Truted ID

30 - 70% of avatars consume goods or services within the metaverse; it is therefore essential to secure their Trusted-ID.

Metaverse, a term used to describe a space where persons who are immersed in a fully digital world interact as avatars, is a fast-evolving environment. Today, it has around 400 million users, of which 54 million are daily active users (DAUs) across many platforms.

 The ecosystem of metaverses is especially growing with new generations, like generation Alpha born between the early 2010s and the mid 2020s. Indeed, in these virtual worlds, between 30 and 70% of users do not hesitate to pay for a product or service. In 2022, this corresponds to approx. EUR 48 million p.a. in revenue, excluding virtual real estate assets and NFTs. Not only does the metaverse open new consumption channels for existing products but it also creates the opportunity to provide new virtual goods. Here, a truly immersive experience is indispensable, especially when shopping for consumer goods like clothes. At first, it is mostly out of curiosity that consumers decide to join the metaverse. Their interest then increases when they feel welcome in a transparent and secure atmosphere. However, there are still challenges to overcome before arriving at a truly immersive, fluid and trusted metaverse.

 These challenges start with the explosion of computing power and bandwidth required to generate a realistic 3D world, in which the user would benefit from an interactive experience in real time. Such machines go beyond current mainstream capacities and require a lot of energy. Wearables also need to become more affordable and ergonomic because many users still complain about discomfort, especially when they stay in the metaverse for a prolonged time. Another limit to consider is security: many Identity Verification Methods (IDV) do not work properly in a virtual world filled with avatars. At this point, classic ID-methods become obsolete and could lead to many frauds. Hackers quickly found new tricks, like for example deep fake techniques. These security vulnerabilities may be problematic because trust is a central tenet to the growth of metaverse. A user will become a regular resident in a virtual world in which s/he feels secure, comfortable and unique. In this case, s/he will consume freely by trusting the avatars and brands encountered. Friction also slows the adoption of the metaverses, as in most cases two wallets are necessary to consume products or services directly in the virtual world. This double authentication is overly complicated and costly for buyers and seller alike.

The Proximus Digital Trust Solution team supports you by drawing on its extensive experience in the design and implementation of Trusted-ID solutions that are already used online for web 2.0, for voice shops and in-store in an omni-channel mode. For the metaverse, the configuration of existing as well as the introduction of new Identity Verification modules are explored. These entail device fingerprint, retina scan and voice identification as well as behavioural profiling. Trust would be created by the design of registration processes with ID-attributes that lead to strong validation and provide the basis for fast and secure access. When a user returns, their spoken password could gfor example generate a content and voice-recognition match, that is enhanced by voice liveness. Also, at some intervals or events, like for example a payment, the retina would be scanned by the wearable. Finally, the behavior would be monitored to detect suspicious patterns. Importantly, the correct orchestration of these new IDV tools will create the foundation of consumer growth in the metaverse.

 So, while the metaverse beholds the opportunity to generate EUR 600 – 1.000 million in annual revenue by 2030, this will be enabled by smart and invisible trust solutions…