From research to reality: Demystifying the metaverse through online engagement

The metaverse is perceived by numerous domains as having high potential for enhancing industry performance and serving as a valuable tool for academics, offering significant resources for teaching, experiential learning, and risk-free participation in various activities. Despite its considerable interest and importance, there has been a lack of research examining the engagement of both industry and academia in the Metaverse, particularly in terms of participation levels and their choice of industries/subjects. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by investigating the characteristics of engagement within the academic community, drawing data from the Scopus database, examining aspects such as country involvement, subjects, topics, and other related attributes. Furthermore, this research explores various attributes of companies, including specialties, industries of interest, country presence, and other pertinent information sourced from the LinkedIn platform. Additionally, data retrieved from Google Trends provides evidence in the people's interest toward metaverse while examining topics and queries related to this term. Finally, leveraging machine learning techniques, this study assesses the commonalities and distinctions between academia and industry, offering valuable insights into the alignment of scientific and business interests in the metaverse.