June 1, 2023

What is VR in Metaverse, and how can your business benefit from the AR/VR trend?

AR/VRmetaversevirtual reality

According to business media, in two previous years, Reality Labs, the division responsible for the Metaverse project, lost cumulatively nearly $24 billion. Was it the funeral of Metaverse, or has 2023 brought something new we should consider?

The current state of Metaverse: Fall and regeneration (2021 – 2023)

It seems like for Zuckerberg, losses don’t matter. For example, he was ready to invest $100B into his Metaverse project no matter what. However, his investors and the market were not ready for such risky gambling. For example, from late 2021 to 2022, Meta lost almost 77% on the stock market, which equals the market capital loss of $800 billion. With all this being said, Zuckerberg has never agreed that his idea of a Metaverse was a failure. Instead, in November 2022, he sacked almost 21,000 employees, with most jobs cut from the innovational Reality Labs department. What is more, more layoffs may come in the nearest future. Insiders state that 5,000 to 10,000 Meta employees can be laid off this summer. With a massive cut of the workforce, Meta might get back to its pre-Covid (and pre-Metaverse) levels of employees. This staff optimization made Meta more efficient than ever, a prospect that was immediately noticed by Meta investors and the stock market. After the November 2022 layoffs, Meta stocks regained almost 200% of their value, and Meta regained a place in the top 10 most valuable companies by market cap.

Image source: CompaniesMarketCap.com

The beginning of Metaverse AR and VR

Zuckerberg’s obsession with AR and VR started in 2014 when his company bought Oculus for almost two billion dollars. It wasn’t only Meta’s desire to keep up with the times and use virtual reality to its benefit, as other tech enterprises like Dell, Samsung, Sony, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google were also highly interested in AR VR business ideas. One of the most notorious inventions of that time is probably the “affordable VR,” aka Google Cardboard glasses.

However, over the years, most companies abandoned their efforts in developing AR/VR-based business models as the market wasn’t yet ready for these innovations. Most companies, but not Meta, which decided to focus all their future on augmented and virtual reality. We cannot state whether this decision was right or wrong, as only time will show if Mark was a business genius or a poor gambler. What we know for sure, though, is that Zuckerberg had to take some steps; otherwise, Facebook would be forgotten as many social media before that (like Friendster or MySpace). After buying Instagram and WhatsApp and copying features of other social media and implementing them in their core product (like reels as a Facebook-incorporated TikTok), Meta realized that these actions would not lead Facebook to stability.

How AR and VR are revolutionizing the Metaverse

Even though it started well due to the high position of Oculus in the VR market, virtual reality couldn’t become Meta’s major business pillar due to its cost. VR headsets, a crucial part of the VR experience, were quite expensive; their cost back in 2016 was, on average, $600 to $1,000. To get at least an average VR experience, glasses and headphones alone were not enough – you were also expected to buy a proper PC. Due to high costs, the technology couldn’t reach the massive customer.Metaverse has addressed this challenge by inventing a cheaper VR headset that wouldn’t require a PC. At some point, Meta sold almost 20 million of its Quest Headsets, which, unfortunately, haven’t increased the number of their active users. The reason was simple – to get a pleasant VR experience, you still needed expensive high-performance graphic cards (and coolers for them). Without the proper GPU, using Quest Headsets wasn’t good.

Image: Meta Quest Pro VR Headset

The pro version of the Quest Headsets hasn’t achieved much success either, as its previous version happened to be such a failure with bad to very bad customer feedback. Starting with $1,600 per unit, professional headsets were unpopular and soon sold at huge discounts.

What’s next for Metaverse?

Meta has drastically decreased its Reality Labs division responsible for Metaverse VR and AR and instead has focused on the new trending technology – artificial intelligence. Seeing the success of OpenAI with their ChatGPT, Zuckerberg decided to invest in Meta’s own language model named LLaMa (Large Language Model Meta AI). It was launched in February 2023, and as of May 2023, the company’s representatives state that they’re going to come up with a commercial offer by the end of 2023.

Image source: Mark Zuckerberg Facebook

There are still speculations concerning Nvidia (the gold standard of GPUs for VR) moving to Metaverse. They already had proven success in 2019 when they launched their Omniverse platform. There are still influencers and investment gamblers who want to hop on the Metaverse trend when it’s not too early and not too late.There are still education platforms that offer Virtual Reality business courses or opportunities to learn metaverse. But there is no 100% evidence that Metaverse is the new big something. It might become a huge success as well as a total flop, and we are not financial advisors to speculate on this topic.

Should you invest in an AR VR business model?

What we can help you with is using NextGen technologies to boost your business. Moreover, MWDN has hands-on experience in applying augmented reality in its projects. One of the brightest examples is iRoofing, where our specialists participated in the development of an app that uses augmented reality to provide better visualization of the roof-building process. Here are some other industries that can benefit from applying AR/VR technologies:

Military training. US Army already uses AR/VR technologies to help its soldiers and officers with training and tackling post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gaming and entertainment. New technologies have revolutionized the gaming industry, providing immersive experiences and enhancing gameplay through realistic virtual worlds.

Image source: PokemonGoLive.com

Healthcare. Both augmented and virtual reality are used in medical training, surgical simulations, and patient rehabilitation, allowing healthcare professionals to practice procedures in a safe and controlled environment.
Education and training. AR and VR offer interactive and engaging learning experiences, enabling students to explore complex concepts, historical events, and virtual field trips, enhancing retention and understanding.
Marketing and advertising. AR and VR technologies are used to create interactive and engaging marketing campaigns, allowing brands to showcase products and services in innovative and memorable ways, increasing customer engagement and brand awareness.
Architecture and real estate. Thanks to AR and VR, architects and real estate developers can showcase designs and properties to clients, allowing them to visualize and experience spaces before they are built.
Manufacturing and engineering. Mixed reality can be used for prototyping, assembly line optimization, and maintenance training, improving efficiency and reducing errors in manufacturing processes.
Retail and E-commerce. Augmented and virtual reality can enhance the shopping experience by allowing customers to virtually try on clothing, visualize furniture in their homes, or explore products in a virtual store, increasing engagement and purchase decisions.
Tourism and hospitality. AR and VR provide virtual tours of destinations, hotels, and attractions, allowing travelers to explore and plan their trips remotely, providing a preview of the experiences they can expect.
Sports and fitness. Enhance your sports training by getting immersive simulations, performance analysis, and real-time coaching feedback thanks to AR and VR technologies.

These industries can benefit from AR and VR technologies because they provide immersive experiences, improve training and learning outcomes, enhance visualization and decision-making processes, and offer novel ways to engage and captivate audiences.

How much does it cost to implement AR/VR technology?

Disclaimer: The following cost evaluation is an example. The final price of your AR/VR project will massively depend on the required scope of work, your niche, and your deadlines.If you don’t have an IT department and need a dedicated team to work on your AR/VR project, here are the costs you should expect:[table id=39 /]So, if you choose to work with MWDN, your AR/VR project (with recruiting, HRM, administrative, and payroll costs included) might cost you from $26.000 to $312.000, depending on the overall scope of work that needs to be performed. Whenever you have AR business ideas and want more precise estimates of your expenses, contact us so we can help you make your project come true.