The Big 4 accounting firm is betting on immersive experiences and other Web3 solutions to address various corporate needs.
Immersive experiences are already popular in the entertainment, gaming, and fashion industries, but they can also be a tool to address various other corporate needs, like simulating manufacturing operations and training managers to have sensitive conversations.
Deloitte made this bet in late February when it announced a partnership with virtual spaces company Vatom to offer immersive experiences for various industries, from companies seeking to boost culture with virtual reality to brands focused on building community engagement. Together, the companies claim to deliver the ability to host thousands of people simultaneously in the same virtual space at the same time, along with a cross-chain wallet and access to a collection of digital assets and tokens of their metaverse experiences.
The hidden goal, however, is to provide companies with underlying data about users. "One of the key trends impacting companies across all industries is the decreased accessibility of third-party data," Khusro Khalid, managing director at Deloitte Digital, told Cointelegraph.
According to Khalid, firms that rely on knowing and connecting with customers are looking to replace third-party data and cut customer acquisition costs. "Given the customizable nature of the product, companies can leverage a host of Web3 tools, including virtual spaces, Programmable Digital Objects, a cross-chain universal Wallet, POS redemption, token gating, and loyalty points, among other features, for a diversity of business applications," he said.
Deloitte envisioned a variety of metaverse tools for companies. Virtual spaces offer companies a way to "not only gather global team members together for events and meetings but also provide gamified tools that enable more engaging and interactive employee training," he noted.
Other examples include digital twins for real estate, providing prospective buyers an immersive tour of a property without ever leaving their homes. "In each of these instances, virtual spaces not only create a direct channel for engagement, but also a simple way to gain valuable first and zero-party data from those engaging in the virtual spaces — helping to inform future efforts and strategies," explained Khalil.
Virtual reality experiences are attracting billions of dollars in investments from companies around the world. The global immersive technology market size was valued at $21.6 billion in 2021 and is expected to hit around $134.18 billion by 2030, according to a report from Precedence Research.
Tech giants such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, Google, Facebook-owner Meta and Microsoft have already disclosed metaverse-related initiatives. Decentralized and blockchain-based platforms operating in metaverse businesses include Decentraland, The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, Metahero and Star Atlas, to name a few.
Eric Pulier, founder and CEO of Vatom, believes the metaverse is the internet of tomorrow, and as such, no businesses will be untouched by immersive experiences:
“Web3 represents the next iteration of the internet. In the same way that there is no company or industry that does not use the internet as a tool of engagement, there is no sector of business that can not benefit from more effectively engaging their target audiences at scale with Web3."
