By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 16th, 2024
While there is no clear-cut distinction about what constitutes the metaverse, several tech companies have been investing heavily in the technology.
Tim Cook, the Chief Executive Officer of American multinational tech company Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), has come out to cast some doubts on the potency of the metaverse as the key to shaping the future of interactions. When a top tech executive like Tim maintains this position, more industry stakeholders are beginning to show how much of a concern the metaverse prospects present.
Data from ExpressVPN with a broad-based focus on the state of the metaverse highlights the concerns about the metaverse on the part of the employees in both big and small scaled companies. Per the survey, 63% of employees are concerned about their employer collecting their data in the metaverse.
Besides the metaverse concerns from Tim Cook, the major concern employees have is that their companies can be surveilling them in real-time with as many as 51% of respondents having this fear, while 50% are concerned about real-time screen monitoring. While the metaverse has been fronted as a tool for more immersive workplace experiences, employees beg to differ on a general note with as much as 40% of respondents scared that their employees will be tracking their biometrics.
That the metaverse is still in its infancy has made it quite difficult for stakeholders to be in a position to address these concerns. While the survey is limited to the United States, and not a general representation of how prospective metaverse users on the global scene feels about the new technology, it sure shows that the fears are already bogus, and innovators need to develop solutions to address these concerns.
Many have touted the metaverse as the next major frontier in social communications. Technology is bound to take over how people live, work, and socialize in general.
The anticipation for the metaverse has not died down despite the concerns expressed by the surveyed respondents and while 57% of employees look forward to working in the metaverse, 77% of employers expressed interest in immersive work environments.
Metaverse Leadership: Generation and Tech Giants
While there is no clear-cut distinction about what constitutes the metaverse, several tech companies have been investing heavily in the technology.
Amongst the major companies investing in this technology includes Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) amongst others.
More companies are defining their metaverse strategies, and in all, the surveyed employees have the companies they trust more to lead the metaverse advancement. Per the survey, 61% of respondents trust Microsoft to lead the future of the metaverse as against 58% and 57% for Google and Apple respectively.
Meta is the company least trusted by respondents with just 36% of workers saying they trust the firm. In all, the survey showed that Gen Z and Millennials are more excited to embrace the metaverse with 53% and 48% supporting this transition.