{"id":5873,"date":"2026-06-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/?p=5873"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:10:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T09:10:44","slug":"the-metaverse-a-flop-before-a-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/the-metaverse-a-flop-before-a-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"The Metaverse: A Flop Before a Comeback?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The metaverse may have failed if we reduce it to the corporate strategy deployed by Meta through its Horizon Worlds platform. But that failure should not lead us to dismiss the core features of these persistent, shared virtual worlds\u2014immersion and interaction\u2014as anything less than foundational elements of the future. A look back at this near-flop. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Echoing the successful exhibition Flops?! at Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers<\/a>, which explored technological projects that ended in varying degrees of failure\u2014commercial failure, at the very least\u2014the teams behind the Styx<\/a> Project of the PEPR ICCARE<\/a> program, led by researchers from Universit\u00e9 Paris-Panth\u00e9on-Assas and Universit\u00e9 Paris 1 Panth\u00e9on-Sorbonne in collaboration with the museum, invited the public to an \u201cAcceleration Day\u201d on May 4.The event examined the supposed death of the metaverse<\/a> and what it means for the next generation of virtual worlds currently in development. More specifically, it explored the potential of immersive and interactive environments, arguably the most compelling aspects of the metaverse\u2019s original vision. <\/p>\n\n

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Credits Flops ?! Arts et M\u00e9tiers <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Less the Death of a Technology Than the Reconfiguration of a Project<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Several industry professionals took part in the discussion, including Alexandre Roux from Unframed Collection<\/a>, Catherine Seys from Excurio<\/a>, \u00c9lisabeth Gravil, founder of Museovation<\/a>\u2014a consultancy specializing in digital strategy for museums transitioning into virtual spaces\u2014as well as C\u00e9cile M\u00e9adel<\/a> and Ja\u00e9rcio Da Silva<\/a> from Universit\u00e9 Paris-Panth\u00e9on-Assas. All reflected on the \u201cdeath\u201d of the metaverse, a narrative increasingly repeated in media coverage from 2022 to today. Ja\u00e9rcio Da Silva revisited the origins of the metaverse and the dominant business model developed in 2021 by Meta under Mark Zuckerberg, backed by nearly $70 billion in investments\u2014before the company ultimately abandoned the strategy to refocus on AI. \u201cFrom the beginning, the metaverse existed within a socio-technological imaginary,\u201d Da Silva explains, before that momentum turned into an industrial power grab by one of the world\u2019s largest tech companies. The acquisition of Oculus and the creation of proprietary infrastructures for users, \u00c9lisabeth Gravil notes, reflected the desire of Big Tech to maintain control over the emerging, more community-driven dynamics of Web3. <\/p>\n\n

In the end, however, the project failed for Meta, due both to structural limitations\u2014expensive headsets and a largely unreceptive public\u2014and because it failed to deliver on \u201cits technological and spiritual promises,\u201d as Da Silva summarizes. Still, he argues, \u201cthe death of the metaverse appears less like the disappearance of a technology than the reconfiguration of the project itself. We got rid of Meta\u2014the company\u2014but not the ethical social experience that helped dismantle a certain hegemonic narrative by redistributing its promises among other actors, other structures, and other vocabularies.\u201d Yet Meta\u2019s withdrawal also raises serious concerns regarding the long-term preservation of existing works. Many projects relied on technologies developed by the company and later discontinued, such as the 2024 shutdown of Meta Spark,<\/a> which left more than 500,000 creators without viable alternatives. <\/p>\n\n

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Meta Spark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The Importance of Community and AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Even if the metaverse itself is considered \u201cdead,\u201d its two defining features\u2014immersion and interaction\u2014remain highly active among XR creators developing new virtual environments, particularly in the context of digital museum experiences. \u00c9lisabeth Gravil describes community-building as essential to the future of museum environments, inspired in part by the massive social ecosystems created around video games. Since the COVID crisis, museums have increasingly developed virtual visits alongside physical exhibitions, but the community dimension remains critical. In hindsight, Meta\u2019s greatest failure may have been its inability to foster an open, dynamic, and genuinely engaging user community. <\/p>\n\n

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Journ\u00e9e d’acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration PEPR ICCARE – 4 mai 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Elisabeth Gravil also points out that French museums, in particular, have too often approached virtual visits as \u201csimple reproductions of the physical museum.\u201d By contrast, she highlights more ambitious North American examples, especially the Boston Museum<\/a>, whose virtual Mission: Mars<\/a> experience attracted 7.4 million visitors through the interactive platform Roblox. For Elisabeth Gravil, AI will further expand these possibilities. \u201cThe ability to co-create and co-produce content will improve everything,\u201d she argues, citing translation tools already integrated into platforms like Roblox<\/a>, where 53 languages can be translated in real time. \u201cThere will be enormous new possibilities for museums, but it will also require responsibility. These worlds will need moderation, especially by trained curators, and we\u2019ll need to build shared knowledge systems capable of distinguishing truth from falsehood\u2014which also means reinventing the profession itself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The Power of Creation and the Importance of Scalability<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

In this context, content itself becomes central. Creative companies such as Excurio and Lucid Realities <\/a>\/ Unframed Collection are already playing a major role in this reconfiguration. Catherine Seys reinforces the \u201cimportance of not reproducing museums identically\u201d within virtual worlds through the XR\/AR\/VR experiences\u2014what Excurio calls \u201cimmersive expeditions\u201d\u2014developed by the company. These include prehistoric landscapes <\/a>created in partnership with the Mus\u00e9um national d’Histoire naturelle and projects tied to exhibitions at Mus\u00e9e d’Orsay, including a reconstructed 1866 artists\u2019 salon<\/a> where AI-generated works were refined collaboratively by curators and AI systems to fit the historical setting convincingly. Alexandre Roux argues that the metaverse failed largely because \u201ctechnology was sold before content was.\u201d He emphasizes the dual role of his company\u2014as producer through Lucid Realities and distributor through Unframed Collection\u2014\u201callowing us to support projects at every level. Producers benefit from our field experience, while museums and institutions see us as solution providers.\u201d \u201d<\/p>\n\n

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