THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

The Indian IT sector is set to cash in on the many opportunities that the metaverse offers

- ABHINAV SINGH

The Nike Dunk Genesis Cryptokicks sneakers look like a million bucks. Fortunately, you do not have to pay so much for a pair; you can get them for about $2,500, though a rare pair can go up to $80,000. However, you will not be able to wear them in this world. The Cryptokicks exist only in the virtual world, and they can be bought only as non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Nike is among the many companies that believe that metaverse is the future. While Big Tech has been investing heavily in building and expanding the virtual reality space, others—from your grocery seller to Wall Street investments banks—are vying for a share of the future pie. And this has opened up a huge business opportunity for the Indian IT sector. For instance, at the peak of the pandemic, a global telecom giant sought the help of Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT company, to revive its dipping sales. TCS proposed a 3D virtual showroom for the telecom company’s products. Anyone could access it on a smartphone, and, with the help of web-based augmented reality, she could even hold mobile phone models in her hands before choosing one. It worked; the telecom company showed significant improvement in sales.

Infosys and Tech Mahindra, the second and fifth largest IT companies in the country, respectively, and a whole lot of startups are also gearing up to cash in on the opportunity. Research firm Gartner predicts that one in four people will be spending at least an hour a day in the metaverse by 2026. The market is predicted to reach $814 billion by 2028. Last year, nine of every ten global organisations invested in technologies to create virtual environments, and most of them are planning to invest further.