Top 7 Metaverse Challenges, Issues and Solutions

Metaverse seems to be taking many tech news channels by storm, one could notice the buzz amplifying in the past few months. It seems that practically everyone is talking about the Metaverse, their vision of the Metaverse, the Metaverse development, or even the potential of living in the Metaverse. We see it appearing in combination with such topics like Extended Reality (XR), Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Non-fungible tokens (NFT), Cryptocurrency, Hyper-realistic Avatars, Digital Twin, Hybrid Ecosystems and many more. The vast scope of topics continues to cause more and more confusion around the concept itself as well as raise the subject of potential challenges that could be associated with the Metaverse. For now, we still have a pretty vague idea of what the actual Metaverse will look like, but to make it a full-fledged virtual world, we can imagine it to have to overcome a number of Metaverse challenges and related Metaverse issues.

1. Reputation & Identity Metaverse Challenges

The question of personal identification and representation is fairly straightforward when it comes to the real world. But when speaking of virtual environments, or the Metaverse, one might wonder, what will really be the elements that make up one’s identity. And most importantly how to even prove that you are who you are, instead of another person or even bot trying to mimic your existence. This is where reputation can play an important role in terms of both authentication and proof that the entity one interacts with is trustworthy and legitimate. The main challenge lies in the possibility of forging facial features, footage, and voice, thus, we are bound to see new verification methods being developed in the near future.

2. Data & Security Metaverse Challenges

Even though companies and organizations keep revolutionizing their IT security systems, data privacy, and security has been a long-running concern for users of any online environment. Submerging into the Metaverse will require evolving security methods to a completely new level, being on par with the ever-expanding space of the Metaverse. This will require building new methods of personal data and privacy protection that will be able to solve the Metaverse security issues and ensure the safety of one’s identity and possessions in the virtual world. With that being said, personal verification might come to the point where users will have to provide more personal data than what is expected today, to identify oneself and ensure the security system works efficiently, keeping personal data safe.

3. Currency & Payments Systems Metaverse Challenges

Digital currency has been with us for a few decades now, with Bitcoin being amongst the most well-known ones. The same goes for online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay which connect millions of consumers around the globe. There is no doubt Metaverse will have its own version of a virtual marketplace, connecting different actual and digital currencies to enable fast and effortless exchange. Regardless of the currency and marketplace format, when it comes to transactions, it will be especially essential to develop a unique new transaction verification system. The challenge will lie in convincing users that they can rely on and most important feel safe while engaging in any trade within the Metaverse, or even use a new form of payment like a VR Metaverse Crypto.

4. Law & Jurisdiction Metaverse Challenges

Submerging into the Metaverse will bring forth the question of legislation and jurisdiction, requiring countries to look more into the virtual legal domains. With the growing virtual space accessible for users worldwide, it will be essential to identify the means according to which the matter of jurisdiction will be applicable. Metaverse is bound to bring large numbers of users together, making it a place of great opportunity to connect and exchange; however, at the same time, it makes users vulnerable in case there are no laws that regulate the boundaries. Thus, naming Law and Jurisdiction among the Metaverse problems. It will be a true challenge to identify jurisdiction as well as a set of legislations that can ensure the virtual space is safe and secure for its users.

5. Ownership & Property Metaverse Challenges

Ownership and property can be named among the problems with the Metaverse. When we speak of one unified virtual universe where you can interact with both the world and other individuals, like in the real  world, we can imagine that there will be an opportunity to purchase and hold possession of various items and assets. NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have picked up their pace of growing in popularity and have been making headlines in 2021 attracting more investors and users to the digital assets and tokens. In a similar way to how NFTs currently represent real-world objects, granting and proving the ownership rights for art, music, videos and much more, the challenge will be in creating a unified system that could be used to verify the possessors of virtual assets in the Metaverse.

6. Community & Network Metaverse Challenges

Metaverse without doubt will bring a diverse community together, connecting people around the globe in a unified virtual world and surfacing a unique Metaverse communities challenge. As the past few years showed, staying connected is one of the essentials for society, which could potentially lead to a strong network forming in the Metaverse for both work and personal purposes. For many, Metaverse could become the platform to interact and form meaningful relationships. We are already used to communicating online, however for the Metaverse to become a space where people can feel both emotionally and physically present, the haptic and motion capture technology will have to advance to a completely new level. A level that can provide smooth comprehension of presence and surroundings, accompanying visual fidelity with the ability to touch and feel.

7. Time & Space Metaverse Challenges

The challenges of Metaverse include time and space. The concept of time perception can be different if we compare the real world with a virtual environment, as users tend to be less aware of their bodies while inside the Virtual Reality. The full immersion could unconsciously lead users to spend more time inside the Metaverse. Due to the possibility of a distorted sense of time, it is essential to set up mechanisms that will keep users in check with the real world. The second concept that should be looked at in the Metaverse, is the concept of space. As the Metaverse assumes an infinite space, at first it might be challenging for users to immerse into such a vast universe, trying to comprehend the amount and variety of information at once. Both time and space perception in the Metaverse will require guidance during the first steps of submersion, in order to ensure users will be both aware and comfortable while inside the virtual environment.

While we have opened this article by outlining the primary Metaverse risks and challenges, people often seek to discover both the Metaverse challenges and opportunities. Given this space to navigate the concept, let’s circle back and dedicate the second part of our Metaverse Blog article to take a quick tour for our readers who are less familiar or need a more comprehensive outlook on the concept itself.

Metaverse Meaning

What is this New World Everyone’s Been Talking About?

Oxford Languages defines Metaverse as “a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users”. Now the question here is what caused the interest around Metaverse to surge at such a swift pace?

First of all, the reason for such a rapid expansion in interest is mainly connected to one of the tech giants, or to be more precise, to Mark Zuckerberg’s July announcement of Facebook’s intention to create our future Metaverse. The Verge reported that the vision revolves around the creation of one unified virtual universe or virtual space, connecting community, products, commerce, workspace, entertainment, creators, and much more.

Even though the term itself is not new at all and has been with us since 1992, not everyone is fully familiar with the exact meaning or definition of the Metaverse. While experts on Metaverse around the globe each offer their own vision of this rapidly accelerating term, we have turned to the Lucid Reality Labs expert and visionary to define this ever-expanding concept.

So if we speak about it in general terms, we expect it to develop into a rapidly expanding decentralized space with a multitude of worlds connected into a single unified digital environment. Where both business and individual contributors could have equal access and opportunity to contribute to the development of both content and means of interaction. This world will carry over digital capabilities into our everyday lives, enhancing both physical and digital presence. Probably the most exciting part is that we are yet to discover or even imagine the extent to which the Metaverse could potentially expand and how much of our everyday activities would be carried out in this cross-physical and digital world. Perhaps looking into the origin of the term could help us shape some of these ideas for our future Metaverse solutions.

Metaverse Origins

As already mentioned, the term “Metaverse” has been with us since 1992, appearing in Neal Stephenson’s novel “Snow Crash”, where he envisioned a dystopian future and the in-VR existence of the next generation of the internet.

While an actual Metaverse is yet to be created, we already have quite a few, of what one could use as an example to describe the Metaverse. Here we are referring to early gaming and interaction worlds like Second Life, World of Warcraft, Minecraft, and later on Fortnite, Roblox, and VRChat. Each of these Metaverse examples has one or more elements of the Metaverse, be it in immersive technology (VR), a major interaction and collaboration platform that unites millions worldwide, a creation platform, or 3D cross-world interaction games. With that said, as the Metaverse gaming worlds will incorporate more immersive hardware as their medium, it will be essential to design and build them considering several key features, including perspective, safety, intuitiveness, comfort, and much more.

At the end of the day, each of these products and games could be the essential elements that will make up the beginning of the entertainment part of the Metaverse. One of the disadvantages of Metaverse is that ultimately, more processing power, CPU, and software developments will be required, however, we are definitely up to a good start, considering that the whole concept of the Metaverse was simply a plot of imagination just three decades ago.

It could take us yet another decade for XR hardware, software, 6G, blockchain, AI, ML, and other technology developers’ joint effort, to shape the final concept. The one that would ultimately unite all of these worlds together, making them interoperable and accessible from any XR device, be it Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality or Mixed Reality headsets, or even desktop or mobile devices. At the end of the day, we are bound to see more exciting and immersive Metaverse worlds come to life, but without doubt, there will be only one Metaverse, which will unite all world development efforts together.

Metaverse Purpose

What Does the Metaverse Mean for Users and Humanity in General?

Today, the Metaverse is still perceived by many as a universe set for communication, gaming, and entertainment purposes, with technology like NFT used primarily for art, music, and creative processes. What is important to see here, is the vast opportunities that the Metaverse, or Web 3.0, could unravel for humanity in general. If you just think about it, the next generation of the internet will without doubt be both immersive and in 3D. It will allow users to connect globally, having the capability to be used for practically any industry. From Healthcare and Medtech to Military and Defense, giving each industry a vast scope of new opportunities and tools.

Indeed, we expect to reach a point where the Metaverse will become so common that people will miss to notice its presence and deem it as a natural part of our everyday lives. Like what smartphones turned to become, but with immersive technology moving closer to our bodies, from our pockets to ultimately become head or face-worn and controlled through eye-tracking or even electromyography (EMG) technology. While today the capabilities are still fairly limited, we can predict a more vast, global Metaverse integration within the next decade. This would be made possible, not solely but significantly, through the tech giant’s efforts, which are already working on the next generation of mass consumers’ immersive devices, like Apple and Meta.

Once we get there, we are bound to see more industries adopt the Metaverse capabilities. With possibilities to do trade and transactions, it could become the next-generation marketplace for businesses and individuals. Even though many global users could be joining the Metaverse to connect their physical and digital presence, like no other industry, healthcare could be amongst the directions where users could benefit greatly.

The possibilities could begin with connecting in the Metaverse for remote diagnostics happening in XR, consultations, basic check-ups and visits. Developing further into remote surgical assistance, disease rehabilitation, and intervention as well as far as education, training, upskilling, and reskilling of medical professionals, practitioners, and students.

At the end of the day, the happening of the Metaverse, or conceptually the Web 3.0 that will be the next iteration of the internet, will be a major breakthrough, in both technology and user experience, how we perceive life and what we consider our daily normal. It will be an exciting step towards new opportunities and capabilities, benchmarking the next significant milestone in the development of humanity as a whole. It could potentially create a sense of living in the Metaverse to some extent.

Metaverse Buzzword

Why is Everyone Suddenly Talking About The Metaverse?

This is probably one of the important questions to ask. If we look at the Metaverse purely from the perspective of connecting users and providing them with VR-based video game opportunities, entertainment, and new means of interaction we could imagine perhaps a few hundred million users joining on a constant basis.

If we however think of it as a new unlimited marketplace, where both physical and digital goods could be sold, that requires a new generation of specialists capable of building, navigating, and accelerating the virtual world of the Metaverse, we could imagine a completely new economy developing. An ungoverned, decentralized, co-creatively expanding economy, with its own currency and marketplace, the Metaverse is already estimated to reach $8 to $13 trillion by 2030, just by early estimates.

With industries and businesses investing and funding both external and in-house Metaverse technology developments, more capital will be invested into this cross-physical and digital universe. And of course let’s not forget about the possibilities for individuals to invest, earn, and exchange in the Metaverse. Today, cryptocurrency and tokens are far from being a novelty, however, they could become one of the key pillars for accelerating the Metaverse development. With the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency setting the stage for these new marketplace opportunities.

As investment and ROI opportunities will grow and expand, more users will be interested in joining and engaging in the Metaverse. Today, there is no doubt that this interest will only grow stronger over time, with noticeable accelerating trends in potential Metaverse cryptocurrency and tokens market capitalization already in 2022.

At the beginning of this article, we spoke about the Meta’s big announcement and their vision that has accelerated the major hype around the Metaverse. But how close has Extended Reality (XR), and specifically Virtual Reality (VR) technology come to realizing Mark’s vision?  We could actually be much closer to submerging into the virtual universe than one can imagine. VR headset sales continue to soar, projected to surpass 34 million units by 2024, driven by VR hardware pioneers like Oculus, VIVE, Varjo, Pico, and many more. On the software side of the technology, we see tech pioneers recognizing the potential of VR to become a commodity in the foreseeable future. With Unity CEO predicting Virtual Reality headsets will become as commonly used as game consoles by 2030.

Even today, it is becoming clearer that many industries will only accelerate in their adaptation to Virtual Reality technology. 2021 is the year to bring us more VR headsets aimed at both enterprise and consumer users – HTC VIVE VR, Pico Neo 3, HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition, and Huawei VR Glass 6DOF Game Set. It is just a matter of time before the Metaverse’s ambition can be realized. Before we wrap up our outlook, here are just a few curious questions, one might ask while preparing for the coming of the Metaverse.

What Can You Do in the Metaverse?

The Metaverse implies the capability to move between a multitude of virtual worlds while engaging in conversations and interacting with other users regardless of their actual geographical location. Depending on the created functionalities, Metaverse worlds can also allow users to engage in asset-related transactions, exchanges, and purchases and share information, including visuals, videos, slides, and screens.

Will Everyone Have Equal Access to The Metaverse?

Building the Metaverse, or the next iteration of the internet will be both time and resource-consuming. Considering the scale and today’s technological advancement, it could take a couple of decades to build a truly inclusive and accessible solution that can connect billions worldwide. Full integration would, however, take even longer. Major technological players, including software, hardware, network, cybersecurity, and IoT producers and developers, will play a significant role in making the technology ubiquitous and cost-effective, thus bringing the Metaverse to more users worldwide.

How Immersive Will The Metaverse Be?

The capability of immersive technology today allows building experiences with an unprecedented level of realism, enabled by high-fidelity hardware devices, digital twin technology, and rapidly advancing developers’ skills. We are already creating 1-to-1 interactable replicas of real-life counterparts, including entirely realistic assets, objects, environments, processes, and functions in the digital environments, which allows users to feel present and submerged in the artificially created world.

FAQ

What is The Purpose of Metaverse?

The purpose of the Metaverse is to remove the boundaries and constraints of physical and virtual presence. It connects users from around the globe in a unified reality that reflects all aspects of the natural world in an accessible and ungoverned artificially created space.

Is The Metaverse Open?

The core concept of the Metaverse implies it being an open artificial space or environment. It incorporates an aspect of accessibility, where users can join the Metaverse from any internet-connected device, including smartphones, tablets, desktops, and of course, XR headsets.

How Many Metaverses Are There?

The Metaverse implies one unified, interconnected space; thus, it is possible to say that there should be one Metaverse. However, the Metaverse consists of many Metaverse Worlds, which often leads users to refer to it in a plural form.

Who Invented The Metaverse?

Americal sci-fi Writer Neal Stephenson is often referred to as the progenitor of the Metaverse, as he unravels the concept in his dystopian novel Snow Crash. If speaking from a technological perspective, today, no one can claim to be the inventor of the Metaverse. Considering the concept itself, which does not imply sole ownership or governance, we will see multiple key contributors rather than sole inventors in the future.

Is There Only One Metaverse?

Even though the Metaverse has yet to exist as a concept entirely, we already have several Metaverse Worlds. However, when the technology reaches the required development point, there will only be one Metaverse.

Will The Metaverse Replace Real Life?

The concept of the Metaverse does not imply the technology to become a direct replacement for real life. However, some users might find themselves submerged for a more prolonged time than others.

What Does The Metaverse Look Like?

As the Metaverse will consist of many worlds, it may at first look chaotic. However, as the Metaverse will potentially be open-source, it is fair to assume that the Metaverse look will cater to individual user desires.

Conclusion

Even though we are still only on the doorstep of a virtual universe, setting up the Metaverse could be both challenging and full of opportunity. It is, without doubt, essential to make sure the Metaverse becomes a complimentary space, without replacing the real world we live in. As much as one can look forward to the virtual realm, it is important to remain aware, safe, and secure in this new vast universe.

About Lucid Reality Labs

Lucid Reality Labs is a visionary XR development company that crafts complex immersive solutions through spatial technology – from concept & design to development & support, with a strategic focus on Healthcare, Life Science, Aerospace & Defense, and many more. We equip industries with the boundless potential of immersive technology. The Lucid Reality Labs’ Team believes that XR can contribute to the improvement of the quality of life for people around the globe. With our mission of disrupting global challenges with responsible technology, the company delivers solutions with impact that elevate industries with immersive capabilities. Check the award-winning use cases created by Lucid Reality Labs here.

Authors: Lucid Reality Labs marketing team & subject matter experts.