Challenges and Opportunities to the Media and Entertainment Industry in Metaverse

Introduction

Today, technology is evolving at an exponential rate, making it difficult for many organisations to keep up with the quick changes in computer systems and technologies (Israfilzade, 2022). Businesses are putting their best efforts to understand and adopt these numerous technology advancements. The Metaverse, which defines the transcendent reality and has had an impact on it for some time, is one of the most recent topics of discussion. The Metaverse can be thought of as a virtual representation of the world we live in. Users interact with one another and their surroundings, which replicate the real world, using avatars that imitate them and duplicate their actions in this three-dimensional digital environment. The Metaverse has gained a lot of attention and interest globally recently due to the advancement of associated technology. The Metaverse is anticipated to be a more realistic society that minimises ideas of race, gender, and even disability while allowing for more direct and physical relationships (Gartner, 2022). The sector has already distinguished itself for its aggressive planning and passionate investment given the tremendous potential of Metaverse since they are built on both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (Investera, 2022).

The term "metaverse" was first coined in 1992 in Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash," though it has only recently entered the common vernacular of technology commentators and academics. In the book, the metaverse is portrayed as a virtual reality (VR) environment that makes use of the internet and augmented reality (AR) via avatars and software agents (Joshua, 2017). Park and Kim (2022) have given a list of metaverse definitions drawn from 54 distinct sources that make reference to the metaverse. Lee and Kim (2022) have updated and refined the list and retrieved common characteristics within the definitions, including avatars as user representation, technology used for world representation (i.e., AR, VR, MR), synchronity highlighting the real-time component, interactivity with objects, immersion and realism describing the closeness to reality and the ability to experience telepresence, support for social collaboration (i.e., interaction between users) along with the perpetuity demarcation the continuation and determination of the metaverse. The metaverse is a new internet iteration that use virtual reality headgear, blockchain technology, and avatars as part of a new way to combine the real and virtual worlds (Lee et al., 2021; The Verge, 2021). According to Mark Zuckerberg, Metaverse is described as an integrated immersive environment where there are no obstructions between real and virtual world for users, avatars and holograms can be used for work, interaction, and socialising through simulated shared experiences in the new metaverse (Meta, 2022). Although there isn't yet a widely accepted definition of the term "metaverse" in the literature, we agree with the concise definition provided in Damar (2021), where the study defines the metaverse as "the layer between you and reality" and a "3D virtual shared world where all activities can be carried out with the help of augmented and virtual reality services."

Nowadays, talks on the metaverse are prevalent in both online and offline media. While others are preparing to enter the metaverse, a few of corporate titans have already made their presence known there. These include the fashion titans: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Dolce & Gabbana, as well as the footwear giants Nike and Adidas, the soft drink producer Coca-Cola, and the South Korean automaker Hyundai. The metaverse still is not meticulously defined idea. Most people regard it as a glimpse into how people will interact with their environment and how the internet will change over the years. But with every passing day, the metaverse becomes more clearly defined.

There is a lot of interest worldwide in the Metaverse. It is projected that the Metaverse will be a more realistic society that minimises concepts of race, gender, and even disability while enabling closer, more physical relationships (Gartner, 2022). Since the Metaverse is founded on both augmented reality and virtual reality, the industry has already differentiated itself for its ambitious planning and passionate commitment (Investera, 2022). By 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour per day engaging in work, shopping, learning, socialising, and entertainment activities in the metaverse, Gartner, Inc. (Rimol, 2022). Users can interact with acquaintances in the metaverse, buy and sell digital goods, travel virtually to digital locations that may be wholly made-up or have real-world counterparts, and do a lot more. The user's imagination is the only limit in the metaverse, which offers a universe of boundless possibilities (Mileva, 2022).