I've been working with some Japanese companies developing their own metaverse. During covid when everyone was on lockdown the investors bought into the story that people will be able to enjoy shopping, travel, and personal interaction using a metaverse.
Now we are not locked down it's become obvious that the masses are not going to take to it unless it's very cheap (headsets) and very high graphics quality like GTA graphics level. On top of that, the computing power needed is intense, only the latest iPhone/iPad will run it, and as most younger people don't have a PC now, they can only experience it on an iPhone or iPad so the experience is nothing like what was touted when these projects started. With the crypto industry in the dumps, blockchain payment systems are losing investors, and there is a lot of uncertainty as to why someone would want to purchase fashion items or cosmetics in a metaverse compared to a website or in person.
The really big problem is policing it. In every single live test that I have seen with these companies, there is sexual abuse, someone loads a gimp avatar or a naked avatar and they go to town, or they will be banging each other in every possible manner. If there is some way to fuck with people and have fun doing it it's going to happen, so the cost of policing is astronomical.
The benefits it provides to people with disabilities are interesting, but wanting to spend your life in a virtual world is not healthy, and speaking to your boss with a dog or drag queen avatar just fucking sucks.