What is car rental in the metaverse and how can it help car rental companies grow their fleet?
The metaverse is a contraction of the terms meta and universe, synonymous with virtual and immersive worlds. The metaverse is the expected successor of the Internet and is considered as a transition between web 2.0 and web 3.0. What does car rental in the metaverse look like in this new dimension? How can you prepare for it with a car rental management software? Let’s take a look at this innovative concept, its characteristics and its impact on the mobility and fleet management sector.
Why rent a car in the metaverse?
In a virtual world, why rent a car in the metaverse? Despite appearances, the idea of the metaverse is not new. In fact, it was used as early as 1992 by the author Neal Stephenson in his book Snow Crash to describe a digital universe without limits. Since then, this immersive world has been developed in video games as well as in many movies and digital giants such as Facebook or Google are now looking at this future eldorado. Indeed, thanks to this new possibility of virtual reality and many tools such as VR headsets, the user is no longer only a spectator but an essential player. The experience is therefore more alive and dynamic. This immersive universe promises to welcome in the future a large number of people simultaneously. How does car rental fit into the metaverse?
Currently, the metaverse is only in its experimental phase. However, all the elements that make up the virtual car rental of tomorrow are now assembled, whether it is equipment, network and of course virtual currency. This currency is more commonly known as NFT. The term NFT corresponds to a non-fungible token. Banks and insurances are already present in the metaverse to bring concrete guarantees and a security without fault to the users and their payment. NFTs, virtual money based on blockchain technology, represent a digital value in the metaverse. It is a way for the user to collect, buy, sell and, in our case, rent a vehicle in the metaverse the same way they can do it in the physical world.
Who hasn’t dreamed of driving Marty’s DeLorean or Akira’s motorcycle? In these new virtual worlds, everything is possible! Many people, individuals as well as professionals, buy real estate or material goods within the metaverse. Renting a car in the metaverse is no exception to the rule. Their virtual acquisition is useful: vehicles, trucks or motorcycles can be rented and when the metaverse is democratized, the invested goods can be resold with a nice capital gain. Beware, however, that this new technology has not yet proven itself and demand can collapse at any time. Nevertheless, the rental of vehicles in the metaverse remains a great future prospect for many business and large automotive groups.
How can the metaverse develop a car rental company?
Apart from the personal and entertaining aspect, the metaverse can develop a car rental company thanks to many assets. Indeed, the metaverse offers car rental companies and fleet managers a prospect for improved collaboration and communication. This common and immersive environment favors the transmission of information, exchanges and therefore business relationships. Buying and renting a vehicle in the metaverse broadens the field of possibilities and breaks the boundary between real and virtual by offering users new experiences and technologies. The digitization of points of sale is conducive to virtual reality and large retailers use, for example, a virtual avatar system to guide consumers towards a purchase or to bring individuals together at a distance.
The metaverse thus represents a new driver for improving the customer experience. Trying out a car before a physical purchase, learning to drive or using imaginary vehicles are just a few examples of the possibilities offered by car rental in the metaverse. Rental software developer hitech has positioned itself upstream in innovative sectors such as online reservations with the myrentcar software or connected cars with the clickygo car-sharing app. There is no doubt that the metaverse will soon have its place in the future business strategies and IT systems of rental companies. We therefore recommend the confidence of a pioneering company such as hitech to look to the future and anticipate tomorrow’s trends with tools tailored to your business.