Metaverse: What It Is & Why Should You Care
Its the next big thing after the Internet of Things
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard the internet talking about the Metaverse. With Facebook having rebranded itself to Meta, discussions are going hot and everyone is wondering what the next step for Metaverse is.
Some people are going crazy about it; some don’t exactly understand what the metaverse is, and some are having bad feelings about this next big trend. It is possibly the next big thing that is going to revolutionize our digital lives and transform the way we “live” digitally.
Don’t worry if you’re unsure of what this Metaverse is about. I’ll explain everything, and hopefully, by the end of it, you’ll be able to say whether you’re team Metaverse or not.
The Metaverse has been around for a lot longer than you might think
The term “Metaverse” was coined way back in 1992 by Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans communicated with each other in the form of digital avatars in a three-dimensional virtual world, akin to our real world. Neal used this term to describe an “imaginary place,” a virtual world that can be accessed through the internet.
The Metaverse was again put into the spotlight in Ernest Cline’s 2011 book Ready Player One, which showcased a Virtual Reality (VR) world called “The OASIS” that served as an escape for people in 2045 grappling with an energy crisis, global warming, economic breakdown, and social problems. The book was given the green light for a movie in 2018, and it shows an incredible view of what the Metaverse, in its full-fledged glory, could look like.
What is the Metaverse?
Think of the Metaverse as a virtual reality where you can do almost anything. You can buy a house to “live” in, meet with your friends and family, go on a hike, watch movies, wear digital clothes, fly to the moon, talk with dinosaurs, save the world from evil aliens, and the possibilities are endless.
How does it work?
The Metaverse can be imagined as a VR version of today’s internet. It works by being a network of interconnected 3D virtual worlds where anyone can hop in and interact with each other.
It is a world you can access comfortably from your home, with the help of special hardware called VR headsets. Along with a headset, you’ll also require motion controllers to accurately control your digital avatar’s movements. Some virtual worlds don’t require any special hardware, and you can just get in through a simple webpage. Talk about convenience!
Since the Metaverse is being defined as a virtual world, doesn’t it exist already in the form of video games such as Fortnite and Minecraft? Good question.
The Metaverse, being defined as a virtual world, is both true and false.
Let me explain.
Talking about Minecraft, it is a video game where you can create your own world, invite your friends over, and also engage in buying and selling activities. Minecraft perfectly ticks the boxes for a Metaverse.
Meta wants to create a universe where you can do anything, from learning to shopping to creating your own reality. As a result, the Metaverse can be correctly described as an online virtual world, but it isn’t limited to just that.
The Metaverse is a radical shift in how we interact with each other digitally. It is a brand new way of immersive communication where physical boundaries are absent.
Since the metaverse is in its early stages and is being developed, it may be a while before we can give it a clear definition.
Remember that each company is developing its own little metaverse where it can interact with its users, and it is not a single unified world we think of, such as “The OASIS,” because achieving that technical marvel is a much, much more complex task that goes beyond the computing power of today’s world, and even if this single, unified world is a success, bringing each and everyone on the platform, with varying economic status, is near impossible. Making businesses compete with one another and allowing customers to travel between their world and the world of their rivals is a chore that no one wants to do.
Are there any companies that have developed their own Metaverse?
Many companies are actively getting involved in the Metaverse as it is being seen as the next big thing that can completely change the market.
Let’s talk about some Metaverse examples that you can hop into right now and get a feel of what the future might look like.
Remember, it is not compulsory that each and every metaverse involves virtual reality, cryptocurrency, or non-fungible tokens (NFT). These examples showcase one or more elements of the Metaverse and give us a good look into it.
- Horizon Worlds (Meta) — When Facebook rebranded itself to Meta, Mark Zuckerberg placed the utmost importance on the concept of socializing being one of the top factors in the Metaverse. Showing how the Metaverse can be lively with friends and family, Meta launched Horizon Worlds, a virtual world platform where users can meet up with their friends and family and explore virtual worlds from wherever they are. Users can also create their own worlds, and in addition to that, it can also be a space for multiplayer gaming where users can play games created by others.
- Horizon Workrooms (Meta) — Another product from Meta, Horizon Workrooms differs from Horizon Worlds in the sense that it is a collaboration platform that allows employees to meet digitally in their virtual avatar using VR or the web, and engage in business discussions, just like a typical office boardroom meeting. You can share files with your colleagues, show your work to everyone at the same time, and collaborate on team activities with anyone, wherever they are.
- VRChat (VRChat Inc) — VRChat is an online virtual world platform where users can meet others in their custom avatars, play games, socialize, and watch videos with their loved ones. Users have complete control over their avatars and can customize them to their heart’s content. Apart from customization, players can chat, draw, build, and watch with their friends and family. There are hundreds of worlds created by the community members which you can access, and you can even make one yourself and invite your friends over.
- Decentraland — Decentraland can be explained as a mix between a game and a cryptocurrency project. It is a software that runs on the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to buy and sell digital “land.” Users in Decentraland can trade digital real estate while playing games and interacting with other users in this virtual world. Decentraland comes with its own cryptocurrency: MANA. This token can be used to buy and sell LAND — an NFT which is used to define the ownership rights of the digital real estate in this virtual world.
Practical applications of Metaverse
A virtual world where people can have fun and mess around in their avatars is only a small part of what the Metaverse offers. Businesses can take advantage of a slew of new possibilities opened up by it. Metaverse examples and use cases may be advantageous to businesses in the short and long term. Let’s look at some practical applications.
- Immersive Entertainment — This one was coming. The Metaverse’s most important feature is its ability to immerse you in a virtual world and make you feel like you’re actually there. Businesses can take advantage of the immersive capabilities of their customers’ devices in order to create virtual worlds where users may engage in a wide range of activities and social interactions. In Fortnite, Travis Scott’s Astronomical Event was a huge hit, and it showed how the metaverse can open up new opportunities for immersive entertainment.
- Meetings and Work — As Meta already showed with its Horizons Workrooms project, work meetings are entirely possible in the Metaverse. Bill Gates in his blog states,
“Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids…to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars.”
- New income opportunities — The Metaverse unlocks a whole host of new income opportunities in the form of NFTs. Many companies are already selling NFTs of their physical products and also offer some benefits on top of the ownership. In April, Nike launched its first collection of virtual sneakers, dubbed “Cryptokicks,” which is a collection of 20,000 NFTs, and some of these sold for about $130K! Similarly, fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana are also joining in on the fun and releasing limited-edition NFTs that go on sale for astronomical prices. The Metaverse is an exciting venture for businesses to set foot in and gauge how they can benefit from it.
- Innovative advertising opportunities — With the Metaverse attracting a lot of eyeballs and becoming massive, it is the perfect avenue for advertisers to showcase their products to the world in an innovative way. Wendy’s launched its own Metaverse, aptly named “Wendyverse” in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, where users can check out their virtual outlet and possibly unlock free food in real life. Wendy hopes that it can attract the young audience into going to its real-life outlets after a good experience in its Wendyverse.
Pros and Cons of Metaverse
While discussing the Metaverse, we’ve explored how it offers a new method of experiencing virtual reality and “living” a digital existence in a new way. Businesses are investing heavily in its development in order to take advantage of the Metaverse’s enormous economic potential.
There is a downside, however. There are discussions concerning the morality of the Metaverse and how it might affect our privacy. It’s important to consider both the positive and negative aspects of something.
As such, here are the pros and cons of the Metaverse.
Pros
- Physical distance doesn’t matter here — No matter wherever you’re on planet Earth, you can connect to the Metaverse from anywhere. The virtual world is truly limitless and there are no geographical boundaries to limit your journey. The Metaverse is a boundless world where everyone can meet and interact with each other — a truly immersive way to make new friends and foster new relationships.
- Truly immersive experience — The Metaverse experience will be truly immersive in the sense that you’ll be completely present in a virtual world. The “old” way of consuming information through a screen will be soon topped by the 3D upgrade of the Metaverse. Being in a virtual environment will enable new and exciting ways to interact with information that was previously thought to be impossible.
- New business opportunities — As talked about earlier, the Metaverse is an insane opportunity for businesses to hop in and try out new ways to interact with their customers and attract new ones. Businesses such as fashion brands can leverage the power of immersion by letting users try out new clothes digitally and selling them as NFTs. A planned mix of virtual and real-world enterprises can enhance sales and advertising by adopting new techniques such as interactive makeup rooms, special discounts on real-life products if customers purchase an NFT of that product, and so on. The sky is the limit.
Cons
- Privacy concerns — Being on the internet, it is important to safeguard your privacy and tread carefully. You hardly ever get the complete idea of your data being sold to third parties and what specific data is being collected about you and your web activity. Metaverse, being in development, is plagued by privacy concerns as there are no ground rules for the privacy and security of the users yet. The fact that Meta is leading the adoption of the Metaverse is concerning because this firm is notorious for its security breaches and data leaks, so allowing your entire digital identity to be exposed for a corporation that isn’t doing so well in the public eye could be worrisome.
- Losing touch with reality — Let’s be real here. You don’t want to go back to your dull, normal world where nothing amazing happens because the Metaverse is letting you live your dream life. Slowly, you’re losing contact with the real world, allowing the digital world to rule over you, enslaving you in the process. You’ll become addicted to this lifestyle and won’t be able to get out of it easily in the future.
- A haven for bad actors — Due to the open nature of the Metaverse, some bad actors are destined to make their presence known. Metaverse reports of bullying, harassment, and abuse have been made, but no definitive guidelines have been established to deal with the problem effectively. Moderation is difficult, and keeping an eye on every single user is an enormous undertaking. In order to maintain a fully open environment, a strict set of rules cannot be imposed. This is a difficult challenge to solve, and sadly, we don’t have any immediate solutions.
- A look into the dystopian future — Meta, Microsoft, and Google have all invested heavily in Metaverse’s future, indicating that these companies are interested in gaining an early advantage and a better understanding of what the Metaverse might become and how they can benefit from it. Giving these massive businesses control over the creation of a virtual world might lead to a dystopian future in which everything is monitored and the concept of privacy is reduced to a binary choice between accepting the rules or losing your digital rights. Because of the enticing nature of governing a decentralized, open environment that is highly profitable, a power struggle may ensue. Despite how far-fetched this idea may seem, it’s still possible.
Future of Metaverse
Even while the Metaverse is still in its infant stages, its eventual destination is becoming more and more obvious to everyone. Within the next decade, the Metaverse will have seen tremendous development compared to its current state. It is possible that the concept of a single, unified environment could one day become a reality. This environment will be a location that anybody can enter, and the hardware needed to access it will be customized and toned down specifically for each individual user.
You will still be able to do whatever you want; the only difference is that everything will be more interconnected to a broader range of services, and continuity will be present to ensure that a consistent reality is established.
The Metaverse will attract a large number of players, which will result in the development of a flourishing digital economy in which everyone will be able to engage in commercial activity. Societies will grow and develop, and this virtual environment will reflect the real world more and more accurately.
Conclusion
By creating a true alternate reality to the one we live in, the Metaverse will have a significant impact on where humanity is headed in the near future. The development of Metaverse will continue regardless of whether or not you find it exciting. It has the potential to change not only people’s lives but also how the world and its people interact.
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