Ask ten people what the metaverse is and you’ll get ten different answers. 

Some use the term very broadly to mean any kind of 3D digital experience. A concert in a game world. A virtual reality meeting. An augmented reality filter that helps you test a new shade of lipstick. By this broad definition, all of those things happen “in the metaverse”.

But at the other end of the spectrum, some people use “the metaverse’ to mean something quite narrow: A vision for how these kinds of experiences will merge into a new version of the internet. 

Here’s their thinking. Every decade or two, computing seems to find a new centre of gravity. In the 1970s, it was all about mainframes. Then it was personal computers. Then the web—initially on desktop, and later on mobiles. Each time the paradigm changes, it tends to press reset: Companies that are behind the curve lose position, while companies that made the right calls do well. So what will come next? What will succeed the mobiles internet?

A number of tech execs, venture capitalists and businesses are betting that the metaverse is the answer. They anticipate a future in which VR headsets and mixed reality (MR) glasses become as commonplace as mobiles phoness. They predict that the ubiquity of these devices will cause the experience of online life to remake itself around 3D interfaces. Imagine you’re doing your online banking, they say—rather than clicking through a 2D web page, perhaps you would enter a virtual bank and get served by an AI bank teller. No single company would own this hypothetical metaverse. Much like the internet today, with its billions of websites, it would supposedly be a network of virtual spaces to which brands, creators, organizations, and industry bodies contribute. 

Talk to people who share this grand vision, and they’ll often tell you that the metaverse’s success hinges on two key factors. The first is interoperability. This means being able to access the metaverse from any device, and move between its virtual environments seamlessly—the equivalent of opening and closing a tab in a browser. It also means being able to take your avatar—the 3D image that virtually represents who you are—from one space to the next. Fashion brands already sell virtual items for avatars to wear—the idea is that you would be able to carry these items with you as you move around the metaverse.

The other much-cited success factor is persistence. This means virtual environments that don’t reset themselves when you leave them. In other words, they operate like a parallel reality: If you paint your house in real life, it’s still that colour when you return from work. 

If this does indeed become the internet of tomorrow, the impact on business would presumably be extensive. Marketing, commerce, storytelling, engagement—everything could get rewired. 

But, of course, as with any vision of the future, it’s not inevitable. There are a range of challenges standing in its way. And the realization of how much time it would take to solve them partly explains why the metaverse is in a post-hype phase.

Creating affordable, convenient, powerful VR and AR hardware is difficult. That’s not to mention the huge leap in computing and networking capabilities that would be required to run this kind of fully realized immersive reality. And qualities like interoperability are complicated problems to solve, requiring standards to be agreed and companies to cooperate. There’s also just the simple fact it’s hard to predict how technology will evolve, how widely it will be adopted, and for what use. 

However, despite the unknowns, many brands are exploring opportunities in virtual spaces.

Some are using them to convene colleagues who are not in the same physical locations. The professional services company Accenture has used VR environments to onboard thousands of new hires. 

Nissan is using it for a different purpose—as a new marketing tool. To launch its electric SUV, the ARIYA, it created a virtual test drive. After donning a Meta Quest headset, the user is virtually transported to a mountain road next to the ARIYA. Having inspected its design features, they find themselves at the wheel—and then they are off speeding down the freeway. 

Nissan wanted to offer multiple levels of accessibility. For those without access to a headset, a web-based app lets users explore the details of the exterior and interior. Clearly, this is important at a time when headsets are far from ubiquitous.

VR has also been adopted in sports with the NBA broadcasting basketball live in VR, allowing the remote audience to be represented as digital avatars; sitting court side for the match, moving around the ‘venue’ and interacting with each other.

Other organizations have taken a different tack, using AR to augment real-life events. When Coachella returned last year, for example, the festival decided to build something called the Coachellaverse. This saw more than a dozen artists create digital objects and effects that were geolocated in AR around the event.

If you think projects like these are harbingers of what’s to come, and decide your organization should start experimenting with these technologies too, try these questions for size. What kind of approach would be true to your brand? What community are you trying to reach, and how will you engage them in a way that feels authentic? How would this initiative deliver a clear return on investment? And, finally, does this idea align with your wider business and technology strategy?

Remember: You can’t predict the future. But you can be smart about it.

Learn more about marketing in the metaverse on meta.com.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK