What is Metaverse and how can people use it?
A hybrid of technology features wherein the users live in a digital space.
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If you have an active Facebook account then you definitely noticed the rebranding that happened on this social media platform last year in October. What does this Meta stand for? If you’re not actively following updates from the community, you might be surprised to hear there are many other metaverse examples besides Facebook.
Simply put, metaverse consists of virtual and augmented reality, which is often referred to as extended reality. Metaverse already partially exists, and maybe the most interesting example of it is Second Life, which enabled its users to create avatars to play games, go to meetings, conduct business, and purchase and sell virtual real estate. As much as this seems recent, this idea has been active since 2003.
The reason why there is no one clear explanation of the Metaverse is that it has a different meaning to different people. Also, the lines between the virtual and real-world becoming blurry makes it difficult to make sense out of it once and for all.
More importantly, Facebook’s Meta is only one of the metaverses. To understand what this term means, we will need to look at how it was used throughout history and how many metaverses already existed before Facebook made its move.
The Concept Behind Metaverse
The first time that the term “metaverse” was mentioned was in 1992 when Neal Stephenson described the metaverse in his novel Snow Crash as a 3D virtual reality space. The metaverse in the novel allows its developers to build their tiny streets that connect to the main one. They can also build buildings, signs, parks, and objects that don’t exist in reality.
The goal of the metaverse is to create an embodied internet. As a massively scaled and interoperable network of 3D virtual worlds, the metaverse is characterized by data continuity — identity, history, objects, entitlements, communications, etc.
Metaverse exists when a user can enter a giant virtual shopping mall with as many other people as the virtual space can fit, purchase a certain digital item, and sell it later in a different virtual world. There are many movie and novel examples where the metaverse has been explained in detail.
How does Metaverse work?
The metaverse should be driven by different technology forms — cloud infrastructure, platforms, software tools, applications, user-generated, content, etc. Besides technical requirements, it is announced to include numerous user experiences such as entertainment, commerce, gaming, education, social interactions, and research.
The existing infrastructure that allows masses of people to gather in these virtual environments is already in place. The best example that happened recently was a virtual concert in Fornite with more than 12.3 million people tuning in. However, as much as this existing infrastructure is impressive, it needs to continue evolving to support the metaverse in its full sense.
Also, the emerging technologies that have been used in the financial services industry ever since Bitcoin appeared in 2009 can be used to allow data continuity in the metaverse. Of course, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can have great value in these 3D virtual reality platforms, maybe even more than now.
Simply put, the metaverse will require shared virtual worlds incorporating persistence. In other words, for a user to have an ideal customer experience, they should move from one universe to another with their digital belongings. An example of this would be a fully decentralized world like Decentraland, which doesn’t have any central leadership among its users. The entire world is based on the Ethereum blockchain and is being controlled by a decentralized independent organization.
Through it, all players can easily control the policies that determine the way the world behaves. Decentraland even has its decentralized currency which can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies on appropriate markets.
Products like Meta’s Oculus VR headsets or HoloLens augmented reality goggles by Microsoft are some of the earliest examples of metaverse products. Even gaming platforms have stepped foot in the metaverse world. Microsoft recently paid $69 billion to acquire the popular gaming brand Activision Blizzard.
Roblox is another platform that allows developers to create interactive games, played by millions of children and adults. The point where metaverse kicks in is the option for players and creators to create their avatars to hang out, communicate, and exchange the platform’s currency (Robux) with other players in virtual reality.
Probably the app most known to the general public, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game platform allowing users to interact with computer-generated visuals put in the real world through the camera of a smartphone. There are many examples of decentralized worlds that might be a part of the metaverse soon, with its digital assets and cryptocurrencies.
When it comes to ownership, nobody would own the metaverse — just like it is with the internet. There will be numerous important players in the virtual space, and companies like Meta and other tech giants will want to be in it.
It was first only an idea in a novel but now, it might just become one of our realities. Many technology companies are certain that it will be or at least as big as the internet today or even bigger. For those looking to get a taste of it now, besides Decentraland, Roblox and Horizon Workrooms provide a good idea of how metaverse will look and what it will mean for us.
Metaverse will surely revolutionize the eCommerce industry, where businesses can create a unique virtual experience for their customers. As the trend of online shopping is growing, many companies will seek solutions in blurring the lines between the physical and digital world.
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