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The clearest potential impacts of metaverse-related technologies are in industrial operations and training, healthcare training, and consumer-facing retail and entertainment. In practice, many examples are better described as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR) or digital twins—not as parts of one unified metaverse. The useful question is where these tools can improve a specific task, and whether there is evidence that they do.

What counts as a metaverse use case?

“Metaverse” is an umbrella term, not a precise label for one product or technology. The OECD groups it with related concepts such as AR, mixed reality, XR and Web 3.0. AR adds digital content to a view of the physical world; VR places a user inside an immersive digital environment. A digital twin is a digital model of a real asset or process, which may be viewed or operated through immersive interfaces. Combining these technologies does not, by itself, create an interoperable, persistent virtual world.

For evaluating a proposed use, focus on the workflow: what someone needs to see, simulate, practise or interact with, and whether a spatial interface helps them do it better than the existing method. The OECD’s Virtual reality and its opportunities and risks in the OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024 (Volume 1) discusses immersive applications across sectors; the IEC’s Trend Report Industrial metaverse, published 15 October 2025, addresses industrial applications and constraints.

Which industries could use metaverse-related technologies?

Manufacturing, automotive and industrial operations

Industrial uses include simulating processes, visualizing facilities and assets, monitoring operations through digital twins, and training workers in immersive environments. A team might use a digital representation to examine a process change or rehearse a task before carrying it out in a physical setting. Deloitte’s manufacturing discussion identifies process simulation and real-time monitoring or digital twins as reported use cases. The IEC describes potential benefits in design, testing and manufacturing. These are possible applications, not guaranteed productivity gains.

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The World Economic Forum and Accenture’s 12 March 2024 report, Navigating the Industrial Metaverse: A Blueprint for Future Innovations, focuses on manufacturing and automotive as sectors where digital and physical systems may be integrated. A useful distinction is whether an application connects to relevant operational data and supports an ongoing process, or is a standalone demonstration.

Healthcare

The clearest example in the available sector evidence is training. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) describes Pfizer using VR training to support compliance with clinical-trial protocols in a virtual laboratory, and similar technology to train field operators at production sites. The OECD also identifies healthcare applications such as training and surgical simulation. These examples support discussion of practice and simulation; they do not establish that metaverse systems generally improve patient outcomes or that virtual care is effective across clinical settings.

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Education and workforce development

Immersive environments can support instruction, procedural practice and workforce training. They are most plausible when learners need to rehearse a process or encounter a scenario that is difficult, expensive or unsafe to reproduce physically. Whether VR or another immersive format improves learning depends on the task and the alternative teaching method; assess a defined learning outcome rather than assuming immersion itself is an advantage. The OECD includes education among immersive-environment application areas, while industrial sources discuss workplace training.

Retail and commerce

Virtual stores, social shopping, avatars, branded spaces and customer-engagement activities are among the formats described by the EESC and OECD. They may let customers explore products or participate in a brand experience in a 3D environment. The sources discussed here do not establish widespread adoption or lasting sales performance, so these formats should be treated as possible retail experiments rather than proven commercial necessities.

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Entertainment and live experiences

Virtual environments can host events, social interaction and branded experiences. The OECD lists entertainment among immersive-environment application areas. Their value depends on whether audiences find the experience usable and worth returning to; the evidence here does not establish an industry-wide business model.

Construction, government and defence

The OECD also identifies construction, government services and defence as areas where immersive environments may be relevant. Potential tasks include visualizing designs or spaces, training personnel and rehearsing scenarios. The sector listing establishes relevance, but not specific deployments or measured outcomes for each field.

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How mature are these applications?

Evidence differs by sector and type. Industrial sources describe concrete categories of work and a survey of experimentation; consumer-facing examples include formats and company initiatives. Neither demonstrates broad adoption of a single metaverse platform. In particular, reported experimentation is not the same as a completed deployment or verified return on investment.

In a May 2023 online survey of more than 350 senior executives in the US manufacturing industry, Deloitte and the Manufacturing Leadership Council reported that 92% said their company was experimenting with or implementing at least one metaverse-related use case. This is a self-reported result for that sample and sector—not a measure of all industries or evidence that the initiatives delivered business value.

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The EESC’s 2023 opinion reported Renault’s 2022 announcement that its industrial metaverse would enable EUR 780 million in savings across production-cycle stages. It also reported additional 2025 targets: EUR 320 million in savings, EUR 260 million in inventory savings, 60% lower vehicle delivery times and a 50% lower production-plant carbon footprint. These are company-announced projections and targets as reported by the EESC, not independently verified realized results.

What should a business assess before adopting one?

Compare a proposed application with the real workflow it is intended to improve. The relevant measures will depend on the task: time, quality, safety, learning or customer engagement, for example. For a consumer experience, assess repeat use and evidence of conversion or retention rather than treating launch attention as proof of durable value.

  • Workflow and outcome: Define the task, the existing method and the measurable result the new application is meant to change.
  • Connection to physical operations: Determine whether it needs live operational data, an accurate digital twin or only a self-contained virtual environment.
  • Access and infrastructure: Identify the required devices, software, content, connectivity and support, and whether intended users can access them.
  • Privacy, ownership and safety: Decide how data and digital assets will be governed, and how risks to workers or other users will be managed.
  • Interoperability and sustainability: Check whether systems can work with existing tools and whether the environmental and operational costs are acceptable.
  • Total cost and continued use: Include deployment and maintenance costs, then establish what evidence would justify continuing or expanding the application.

The IEC identifies privacy, ownership, safety, sustainability, monetization and standardization as unresolved challenges in industrial-metaverse development. The OECD cautions that highly publicized ideas such as cryptocurrency-fuelled VR real estate can be overhyped. A headset or virtual environment alone does not resolve governance, integration or business-case questions.

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