By the end of this decade, the metaverse would have matured, supported by technologies and platforms that are still on the drawing board today. Unlike the Internet, which is a global data transfer network, the metaverse will be a digital network of real-life virtual experiences. Similar to the Internet, there will ultimately be only one metaverse as there is only one global Internet.

According to Gartner, when it is completed by the end of the decade, no one company will own, control or develop all the technology to build its own metaverse or the metaverse as a whole. Gartner expects 25 percent of people to spend at least one hour a day inside the metaverse by 2026.

Today, the metaverse is an immersive virtual world made possible by the early use of virtual and augmented reality…