53% believe NFTs will become the biggest form of currency in
the metaverse
Nearly 60% say it will become the most popular place to
manage cryptocurrency
One-quarter say Facebook/Meta won't own the metaverse in 5
years
SANTA
CLARA, Calif., April 5,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:
API), a pioneer and leading platform for real-time engagement APIs,
today announced the results of a commissioned study that examines
how developers feel about the current state and inevitable
evolution of the metaverse.
SURVEY: Developers Cite Data Privacy and
Security and Disinformation and Hate Speech as Top Metaverse
Challenges
The metaverse is an interactive space that combines real-life
social interaction with extended reality (XR), and has been labeled
as game-changing by many experts across a wide range of industries.
For developers, the growth of the metaverse allows the development
of new communities and allows them to better connect with
users.
"For developers, the metaverse presents a great opportunity,"
said Tony Zhao, founder and CEO of
Agora. "Their skills and expertise are more relevant and urgent
than ever before. Our study's results are a snapshot of how
developers feel about the metaverse, why it has become arguably the
biggest trend today and what they think the future looks like.
Since they will be positioned on the front lines of practically
every development that takes place in the metaverse, their thoughts
and opinions ultimately carry a great deal of weight."
For the study, Agora surveyed 300 developers to get their
thoughts on a wide range of topics and ideas relating to the
metaverse. Here's a closer look at what they found.
Data privacy is the biggest challenge within the
metaverse
Like anything relating to technology, the metaverse is not
without its challenges. And according to the survey, 33% of
respondents believe that data privacy and security are the biggest
hurdles that the metaverse has to overcome. Other top challenges
that metaverse will see include ecosystem interoperability (12%),
disinformation and hate speech (10%), community building (10%),
accessible tools for developers (9%), monetization (8%), creating a
currency and payments ecosystem (7%), identifying users (5%) and
lackluster hardware (5%).
"Since data privacy seems to be at the top of everyone's mind
today, it's not surprising that developers believe that security
issues stand to be a major headache in the evolution of the
metaverse," said Zhao. "It'll be interesting to see the rate at
which these issues are addressed and if it's ultimately enough to
make people feel safe."
Gaming and entertainment/leisure will benefit the
most
No matter how you slice it, the evolution of the metaverse will
impact a wide range of sectors. When asked which industry will
benefit the most or experience the greatest positive impact from
the metaverse, the developers surveyed put gaming and entertainment
at the top, with 26% each. Telecommunications (12%) and
retail/ecommerce (11%) were other top industries that respondents
think will be positively impacted by the metaverse, as well as
healthcare/medicine (6%), and education, design/manufacturing and
workforce each with 5%.
When asked if real-time engagement technology (interactive,
two-way digital video and audio) will be the solution to creating a
more engaging and connected experience for the metaverse, 72%
believe it will be critical, while 5% think it won't be a prominent
factor and 22% feel neutral about it.
Future social interactions will take place in the
metaverse
One of the biggest questions surrounding the metaverse is
whether it will replace real-life, in-person social interactions
and experiences. When asked if this would be the case in 5 years,
more than half (55%) said that it was likely, while 30% said it was
unlikely and 15% felt neutral.
"With more screens than ever, in-person interactions are already
dwindling today," said Zhao. "And inside the metaverse, growing
technology is already making social experiences even better and
more desirable thanks in large part to advancements in XR. So if
things continue at the current rate, there's a very real chance
that the metaverse could mark the center of future human
interaction."
Metaverse currency
Currency is one of the most-talked about areas surrounding the
metaverse. When asked if, moving forward, the role of NFTs will
continue to grow and become the biggest form of currency in the
near term, 53% of those surveyed agree, while 24% disagree and 23%
feel neutral.
Further, 57% of respondents think that the metaverse will become
the most popular place to buy, store and trade cryptocurrency,
while 18% disagree and 25% feel neutral. When asked if
cryptocurrency and blockchain technology advancements will be
critical to shaping the future of the metaverse, 70% of those
surveyed agree, while 9% disagree and 21% feel neutral.
Who will own the metaverse? It's too early to tell
Unsurprisingly, when asked what company owns the metaverse
concept at the moment, Facebook/Meta was the most common response
as more than half (55%) of respondents put it on top. The other top
responses weren't surprising either: Google (9%), Microsoft (7%),
Apple (6%) and Amazon (5%) were the other companies that developers
currently have metaverse clout.
The respondents were also asked which company will likely own
the metaverse in 5 years. A quarter of them think there won't be a
single company who will retain full control, while another quarter
believe that Facebook/Meta will continue to be at the forefront.
Other responses include Google (15%), Microsoft (12%), Apple (8%)
and Amazon (7%).
About Agora
Agora is the leading Real-time Engagement Platform as a Service
(RTE PaaS) company. Agora's mission is to make real-time engagement
ubiquitous, allowing everyone to interact with anyone, in any
application, anytime and anywhere. Agora's platform provides
developers with simple, flexible and powerful application
programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time video and voice
engagement experiences into their applications.
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SOURCE Agora