What is the Metaverse: Everything you need to know.
A new parallel digital world is emerging. Read more to know how you can explore and be a part of the developing metaverse.
Chances are you have heard the word Metaverse often and even explored, searched and read more to get an overview. Chances are that this search quest has left you with an even more confused narrative of what exactly is the Metaverse? 😲
Is it Web3, is it NFTs or is it Digital Avatars? Will the Metaverse be three dimensional, will there be AR/VR? Will it be available on mobiles or VR headgears? I have heard these questions being asked very often on the Metaverse AMAs, conferences, social media, and meet-up discussions. And the various answers tend to create massive confusing narratives.
So let’s throw some clarity on it. Come, ‘Enter the Metaverse’ with me.
What is the Metaverse?
Firstly the Metaverse is still a concept, a new design still in the ideation stage and all companies/projects/investors/founders building the metaverse are let’s say working on a prototype — a small-scale model on how this will look in the future.
(But remember, this is a prototype with massive potential and hence all eyes are focused here today).
“The Metaverse is a digital embodiment of our lives” — Mark Zuckerberg, Meta.
“The Metaverse is a 3D version of the Internet and computing at large,” Matthew Ball, acclaimed author of “The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything.”
Well, they are all correct. The metaverse is the conceptualized future version of the internet built around immersive virtual worlds supported by Virtual reality and Augmented Reality among many other emerging technologies. And when this concept (prototype) turns into reality it will allow people (via their digital avatars) to work, party, shop, study, play, and more through in a very immersive and unified virtual environment. Read more basic details into this concept in my previous detailed article, link below.
What will you really do in the metaverse?
Perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions and rightly so. You will Experience it!!!
So today on our mobiles/laptops we do a plethora of things from reading, attending webinars, work meetings, interacting with friends and family, watching movies, playing games, and much more. In the Metaverse of tomorrow, we will do all these things but in a highly amplified, immersive and 3D environment.
So learning solar system or planetary movement in the metaverse may involve a 3D solar system with planets revolving and rotating in front of you and you get a clear idea of spatial distances.
In the Metaverse this will be a virtual 3D spatial and volumetric display for you to view and study from.
For attending a wedding in the Metaverse, your digital avatar will dress up and enter the wedding hall along with all other invited digital avatars and witness the wedding. You will be able to walk around, meet and greet everyone you may know at that wedding, dance with people, give a speech, sing the wedding song, make new friends and wish well to the bride and groom. An experience as close to a real wedding as possible! Dimensionally, spatially, volumetrically, audiometrically!
Try Somnium Space for a party experience if you can afford to throw a party here.😍
Similarly, in a meeting in the Metaverse, instead of simply sitting on a Zoom screen, your digital avatar will go to the board room in your company’s 3D office space and take a seat at the conference table with other digital avatars and discuss and deliberate, maybe even make a presentation to the board room. Check out BizzTech’s really interesting Metaverse as a Service offering. I happened to be a part of one of their beta tests and absolutely loved the office experience they offered.
When and where can you experience the Metaverse today?
Of course, the metaverse isn’t ready in its best evolved version yet — a version where our physical and digital realities will merge to give us the most seamless experience as today the internet gives us. We spend most of our day on the internet without so much as realizing it and our physical worlds have merged deeply with the internet of today — from reaching out to friends to paying bills to OTT entertainment, to date, or even to work and study.
The metaverse will merge one day in the distant future into such a seamless experience.
But till then we can witness a part of the metaverse in pieces because like I said companies/builders/founders are creating parts and prototypes of this immense immersive engine that will power the future of experiences.
Gaming Spaces are today your best bets to witness and enjoy a bite-size of the metaverse. So jump on and create a profile on Decentraland — play some games, chill with friends, listen to some music with your tribe or attend a concert. Just explore and see the developing ecosystem. Create an account and try experiencing Sandbox — another one of my favorites.
Similarly, jump onto Facebook’s Horizon Worlds to interact, socialize, and play games with other people through an Oculus Quest VR headset by Meta. Soon Meta will allow users to experience this even without Oculus. It will give you a taste of the futuristic metaverse through digital avatars and spatial audio and movements.
Metaverse and Web3: Is there a link?
Yes, there is. Let’s dive in and clarify this once and for all.
At the time when the world got focused on building a Metaverse, another important separate area of focus came up — building Web3.
Web3 is the third generation of the internet which focuses on building a decentralized, permissionless internet system on blockchain and ledger technologies. The web3 community was focused on building, scaling and creating a new-age system on the blockchain(s) like Ethereum, Solana, Terra, Polygon, etc. This isn’t necessarily a 3D ecosystem; in fact it so definitely isn’t.
It was focused on providing utility-based applications and businesses on blockchain ecosystems and they have ideologies that they are trying to meet and bring to real:
- Decentralization of the internet
- Ownership of digital assets
- Peer-to-peer exchange
- Permissionless economy
- Community Governance
The payment system in web3 is cryptocurrency and tokens (altcoins, NFTs) hence also called the Tokenized economy. And they are not focused on AR/VR/3D as such.
The Metaverse technologist and builders also agree with these ideologies and visions today. So based on the same principles both are now creating their set of technologies and have their own focus:
Web3 builders — — — Dapps (Decentralized applications)
Metaverse builders — — — Immersive experiences.
( PS: In fact, some of them are common technologists and builders and hence there is a good confluence).
So today, both share the same vision and ideologies and are often co-related with the same followers, employees and companies working to create both.
Why are people buying land in the Metaverse?
These land pieces are where your company will tomorrow set up their HQs and offices and brands will open shops, universities and much more to give the users their immersive virtual experiences. Hence there is a rush to purchase land and try to build 3D assets on it, create VR games and gamified experiences, organize events with paid tickets, and rent or sell the property to make money in the metaverse.
So wrapping up, hope this sheds some clarity on where the metaverse is today and where it is heading tomorrow. Continue reading and understanding this new evolving space. Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn for any discussion. Links below. Love a hearty chat!!
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