And will blur the boundaries between reality and virtuality. It will operate at the convergence of immersive spaces, collaboration platforms and social experiences, while supporting development of the emerging creator economy.

Arthur D. Little’s report, The Metaverse: Beyond fantasy, has developed a six-layer analytical framework that confirms the underlying technologies are simply not available and will not be for about a decade. Despite this, there are still huge opportunities, and we can already see market potential for 30–40 percent annual growth.

This will be a marathon, not a sprint, and the critical factors driving a successful strategy appear to be Immersivity, Interoperability and Abundance.