A survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found that enthusiasm for the Metaverse and all its virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) aspects is much higher in developing countries than in their high-income counterparts.
The research showed that compared to developed countries, developing countries have more than double the number of people positive that the Metaverse will impact their lives, and they would use it daily.
From over 21,000 adults surveyed across 29 countries, market research firm, Ipsos found that the concept of the Metaverse is widely recognised as 52% of respondents were familiar with it and 50% had positive feelings about engaging with it in daily life.
The top five countries of China, India, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Colombia all had two-thirds or more of respondents saying they had positive feelings towards the Metaverse. China had the highest, with 78% followed by India at 75%.
Countries with the highest incomes scored lowest with less than one-third of respondents positive about the Metaverse. Japan was the lowest with just 22% followed by the United Kingdom (26%), Belgium (30%), Canada (30%), France (31%) and Germany (31%).
The lack of positivity was matched with a lack of familiarity in the high-income countries as the research found less than 30% of respondents in France, Belgium and Germany to be familiar with the concept.
On the other side, Turkey was most familiar with the Metaverse at 86%, followed by India (80%), China (73%) and the higher income country of South Korea (71%). Poland scored the lowest at 27%.
Respondents were also surveyed on the areas of life they agree the Metaverse will impact the most. Again, respondents from high-income Japan, Belgium and France had the lowest percentages.
Developing countries such as South Africa, India and China agreed areas like virtual learning, entertainment, digital socializing and even applications like remote surgery would make an impact on people’s lives.
In general, developing countries seem to be more enthusiastic about crypto and blockchain. This coincides with the findings from an April report by crypto-exchange, Gemini that pointed out that half of the respondents in India, Brazil and the Asia Pacific region bought their first cryptocurrency in 2021.
Residents of countries that experienced 50% or more currency devaluation were also found to be five times more likely to plan to purchase crypto than countries that experienced less inflation. The report thus made the case that inflation and currency devaluation are key drivers of crypto adoption.
From the findings of the research, it is crucial to ensure the Metaverse is properly developed as a supplementary hybrid platform to ensure more cohesion, inclusion, and collaboration rather than creating two parallel realities leading to more division and resentment.