Leonidas Anthopoulos

Metaverse has become an emerging trend for both academia and industry, and it seems to concern the next generation of the Internet. Although it is still in its grassroots, metaverse is estimated to bring disruption to people’s lives. One of the effects concerns the generation of new value opportunities that don’t exist in real life. These new types of value as well as their impact on people’s lives must be explored. In this respect, this paper utilizes literature evidence to define the value types of metaverse, which are circulated with experts from the focus group on metaverse of the International Telecommunications Union. Results uncover economic, public, and social values that metaverse generates, which can ensure its financial viability and the community’s social sustainability. The economic value sources come from both the industrial and the commercial sectors, while the public values concern citizen empowerment and government efficiency. The social values of metaverse concern employment growth, and the provision of immersive experiences in entertainment and education environments. Finally, this paper critically reviews their role for environmental, economic, and social sustainability. The literature review indicated that metaverse can on the one hand, enhance sustainability but on the other hand, it can cause environmental impact.