The new experiences offered by the metaverse , more immersive and personalized , attract more and more users, there will be over 700 million by 2030. Many Italian companies are already present in the metaverse offering products, showrooms and exclusive experiences, generating an economic impact among 28 and 52 billion euros per year on the Italian GDP.
This is what emerges from the report ” E-commerce and opportunities offered by the metaverse” . The evolution of the costumer experience ”, by Francesco Amendola, Program Director of the Executive Master in Data Science, and Valerio Mancini, Director of the Rome Business School Research Center, which studies business and purchasing opportunities in the metaverse , identifying products and trends in virtual gifting that will dominate Christmas 2023.
NFTs are unique digital pieces that represent real-life objects. Among the brands to recreate and sell them this year are Tiffany and Nike . Tiffany launched in 2023 a jewelry line in collaboration with CryptoPunks : digital format pendants made of 18-karat rose or yellow gold containing 30 precious stones or diamonds, in a limited edition of 250 pieces. But it’s Nike that stands out with $183.31 million in revenue from NFTs alone in 2022. In collaboration with RTFKT, a sneaker company for the Metaverse , has created a collection of 200,000 customizable digital shoes with different levels of rarity. Prada also launches exclusive products in the metaverse , unique because they are distributed in limited numbers, such as its Prada Time Capsule NFT collection, with which, on the first Thursday of each month, it presents a physical object and a related limited edition NFT.
Not only that, clothes from the biggest brands are available that you can view in virtual stores and wear in the metaverse . In fact, new ad hoc 4.0 lines allow you to make your character more glamorous and fashionable within video games and interactive platforms : from Gucci to Dolce & Gabbana, passing through Zara, H&M, and Benetton, they have not missed the opportunity to open the their flagship store in the Metaverse Fashion District.
Among the most innovative metagifts in view of Christmas, sport is among the most popular. The new frontier is NFT tokens which can represent, in the form of an image or more easily a video, an assist, a goal, an athletic gesture or the epic moment of a famous player’s career . In the case of football the reference goes to Bitcoinist or Sorare which allow all football fans to own and collect a figure or the most iconic moments and actions of their idols. On the other side of the ocean, the NBA is pushing this market with the NBA Top Shot platform. Not only that, other ideas are offered by sports courses and training in meta-fitness proposed by immersive online applications, in which the user has the possibility of earning rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies or NFTs, according to the Move -to- Earn model.
The real estate market in the Metaverse is expanding. According to estimates from the research “The House in the Metaverse ” by Scenari Immobiliari, it will approach 2.5 billion in 2023 and over 3.5 in 2025 . For these virtual homes, it might be a good idea to gift 3D art. Suffice it to say that for 2022 the Nasdaq had included virtual art among the 10 best gifts in crypto version , together with vintage NFT music tapes and a collection of Japanese works of art in tokens. 3D sculptures and design objects are completely original gift ideas, unlike what you might think, in fact they are not simple virtual images, but, thanks to augmented reality, it is possible to move around them and observe them in real time.
All this, however, would not be possible without the tools that allow you to fully enjoy the 4.0 experience offered by the Metaverse . In fact, it will no longer be important to look at the screen, but to be present on the screen, for example through digital viewers capable of offering 4K images and spatial surround sound for an extraordinary visual and auditory experience.
Other types of approaches to the world of the Metaverse are for example the Pico 4 headphones , by Meta Quest , by the Meta group, or by HEC Vive . But the most discussed novelty for 2024 remains the Apple Vision Pro, which will kick off the era of Spatial Computing: a viewer that can be used with only the control of the eyes, hands and voice from which to access work apps up to maximum for entertainment which also allows shared enjoyment of the experience.
For those who already own a visor, however, optical clothing represents a necessary tool for an even more complete immersion. Gloves, gowns and accessories can simulate the weight and feel of objects from the Metaverse : Tactsuit Hapitc Vest, OWO Haptic Vest, Tactglove gloves or HaptX gloves . For a 4D experience, ION3 by OVR Technology is also available as headphones with an earpiece to be placed under the nose, to smell odors and perfumes artificially generated based on the experience you are having in the Metaverse .
Other exciting gift ideas are given by the purchase of tickets for meta-concerts, such as that of the artist Travis Scott, held in 2022 on Fortnite and which saw the participation of over 12 million paying fans , and by the meta-holiday proposed by Moxy Hotel ( Marriot Group ) where travelers can interact with mixed reality experiences in different areas of their properties.
Finally, the guarantee of payment traceability provided by blockchain technology, combined with the possibility of converting tokens and cryptocurrencies into cash , has also paved the way for cryptocurrency donations in the Metaverse . The NGOs present in virtual spaces are different. Save The Children in 2022, thanks to a collaboration with Young Platform, led the way, allowing for the first time ever donations to be made for the “Save their future for Christmas” campaign. United Artist for Ukraine instead, a charitable NFT project, provides access to a series of exclusive exhibitions and events featuring the works of emerging Ukrainian artist, Irina Ozarinskaya . This is an initiative born from a collective of artists led by Marina Abramovic and Ron Arad with the aim of raising funds for the Ukrainian community.
