The emerging “metaverse” and its implications for international business

Abstract

This article presents information on the metaverse as a digital space, highlighting areas for further inquiry by international business researchers. The metaverse is an overarching virtual platform, much like the Internet, but with a few key differences. The metaverse is expected to be a massively-scaled, hyper-connected network with seamless real time 2D and 3D connection to the physical world via virtual, augmented, neural, and traditional interfaces. Early examples of the metaverse exist like digital twins, gaming, education, and social networking spaces. If the metaverse comes to maturity over the next 10-15 years, it can be a US$ 8-13 trillion economy.