Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy

Although the metaverse is a relatively recent addition to the everyday lexicon of technology commentators and academics alike, the term was first used in 1992 within a Neal Stephenson novel titled – Snow Crash. The novel depicts the metaverse as a virtual reality (VR) space that utilises internet and augmented reality (AR) via avatars and software agents (Joshua, 2017). The metaverse has been described as a new iteration of the internet that utilises VR headsets, blockchain technology and avatars within a new integration of the physical and virtual worlds (Lee et al., 2021a, The Verge, 2021). Immersive and interactive multimedia style online games have been available for a number of years, allowing users to experience social interaction within a virtual world using VR headsets and avatars. Linden Lab’s multimedia platform – Second Life – that was launched in 2003, allows users to create and control avatars and socially interact within a virtual world, has been described as an antecedent of the metaverse (Gent, 2022, Ludlow and Wallace, 2007). Other 3D interactive platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite have also be described as precursors to the metaverse, where the functionality allows users to create avatars and interact with other gamers within their own virtual universe (Damar, 2021). However, although these platforms have been available since the early and mid-2000’s with large numbers of global users, in the context of the metaverse, are limited by their platform independence and functionality.

The launch of Horizon Worlds in 2021 by Meta Platforms and the vision of how the metaverse could potentially shape many aspects of how we work and socialise, has engendered an increasing level of questioning and debate from academics and practitioners on the numerous societal implications for many people worldwide (Fernandez & Hui, 2022). The new metaverse concept as outlined by Mark Zuckerberg, describes an integrated immersive ecosystem where the barriers between the virtual and real worlds are seamless to users, allowing the use of avatars and holograms to work, interact and socialise via simulated shared experiences (Meta 2022). An agreed upon definition of the term metaverse within the literature has yet to be agreed on, however, we align with succinct definition as detailed in Damar (2021) where the study describes the metaverse as: “the layer between you and reality” and the metaverse referring to a “3D virtual shared world where all activities can be carried out with the help of augmented and virtual reality services”.

The technology to enable the creation of the metaverse is fast evolving with the use of VR headsets, haptic gloves, AR, and Extended Reality (XR), that enables users to fully experience the high levels of interaction and immersive experience. Organisations are starting to assess the potential of the metaverse and how it can be integrated within their existing business models. The recent announcement that Italy’s top soccer division will be screening AC Milan vs Fiorentina within the Nemesis metaverse, allowing fans to interact within the Serie A virtual room (Reuters, 2022), highlights the emerging adoption and transformative potential of metaverse technologies. The concept of assets and associated ownership within the metaverse, is yet to be fully explored, as is the design and use of avatars for representing and/or acting on behalf of people as their digital twins within metaverse environments and subsequently, the related human rights, legal and ethical issues. However, the embryonic nature of the metaverse has not stopped platforms from developing revenue streams from users eager to invest in this new virtual world. US-based Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape franchise has recently raised a reported $320 m from the sale of 55,000 virtual plots of land within the other side metaverse, crashing the Ethereum network in the process (Nasdaq.com, 2022).

The potential for organisations to adapt their business models and operational capacity to function on the metaverse is significant, with transformational impacts on marketing, tourism, leisure and hospitality citizen-government interaction, health, education and social networks. For individuals that choose to interact with the metaverse in the future, the seamless nature of the transition between physical and virtual and the multimodal enhancement of our experiences and interactions, opens an endless scope of possibilities, many of which perhaps beyond our current comprehension (Dick, 2021, Mystakidis, 2022). However, numerous challenges exist from a sociotechnical and governance perspective, as platform providers seek to develop the capability for users and organisations to create their own virtual worlds. Studies have identified significant areas of concern relating to ethics, data security, regulation, safety as well as the potential detrimental psychological impact for vulnerable members of society (Lee & L.-H, 2021). Within existing areas of the metaverse, users are reporting increasing levels of offensive and undesirable behaviours including: harassment of users, sexualisation of avatar interactions, data exploitation and un-regulated gambling (Aei, 2022). Researchers for The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) recently posed as minors, spending hours on Oculus and VR Chat within Meta Platforms metaverse finding that users were: “exposed to abusive behaviour every seven minutes”, this included instances of bullying, presentation of graphical sexual content, racism, threats of violence and grooming of minors (CCDH, 2022). The CEO of CCDH Imran Ahmed went on to state that “In our study, Metaverse connects users not just to each other but to an array of predators, exposing them to potentially harmful content every seven minutes on average. If the metaverse is safe for predators, it’s unsafe for users, especially children” (CCDH, 2022, Tech Startups, 2022). A recent report published by Statista in 2021 highlighted the key dangers of the metaverse and listed: addiction to simulated reality, privacy and mental health issues, as the key concerns amongst internet users worldwide (Statista, 202)).

Researchers have started to analyse the multidimensional implications for a fully functioning immersive metaverse where people would seamlessly interact within their networks between the virtual and real worlds. The literature seems to have generally offered an implications-based perspective on many aspects of the metaverse where studies have analysed the transformational impact from institutional and societal viewpoints, highlighting both challenges and undesirable impacts on users (Fernandez and Hui, 2022, Lee et al., 2021a, Robertson, 2022). This study recognises the emerging nature of the academic discourse on the metaverse, offering a multi-perspective narrative on the many opportunities, complexities and challenges facing organisations, users, and institutions. We follow a multi-perspective approach as originally set out in von Foerster (2003) and further established within the information systems (IS) context in Dwivedi et al., 2022a, Dwivedi et al., 2022b; Dwivedi, Hughes et al. (2021; 2020); Dwivedi et al. (2015), to bring together the insights from an invited list of established researchers and gain a multi-perspective on the transformative potential and impact of the metaverse and subsequently, propose a future research agenda.

The remainder of this study is set out as follows: section two details the individual contributions from each of the invited contributors; section three develops further the key themes from the individual contributions and discusses the significant aspects relating to institutions and society. This section also sets out a potential research agenda based on the future research related aspects of the preceding sections prior to the conclusion.