The Impact of Meta-Universes on Business Development in Digital Economy

The article systematizes approaches to the definition of meta-universe essence as multi-dimensional spaces, which integrate multitude of virtual words, where digital copies of the real world (including business) are made, where participants can interact with each other and with surrounding objects. It was found out that meta-universes form a key trend in economy development in Russia in general and its certain branches and industries, which could foster productivity improvement and business-process optimization in the digital world. The authors analyzed examples of mixed reality (VR/AR-technologies), blockchain and crypto-currencies in Russia and abroad. Factors affecting the development of meta-universes, such as normative and legal, economic, technological, social were identified. The article enumerates risks and restrictions connected with the development of meta-universe technologies: cyberthreats and risks of big data protection, risks of the absence of common cash unit in meta-universes or rules of converting exchange means in meta-universes in usual exchange means, complexity of financing of developing technological projects due to prolonged market entering, insufficient number of experts in the field of virtual, augmented and mixed reality, blockchain, crypto-currencies, etc. The authors identified specific impact of metauniverses on the development of business in the digital environment (in virtual multi-dimensional spaces of metauniverses the pass-over to new economy of impressions speeds up and new possibilities for distance interaction are formed, the format of training and developing employees is transformed, digital doubles are built by developing accurate virtual copies of business-organizations and others). Final conclusions and recommendations were formulated concerning the necessity of taking into account the impact of normative and legal, economic, technological and social factors on business development in virtual spaces in meta-universes, as well as effective and potential threats and hazards connected with the development of economic activity in virtual spaces in order to realize potential of business in the field of new technological phenomenon of meta-universes.

1. Gochiyaeva M. K., Aydinova D. Kh. M. Metavselennaya v sovremennoy ekonomike [The Metaverse in the Modern Economy]. Prioritetnye napravleniya innovatsionnogo razvitiya agrarnoy nauki i praktiki: sbornik nauchnykh trudov po itogam XI Mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoprakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy pamyati zasluzhennogo deyatelya nauki RF i KBR professora Borisa Khazhmuratovicha Zherukova. Nalchik, 23–25 noyabrya 2023 g. [Priority Directions of Innovative Development of Agricultural Science and Practice. Collection of Scientific Papers on the Results of the 11th International Scientific and Practical Conference Dedicated to the Memory of the Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation and the CBD, Professor Boris Khazhmuratovich Zherukov, Nalchik, November 23–25]. Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkarskiy gosudarstvennyy agrarnyy universitet imeni V. M. Kokova, 2023, pp. 405–408. (In Russ.).

2. Igishev A. V., Pikulya E. V., Romanova I. V. Razvitie tekhnologiy metavselennykh v ekonomike Rossii: aktualnye tendentsii i perspektivy razvitiya [Development of Metaverse Technologies in the Russian Economy: Current Trends and Development Prospects]. Finansovyy biznes [Financial Business], 2023, No. 12 (246), pp. 121–123. (In Russ.).

3. Kim Kh. Issledovanie metoda obucheniya koreyskomu yazyku s ispolzovaniem virtualnogo prostranstva – metavselennoy (metaverse) [A Study of the Method of Teaching the Korean Language Using a Virtual Space – the Metaverse]. Mezhdunarodnyy nauchnoissledovatelskiy zhurnal [International Scientific Research Journal], 2024, No. 1 (139), pp. 1–5. (In Russ.).

4. Klimenkov A. N. Ispolzovanie elementov metavselennoy v biznes-protsessakh [Using Metaverse Elements in Business Processes]. Sport, turizm, servisnaya deyatelnost v usloviyakh tsifrovoy transformatsii: sbornik nauchnykh trudov III Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii. Moskva, 16 maya 2023 g. [Sports, Tourism, Service Activities in the Context of Digital Transformation. Collection of Scientific Papers of the 3rd International Scientific and Practical Conference. Moscow, May 16, 2023]. Moscow, Rusayns, 2023, pp. 145–149. (In Russ.).

5. Minbaleev A. V. Ponyatie i pravovaya priroda metavselennoy [The Concept and Legal Nature of the Metaverse]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 26: Gosudarstvennyy audit. [Bulletin of the Moscow University. Series 26: State Audit.], 2023. No. 3, pp. 88–98. (In Russ.).

6. Panasenko S. V., Lebedev A. A. Tendentsii i perspektivy razvitiya tekhnologiy virtualnoy realnosti v otechestvennoy torgovle [Trends and Prospects for the Development of Virtual Reality Technologies in Domestic Trade]. Lizing [Leasing], 2023, No. 1, pp. 32–40. (In Russ.).

7. Panasenko S. V., Teplaya N. A., Suray N. M. Rol i znachenie elektronnoy torgovli v sovremennykh usloviyakh [The Role and Importance of E-Commerce in Modern Conditions]. Innovatsii i investitsii [Innovation and Investment], 2022, No. 11, pp. 120–123. (In Russ.).

8. Zagalskiy D. S., Kashkarov O. E., Moskvin D. A., Solovey R. S., Loginov Z. G. Razrabotka modeli metavselennoy dlya obespecheniya kontrolya dostupa polzovateley k resursam metavselennoy [Development of a Metaverse Model to Ensure User Access Control to Metaverse Resources]. Problemy informatsionnoy bezopasnosti. Kompyuternye sistemy [Problems of Information Security. Computer Systems], 2023, No. S2 (55), pp. 45–53. (In Russ.).

9. Khorani N. Tekhnologiya metavselennoy kak odin iz sovremennykh trendov gostepriimstva biznesa [Metaverse Technology as One of the Modern Business Hospitality Trends]. Evraziyskoe prostranstvo: ekonomika, pravo, obshchestvo [The Eurasian Space: Economics, Law, Society], 2023, No. 3, pp. 74–76. (In Russ.).

10. Xu W., Wang Yu. Emotional Visualization: The Metaverse Social in Embodied Cognitive Contexts. Technology and Language, 2023, Vol. 4, No. 3 (12), pp. 24–39.