Guide to the Metaverse

Little knowledge

Just over half of the companies (55 percent) say they have never heard of the metaverse. 17 percent have heard the term before, but do not know exactly what it actually is, and another 17 percent can at least say roughly what it means. Only 6 percent are confident that they can explain what the metaverse is all about. These are the results of a representative survey of 604 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany commissioned by Bitkom. To close this knowledge gap, Bitkom has now published the guide "Wegweiser in das Metaverse" (Guide to the Metaverse), which aims to provide an overview of the concept, technologies, application options and business models, as well as the social significance of the metaverse, among other things.

After an introduction with six theses on the metaverse, the 84-page guide first provides an overview of the origin of the term as well as the state of the technology and the further developments from the early Internet via Web 2.0 to the so-called Web3. It then addresses the question of which actors and business models make up the metaverse and which use cases it offers, from the world of work and education to production and the event sector. The fusion of real products and virtual objects with the help of so-called NFTs will also be presented.

Another chapter discusses legal issues, such as which law applies in an internationally networked, virtual world and how virtual goods are to be legally evaluated, but also data protection issues and the topic of taxes are addressed. In addition, a chapter is devoted to the significance of the metaverse for society, such as the opportunities for digital participation and the challenges surrounding accessibility. Finally, the authors provide their personal forecasts for the Metaverse in five and ten years.