagement and business. The immersive Roblox platform, for example, is growing steadily, with 70.2 million daily active users as of Q3, 2023.

Fashion brands such as Gucci, H&M, and Nike, to name a few, have been early adopters, launching digital showrooms and NFT-based fashion collections to position their brands in the metaverse, starting in 2022.

In April 2024, Nike released the second collection of its iconic Air Max sneakers to Fortnite, a popular metaverse gaming platform with over 220 million monthly users. Within the “Airphoria Vol. 2” experience, users can explore an Air Max Dn-themed virtual world and play mini games.

While brands experiment with new sales channels within still-forming metaverse environments, the question is unanswered: Will the metaverse become the next version of the internet or will it remain a niche environment for specific tasks – in this case, for brands to engage with specific target groups?

Either way, the implications for logistics are expected to be rather limited.

Next use case

Industrial Metaverse

Metaverse experiences continue to develop from virtual gaming platforms, social networks, event spaces, and new sales channels, and in time will also impact more industries. It is easy to imagine the benefits of an industrial metaverse that connects the virtual and real worlds. Managers across all industries, including logistics, should consider ways of incorporating this trend into not just consumer-focused activities but also operations.

An industrial metaverse is the convergence of different technology trends, an all-encompassing digital twin that seamlessly integrates all sources of data and information relevant to the enterprise. Within this digital twin, employees can interact virtually; they can access and share information, collaborate, experience simulations, and receive training, making use of XR technology for a virtual interconnected experience.

In 2022, Accenture coined the term “Metaverse Continuum,” extending its offering to help enterprises lay the necessary groundwork to advance towards and build up an industrial metaverse in the future.

Evidencing progress, BMW already uses the NVIDIA Omniverse solution to connect all relevant data sources and create a collaborative virtual simulation environment for better planning of new production facilities.

Meanwhile, in logistics there is strong progress towards greater visibility in a data-driven industry, particularly using the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital twins to connect physical assets. There are also well-established use cases in areas of collaboration, simulation, and training.

As more and more data sources are connected into a single all-encompassing data source, the vision of a single metaverse to consume and interact with available information starts to make sense. Within the logistics industry this could be of particular value in the design, simulation, and monitoring of complex supply chains and operations. The metaverse could act as a virtual control room, bringing together information from various data sources and enabling consumption of information in a very visual way, with the added advantage of easier virtual collaboration.

Having a vision of the metaverse in mind can help with setting up the required IT infrastructure from outset, enabling interoperability between different application spaces and allowing all spaces to connect, ultimately, in a single metaverse environment.

Previous use case

Challenges

Today’s fragmented landscape of non-interoperable metaverse environments leaves uncertainty about whether a single metaverse or set of connected metaverses will ever materialize.

The potential of metaverses as a retail channel is not yet clear, even though users can access several metaverse environments today and these are continually expanding.

While the industrial metaverse is an aspirational concept calling for infrastructural groundwork today, its value for businesses remains unclear and the extent of realization uncertain.

Today’s fragmented landscape of non-interoperable metaverse environments leaves uncertainty about whether a single metaverse or set of connected metaverses will ever materialize.

The potential of metaverses as a retail channel is not yet clear, even though users can access several metaverse environments today and these are continually expanding.

While the industrial metaverse is an aspirational concept calling for infrastructural groundwork today, its value for businesses remains unclear and the extent of realization uncertain.

Challenge 1 Challenge 2 Challenge 3

Outlook

The Metaverse trend is exciting but the path towards a broader implementation is still not outlined; applications are rather isolated and limited.

Although metaverse environments now represent a growing channel with tens of millions of potential users, so far the foreseeable impact on logistics is limited. However, as more individuals and companies participate in metaverse economies, greater insight can be expected.

The vision of an industrial metaverse is important today when building infrastructural groundwork for XR use cases or digital twins, helping to enable interoperability from the start. However, the degree to which this vision will be realized in future is unclear, as this heavily depends on business value – something that is yet to be proven.

This trend should be PASSIVELY monitored,with developments still needed and use cases still being explored.