The metaverses dizzying start could spell its end

Cyber sickness from use of VR headsets poses a huge challenge to tech taking off

- Irene Tham

My first immersion in the metaverse using the Meta Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headset reminds me of the struggles I had with 3D goggles at the movies.

My metaverse adventure took place at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022 last week. I was visiting the virtual replica of Citibank's New York office hosted on Mesh, a Microsoft metaverse platform.

The Oculus headset was uncomfortably heavy. To keep the headset from weighing down on my nose and upsetting the optical alignment, I had to pull the straps to press the device tightly against my face. Hand controls were needed to turn my avatar's head, walk around the office, and grab and throw things. It is not the most intuitive interface.

Citibank has forecast that by 2030, opportunities in the metaverse could be worth up to US$13 trillion (S$18.3 trillion), with real-use cases in commerce, entertainment and the media, training and manufacturing.

Citibank has also predicted a user base of five billion people, or around 60 per cent of the world's population, by 2030.

Comparatively, there were some 4.95 billion Internet users at the start of 2022.

These spellbinding numbers have attracted a number of commercial projects on the metaverse.

Ralph Lauren set up a store in the Roblox metaverse platform during Christmas in 2021, allowing people to buy digital clothing for their avatars from virtual Polo shops. Nike created a virtual world, called Nikeland, on Roblox using its world headquarters as the backdrop.

Visitors can style their avatars in Nike gear and play games such as Tag, The Floor Is Lava and Dodgeball on the platform.