Enterprise and big tech join forces to shape the metaverse

Big tech and enterprises are coming together to agree on standards for the metaverse in a new forum involving giants such as Meta, Microsoft, Google, Sony, and IKEA. What is it out to achieve—and should your enterprise join?

The Metaverse Standards Forum is not designed to create new standards but to coordinate requirements and resources to inform the evolution of standards within organizations working in relevant domains, a step expected to accelerate mass adoption.

The forum is setting out to support the growth of an “open” metaverse by bringing together the organizations already developing standards, with enterprises, to develop interoperability standards – very much in line with the HFS vision for Web3 and metaverse. Any organization can join, and there is no fee.

Similar standards forums in the past, such as World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), have been responsible for developing common frameworks and languages credited with reducing the reinvention cycles toward more integrations and interoperability.

Commercial demand for pragmatism to make the metaverse real

Some advocates of the extremes of “open” fear the forum will lead to a walled-garden version of the metaverse, in which only those who sign up to follow the rules can participate. But the fact that founding members in Exhibit 1 comprise many enterprises suggests an overwhelming commercial demand for pragmatism to make the metaverse a reality.

Exhibit 1: Founding members of the Forum consist of enterprises and standards organizations

Data Source: Metaverse Standards Forum, 2022
Source: HFS Research, 2022

You can join as a Principal Member to assist in forum oversight and possibly fund forum projects or as a Participant Member, committing only to engaging in discussions and projects.

The forum is adding new logos (Exhibit 2) daily. The latest membership list is available here.

Exhibit 2: New logos are added every day; this is just a sample of Principal Members of the forum

Source: Metaverse Standards Forum, 2022

Founders believe in open standards and cooperation to cut duplicated effort

These organizations believe the metaverse should be built on a foundation of open standards, in line with the principles of Web3. The forum is out to reduce duplication of effort across the industry and accelerate the alignment and operation of metaverse open standards. Open standards and cooperation will significantly reduce new entrants’ time and cost burden by providing the foundation for expanding their initiatives. Creating a knock-on effect, more organizations exploring and investing in the metaverse will likely lead to enhanced innovation.

Representing founding member Adobe, Stefano Corazza, VP and Fellow of AR at Adobe, explained, “It is in our history to contribute to the industry by defining foundational standards for digital experiences, as we did with PDF. Establishing standards is essential to foster collaboration in the metaverse.”

IKEA innovation manager Martin Enthed added, “We believe this is the way to democratize the metaverse. IKEA can contribute with use cases and experiences from our industry.”

Tech domains the forum will consider include interactive 3D assets and photorealistic rendering; human interfaces and interaction, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and extended reality (XR); user content; avatars; identity management and privacy; financial transactions, IoT and digital twins; and geospatial systems.

But where are Apple and all the banks?

Google, Apple, and financial institutions were notable for their absence at launch. Apple is rumored to be working on various devices in the augmented and virtual reality spaces and has engaged in previous standards such as HTML5 for the web. Google has joined since, though it is thought to be preparing its own industry standards for metaverse headsets. Other notable “principal member” arrivals since launch include HTC, Lenovo, and Verizon. Tech Mahindra and Zeiss are among “participant members.”

Among financial institutions, JPMorgan has signed a deal with Decentraland, also absent from the launch signatories, and HSBC has a plot of “land” in the gaming metaverse platform Sandbox.

The Bottom Line: Join the forum for a low-risk opportunity to steer the future of a key channel, but consider it just one of your metaverse bets.

The Metaverse Standards Forum represents a low-risk opportunity for enterprises to help shape what is likely to become a major channel for trade, training, innovation, and new ways of working. With no fees, the only cost for the enterprise is time and effort—a fair exchange for influence on the leading edge of change. It remains to be seen if other players such as Apple and Netflix join or create splinter group alternatives. If that happens, enterprise leaders may have to choose which horse to back. In the meantime, consider the forum just one of the metaverse bets you should place.

Unsure about the potential of the metaverse and its enabler Web3? Catch up on the HFS take:

• Web3 can finally deliver the internet’s promise of democratized experiences
• Web3 will go mainstream—when to expect it and how to prepare
• The A-Z of Web3