Mapping the Metaverse

Interesting metaverse map from Jon Radoff, describing the seven layers of the ecosystem and where companies (and some open source projects) sit within the market.

Metaverse Ecosystem Map

Brief recap of what each of these layers represent:

  • Experience is what we actually engage with: games, social experiences, live music, etc.
  • Discovery is how people learn that an experience exists.
  • The Creator Economy is everything that helps creators make and monetize things for the metaverse: design tools, animation systems, graphics tools, monetization technologies, etc.
  • Spatial Computing refers to the software that brings objects into 3D, computing into objects in the world, and allow us to interact with them. It includes 3D engines, gesture recognition, spatial mapping, and AI to support it.
  • Decentralization is everything that is moving more of the ecosystem to a permissionless, distributed and more democratized structure.
  • Human Interface refers to the hardwarethat helps us access the metaverse — everything from mobile devices to VR headsets to future technologies like advanced haptics and smartglasses.
  • Infrastructure is the semiconductors, material science, cloud computing and telecommunications networks that make it possible to construct any of the higher layers.

Each company featured has huge value to create from the metaverse. How they grow will depend on how they continue to build upon the successes of their products, expand into adjacent domains, and continue to support the play economy.