July 10th, 2023, Hoang Nguyen
A fully realized metaverse is still some time away and there are plenty of potential potholes to overcome.
Challenges such as equipment costs to access the metaverse, the potential for cyberbullying and privacy concerns/security issues are all barriers that businesses and metaverse-hopefuls will have to face in addition to the slow pace of consumer adoption.
A new YouGov poll surveying 18 global markets shows that three in 10 (29%) global consumers express concern over the metaverse as a technology while 40% are not worried about it. Let’s delve into the market-specific findings and explore how different markets perceive the metaverse.
Consumers in India express the highest level of concern, with 47% saying they are worried about the metaverse. India is also the only market where consumers tend to be more worried than not worried about the technology.
There’s also a high level of concern regarding the metaverse from consumers in Indonesia (43%) and the UAE (43%) although these countries tend to be divided over their concern (43% and 41%, respectively, are not worried). Following these countries is Australia, where two in five consumers express worry over the metaverse (40%).
So which countries are least concerned about the development of the metaverse?
European markets tend to be least worried about the metaverse as a technology. The share of consumers who say they are worried about the metaverse are lowest in Denmark (15%), Sweden (15%) and Spain.
But it’s in markets such as China (59%) and Hong Kong (62%) where consumers outright say they are not worried about the metaverse. This may be due to the increasing adoption of mixed reality and metaverse development, including that of by the Hong Kong Police Force and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
We’ve seen last year’s hype of the metaverse dwindle in 2023 as generative AI became the new buzzword to make headlines but business interest in the metaverse still persists, according to experts, and we have yet to see its overarching potential and impact on our lives.
Large enterprises such as NVIDIA and Unity certainly continue to invest heavily in technology, underscoring the companies’ belief in an immersive, digital environment where people can interact with each other and transact with businesses.
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