The metaverse has brought in a new phase of the internet, a digital world with endless possibilities and resources. Yet many people, including me, fear this new development. Is this fear justified or is this digital world the solution to the problems we have in the real-world? In this blog, I explore some of the exciting possibilities and solutions brought by the Metaverse.
According to many studies, the metaverse could be a solution to environmental problems. For example, the metaverse was discussed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) as an option to counter global CO2 emissions (SDG13). Because people are expected to work in the metaverse more often in the future instead of physically going to work, CO2 emissions will decrease. In addition, the production of toys, for example, will decrease (SDG12), as people can have digital toys in the Metaverse and thus no longer need the physical products (Allam et al., 2022).
The Metaverse can also help make society safer and better prepared for the risks of climate change. By doing simulations in the Metaverse, it is possible to better predict what might happen in the real world. For example, the ‘delta works’ from the Netherlands could thus be fully recreated and tested in other places around the world (SDG9) (Allam et al., 2022).
Besides the effects of the metaverse related to the environment, the metaverse can also provide a solution to the health-care and well-being (SDG3) of society. Because care in the metaverse no longer needs to be provided physically, it can ensure that more people have access to medical care. Mental healthcare in particular could benefit from the metaverse, as people are more likely to bring their mental problems to the table in a digital world. So a digital psychologist could work better than a psychologist in the real world (Usmani et al., 2022).
The last feature I would like to highlight is that in the Metaverse, is that you can be whoever you want to be. So you can choose your own gender and skin colour, so there is no racism or gender inequality (SDG5). This can be the solution for many people for problems they encounter in the real-world (Dwivedi et al., 2022).
These are just some of the solutions the metaverse offers us and I must say I am amazed with the possibilities it brings. Am I still ‘afraid’ of the metaverse? Yes, but the more I read about it the more I recognise that it could be the solution for the future. I am very curious to see what the future of the Metaverse will bring us!
References:
Allam, Z., Sharifi, A., Bibri, S. E., Jones, D. S. & Krogstie, J. (2022). The Metaverse as a Virtual Form of Smart Cities: Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability in Urban Futures. Smart Cities, 5(3), 771–801. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5030040
Usmani, S. S., Sharath, M. & Mehendale, M. (2022). Future of mental health in the metaverse. General Psychiatry, 35(4), e100825. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2022-100825
Dwivedi, Y. K., Hughes, L., Baabdullah, A. M., Ribeiro-Navarrete, S., Giannakis, M., Al-Debei, M. M., Dennehy, D., Metri, B., Buhalis, D., Cheung, C. M., Conboy, K., Doyle, R., Dubey, R., Dutot, V., Felix, R., Goyal, D., Gustafsson, A., Hinsch, C., Jebabli, I., . . . Wamba, S. F. (2022b, oktober). Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy. International Journal of Information Management, 66, 102542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102542
First of all, great post! I really enjoyed reading it. All the positive benefits that the Metaverse can bring sound very nice in theory but I believe that in practice several of this will be hard to do. For example, lower CO2 emissions could definitely be a benefit but we still need to consider the high energy costs that will likely need to be incurred to keep it running. Moreover, the possibility of using the Metaverse to simulate situations in the real word will really depend on its ability to replicate the real world, which will require extremely complicated computer models to do. I believe that in practical terms the Metaverse will have certain benefits but they will be limited by the computing power of the systems used to run it.