Curiosity About the Metaverse Grows Alongside VR Expectations

Published 15 September 2022

Author
Pia Benthien
2 min read

Conversations about the metaverse have become ubiquitous, and companies from all sectors are eager to invest in the next evolution of social connection. A new YouGov survey sheds light on how UK and US citizens perceive and engage with emerging digital worlds.

  • Piqued Interest: The survey categorises respondents into four engagement groups: Trialists, Curious, Uncertain and Rejectors. The Curious cohort is the largest, with 57% of Brits and 61% of Americans identifying as “those who haven’t been in the metaverse, but find [it] interesting”. That’s good news for businesses that are weighing up the potential of entering the space, but it also shows how crucial education and awareness are at this stage.

    The smallest group, the Trialists, are typically gamers who are active on social media and invest in cryptocurrencies, which 72% of Americans in this category call “the future of online financial transactions”.

    Interestingly, the Curious envision doing a broader range of activities in the metaverse than the early adopters. While the Trialists view it mainly as a social platform, the Curious can see themselves watching movies (46%), visiting virtual museums (39%), and even gambling (42%) in digital spaces. 

  • VR Expectations: Across the UK and US, the highest proportion of respondents (29% and 24%, respectively) expect the metaverse to be a “virtual reality (VR) experience” rather than a video game, social media platform, meeting room or live event. As we highlighted in our recent suite of reports, The Metaverse 360°, the technical kinks of fully immersive VR worlds are still being ironed out.

    But there are promising developments to keep an eye on in the coming months, such as the rumours of VR compatibility being added to online game Fortnite, and the broadcast-enabling PlayStation VR headsets we reported on last month. There are also exciting updates to face-tracking functionality from Meta, which could be a breakthrough in making avatars more expressive and “human-like”.

 

  • Piqued Interest: The survey categorises respondents into four engagement groups: Trialists, Curious, Uncertain and Rejectors. The Curious cohort is the largest, with 57% of Brits and 61% of Americans identifying as “those who haven’t been in the metaverse, but find [it] interesting”. That’s good news for businesses that are weighing up the potential of entering the space, but it also shows how crucial education and awareness are at this stage.

    The smallest group, the Trialists, are typically gamers who are active on social media and invest in cryptocurrencies, which 72% of Americans in this category call “the future of online financial transactions”.

    Interestingly, the Curious envision doing a broader range of activities in the metaverse than the early adopters. While the Trialists view it mainly as a social platform, the Curious can see themselves watching movies (46%), visiting virtual museums (39%), and even gambling (42%) in digital spaces. 

  • VR Expectations: Across the UK and US, the highest proportion of respondents (29% and 24%, respectively) expect the metaverse to be a “virtual reality (VR) experience” rather than a video game, social media platform, meeting room or live event. As we highlighted in our recent suite of reports, The Metaverse 360°, the technical kinks of fully immersive VR worlds are still being ironed out.

    But there are promising developments to keep an eye on in the coming months, such as the rumours of VR compatibility being added to online game Fortnite, and the broadcast-enabling PlayStation VR headsets we reported on last month. There are also exciting updates to face-tracking functionality from Meta, which could be a breakthrough in making avatars more expressive and “human-like”.

 

Want to know more?

This is just a glimpse into our extensive reporting on the metaverse for members, including our recent suite of reports The Metaverse 360°. Get in touch so someone from the Stylus team can explain how your business can harness the power of trends and insights like these – and more. 

Want to know more?

This is just a glimpse into our extensive reporting on the metaverse for members, including our recent suite of reports The Metaverse 360°. Get in touch so someone from the Stylus team can explain how your business can harness the power of trends and insights like these – and more.