Consumers Gear Up for the Coming Metaverse

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin's recent space endeavors have consumers looking to the stars with their VR headsets: Our on-demand polling found that US consumers are most excited to be transported out of their lived reality and into virtual vacations and the worlds of their favorite TV shows and movies.

However, these technological leaps and bounds begin to create pause when they extend beyond the boundaries of entertainment. Though Facebook recently announced its Horizon Workroom's app, powered by Oculus, is in beta, our polling finds that, unsurprisingly, consumers resist this tech becoming part of their daily meeting routine, and are eager to prevent AR / VR from entering their work life.

With 36% of US consumers planning to own AR glasses in the next three years - and hybrid work policies beginning to become the rule more often than the exception - Emerald will continue to keep the pulse on which real-world applications of VR will integrate into consumers' daily routines, and which will pass as technological fads or stay relegated to the world of science fiction.