During MWC 2023, the Metaverse was a recurring topic of conversation. But if you look beyond the show, you will see little content for the time being.

The stand of the South Korean company SK Telecom attracts the attention of every passer-by in the exhibition area. We’re also surprised when we see a lifelike white helicopter appearing out of nowhere in front of us. If you want, you can join the long queue to ride with VR glasses on your nose.

To stay in the theme park atmosphere, visitors can also peek into AI/Metaverse land. There the company shows some use cases for artificial intelligence. Interesting applications in themselves, but not very groundbreaking and anything but informative due to the high slapstick content. If you’re hoping to learn something about the metaverse, you’ve already come home from a desolate journey.

Anything SK Telecom is calling a “metaverse” this year probably just called it “virtual reality” a few years ago. And they won’t be the only ones. The M word adorns many trade fair stands and is also discussed in detail in many keynotes and panel discussions. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten much wiser as to why our future should take place in a metaverse.

No clear definition

Nevertheless, organizer GSMA did everything to get all participants in the mood for the Metaverse. The keynote agenda is packed with four-day sessions aimed at preparing companies for their survival in this new world. But what we don’t hear is a clear definition of what the term means exactly.

This becomes very clear in a panel in which Nokia and HTC discuss. Leslie Shannon, speaking on behalf of Nokia, describes the metaverse rather cryptically as “the connection of the physical world to another reality without leaving the physical world”. HTC’s Alvin Wang Graylin simply calls it “a 3D version of the internet”.

That a telecommunications infrastructure builder and a VR hardware maker clash over the concept of the metaverse highlights the veil of ambiguity that hangs over the technology. After all, these are the companies that control the building blocks of the ecosystem. If they don’t know what the Metaverse is, how can a humble SME know?

Lots of show, little content

The disagreement logically translates into what happens on the trading floor. The companies in attendance are bragging about showings, but this is mostly a show making up for a lack of content. Orange treats visitors to a “Metaverse Dance”. A professional dancer does his best while on a screen behind him an avatar mimics the movements perfectly (with a few milliseconds delay). It looks very aesthetic, but nothing more.

On the other hand, the Spanish Telefónica is taking a different approach. On the second day, the telecom operator is organizing a demonstration in which it is listing badminton Olympic champion Carolina Marin as a hologram, while she is more than six hundred kilometers from Barcelona at the time. Of course, this also includes the necessary show, although this probably gives the most realistic picture of how companies will experience the Metaverse.

The convergence of the physical and digital world offers interesting opportunities in the areas of collaboration and customer experience. Employees can interact remotely as if they were in the same room, and customers can visit your showroom and place orders remotely. For example, we already attended a virtual meeting at Salesforce headquarters in San Francisco in 2021; Microsoft and Cisco are also working on a virtual layer in their communication platforms.

Noticeably absent

At an event where the Metaverse is so central, you would expect Meta to also perform a circus act. MWC sounds like the perfect opportunity to preach Zuckerberg’s gospel in Europe. But the opposite is true: it seems that the pioneer of the Metaverse concept is reluctant to be present.

The company has parked in a deserted corner where they try to attract as little attention as possible, and those who bother finding the stand can play with a meta quest. As if the company wants to distance itself from everything that is said and written about the Metaverse during the event.

Reality has gradually caught up with Meta in this regard. Where the company changed its name in 2021 to focus on the entire Metaverse event, realism is now back. Reality Labs division had a net loss of $13.7 billion in 2022. Meta also needs to cut costs in the current economic climate, and then even Zuckerberg can’t justify wasting billions that don’t have an immediate return.

A precious joke

The fact that the construction of the metaverse will cost many billions of euros is also reflected in the MWC. The telecom operators in particular are crying out for help. They are now faced with expensive investments in the 5G networks that should make everything possible and fear that the revenue from the Metaverse will remain with the developers of the applications.

The discussion about whether Internet giants should contribute to the infrastructure costs flares up again during the event. Telecom companies from across Europe stand shoulder to shoulder to put pressure on Europe. Commissioner Thierry Breton reiterates his sympathy for her position, but member states will veto it for now.

The debates are not only about the financial situation, but also about the impact that the metaverse will have on people’s psychological well-being. We already live in a digital world in which we can hardly escape a constant stream of notifications. How will you ever be able to disconnect when the offline and online worlds become one?

Metaverse: Future or Circus?

The final word on the Metaverse is far from spoken, and MWC has raised more questions than answers. Interesting applications will no doubt emerge from the technology, but due to confused descriptions and bickering between those involved, things are looking more like a circus at the moment.

The hype will not abate and sooner or later every organization will have to decide whether they want to be on board or not. Whatever your company decides, we highly recommend that you first think about what your company really wants in a metaverse. If you jump blindly, you’ll be stuck between two worlds in no time at all.