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A Panoramic View: How Americans Feel About the Metaverse

case studies-2

Industry

Technology

Challenge

As discourse around the metaverse accelerates, XRSI (XR Safety Initiative) needed to understand how people actually feel about virtual spaces—beyond speculation and hype. Traditional research couldn’t keep pace with the complexity of the space or capture nuanced emotional reactions to evolving XR technologies. XRSI sought a fast, ethical, and representative way to hear from real people, not just early adopters or headlines.

Results

Panoplai partnered with XRSI to survey 500+ U.S. residents engaged in digital culture, revealing that Americans are twice as concerned about the replacement of real-world experiences with virtual ones as they are about misinformation in the metaverse. Men and those aged 35–44 were especially likely to share this worry, alongside concerns around privacy, autonomy, and child safety. These insights informed XRSI’s Metaverse Safety Week programming and continue to shape conversations around XR policy and ethics.

xrsi.org/
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About XRSI

XRSI (XR Safety Initiative) is a nonprofit that works at the intersection of emerging technology, human rights, and safety. Their mission is to promote transparency, inclusivity, and responsibility in the design and deployment of XR technologies. With Panoplai, XRSI was able to conduct scalable, ethical research to bring public voices into metaverse policy and design conversations.

The Challenge

When it comes to the Metaverse, Americans are 2x more worried about the ‘virtual replacement of the real world experiences’ than they are about ‘misinformation and disinformation.’

Along with the landmark Metaverse Safety Week event, XRSI is working with our official Responsible Research Partner, Panoplai to determine what people actually think, feel, hope, and fear when it comes to the Metaverse. 

A space as complex and rapidly evolving as the Metaverse demands a new approach to research!

Top Insight Need: Understand what people actually think, feel, hope, and fear when it comes to the Metaverse. 

The Solution

We asked 500+ U.S. residents (selected because of their interest in digital culture) a series of questions—transparently and with their full consent. In return, we got some surprising answers and vital insights we’ll be sharing over the weeks to come.

The Results

WHAT WE EXPECTED: “Personal data privacy and autonomy” and “The safety of children and other more vulnerable users” to be popular answers.

WHAT HAPPENED: “The replacement of real-world experiences with virtual ones” ranked third—behind privacy and child safety.

About Panoplai

Panoplai is an AI-powered market research platform built for teams that need speed without sacrificing depth. We help content strategists, marketers, and product leaders uncover AI consumer insights, run advanced survey-based audience targeting, and build dynamic digital twin personas. From lead generation to content ops to product-market fit, Panoplai turns static data into fast, scalable intelligence. Want to see for yourself? Let's talk.

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