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Building a Responsible Metaverse

January 5, 2023 5-MINUTE READ

RESEARCH REPORT

In brief

Leading with trust and human-centricity

Top 3

Safety, security, and privacy are the top three factors influencing the respondents’ willingness to engage with metaverse.

55%

of people believe that the metaverse will be the same as social media in securing users’ data, protecting their safety and ensuring their privacy. The rest are split on which will be worse.

4X

Potential financial value is 4x more important to consumer interest in cryptocurrencies and NFTs than the ethos of crypto (e.g., decentralization, transparency).

Foundations of a Responsible Metaverse

Trust dimensions

Privacy

The primary purpose of collecting, processing and sharing user data should be to deliver value to users who are informed about their privacy options.

Security

Security by design should focus on hardening infrastructure and software against threats such as social engineering attacks, and include robust encryption and interoperable authentication protocols.

Resilience

Platforms and devices should be capable of supporting high-fidelity and low-latency experiences that are immersive and persistent for large numbers of global users to interact simultaneously, in real time.

Intellectual property rights

Platforms must enforce intellectual property rights through robust detection capabilities and comprehensive user education, and leverage AI tools to detect and flag infringements.

67%

of consumers agreed that they’d be more likely to engage—create, buy or trade collectibles—in NFT marketplaces that actively combat counterfeits.

93%

of consumers are most concerned about privacy in the metaverse. Among those, Millennials and Gen-Z—digitally savvy consumers—were most concerned about privacy in the metaverse.

Human dimensions

Safety

Platforms must proactively implement policies, technologies and practices to discourage harmful content and behaviors, and invest in predictive and real-time detection capabilities.

Inclusion, diversity & accessibility

Companies should design systems and experiences to be inclusive and accessible, so users feel empowered to reinvent themselves if they wish—but certain situations call for authenticity and real identities.

Sustainability

Companies should build and use hardware and software with green technology principles, with users educated about what they can do to reduce the environmental footprint of the metaverse.

Well-being

Devices, systems and digital environments should be rooted in preserving and improving users’ mental and physical health.

59%

of consumers ranked strong security and data protection capabilities as the most important factors when selecting NFT platforms—over “ease of use” and “popularity of marketplace.”

70%

of respondents agreed that robust privacy, safety and security mechanisms would impact their willingness to engage in metaverse experiences.

Key considerations for the metaverse

68%

of consumers claimed it was important to them to be able to use the same avatar across multiple platforms.

73%

of those under age 40 agreed they wanted the freedom to change their avatar depending on the circumstance, and to have their avatars look like whatever and whoever they want.

What comes next

Limitless possibilities

About the research

Paul Daugherty

Chief Technology & Innovation Officer


Denise Zheng

Chief AI Officer and Data & AI Practice Lead