What is the Metaverse?: A Guide To How it Came About and How to Access It
Your Intro to the Metaverse
Introduction
The popularity of the internet is tied to the iteration of the world wide web, from read-only web1.0 to a more participatory and interactive web2.0 environment where participants network, collaborate, and interact collectively. The internet is shifting to a new paradigm of decentralized web3 built on blockchain technology.
The era of web2.0 as an interactive and participatory web allowed social media platforms to act as a middle entity that commodifies creators’ skills and monetizes participants’ data. However, the new semantic and decentralized web3 (read-write-own) built on blockchain technology opens up new creative and economic opportunities for creators to monetize their skills and claim ownership of their data.
Web3
Web3 is a decentralized, verifiable, permissionless, trustless, transparent, censorship resistance, collaborative, and open interactive environment. The most talked-about aspect of the web3 and blockchain technology is a cryptocurrency, NFT, and the 3-dimensional virtual space known as the metaverse. The underline principle and foundational framework of web3 is to optimize decentralization, remove intermediaries, and incentivize participants.
The Metaverse
The term metaverse was initially coined in 1992 by Neal Stephenson in his dystopia virtual world novel “Snow crash”. The metaverse has become the focal point when discussing web3 where avatar development and Wearable as a service (WaaS) become inevitable skills. The metaverse is an interconnected semantic web, ubiquity, and network of an immersive virtual environment compromises of 3-dimensional multimedia objects interacting and connecting in a dynamic virtual environment through hyper-reality, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) interfaces.
Consequently, the main proponents of the metaverse are the concept of presence, liveliness, instantaneity, and active participation in an interactive environment. These interactive virtual spaces enabled the feeling of collective participation in a 3-dimensional environment with an immersive experience. The metaverse and the web3 enable creators’ economy and the ability for content creators to monetize their content and skills, and participants are rewarded with incentives.
What is needed to interact with the metaverse?
To interact with the metaverse platform, a non-custodial wallet application is required.
Software/applications
Metamask
Trust Wallet
Computer web browser
Hardware
Computer
Smartphone
VR headset (Oculus): is required to have an immersive metaverse experience
Metamask and Trust wallet applications work on smartphones, all you need to do is install the application from the apple store or google play, create your wallet, make sure you write down your seed/keyphrase and keep it secret. Metamask can also be installed on a computer browser as a plugin. Some web browsers have a built-in crypto wallet integrated, such as the “Brave” browser and opera crypto developer browser.
Popular metaverse platforms
Here is the list of the most popular metaverse platforms.
· CryptoVoxels
All you need to access cryptovoxels
Mobile phone (Metamask or Trust wallet)
1. Download wallet application on the app store or google play store
2. Install the application
3. Create a wallet address
4. Write down your seed phrases
5. Keep your seed phrase secret
Computer (Metamask)
1. Visit https://metamask.io/
2. Download and install Metamask
3. Create a wallet address
4. Write your seed phrases
5. Keep your seed phrase secret.
6. Visit https://www.cryptovoxels.com/
7. Connect your wallet
8. Start interacting and explore
Attending a metaverse event on cryptovoxels is free. Avatar can be customized and configured to your liking, and you can create a unique name to go with your avatar. A few days ago, my friends and I were invited to a Saint Patrick’s Day party on cryptovoxels with live music to socialize with others. Avatar and wearable can be purchased, rented, and created on cryptovoxels as an NFT collectible, which opens unlimited socio-economic opportunities for artists, including wearable as a service. Artists can also sell their arts as collectible in the marketplace. Cryptovoxels, like other metaverses, allows artists to create on a free space allocated during signup, and participants can explore and interact with the arts in the space.
Here are other notable metaverse platforms
· Sandbox
· Decentraland (Connect wallet or play as a guest)
· MetaHero
· Star Atlas
· Bloktopia
· Roblox
Conclusion
The metaverse is not a magical place but an interactive environment for social engagement, participatory culture of affinity communities, and hyper-ledger distributed marketplace for an immersive experience. The metaverse is a convergence and integration of the physical world and the virtual environment. The web3 and blockchain technology ecosystem is one of the fastest-growing ecosystems that enable creative freedom and incentivize participation. The metaverse enables interactivity using avatars as proof of identity.
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References
Sam Gilbert (2022) Crypto, web3, and the Metaverse. Retrieved from https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Policy-brief-Crypto-web3-and-the-metaverse.pdf
Gupta and Singh (2022) Evolution of the Web 3.0: History and the Future. Retrieved from https://insights2techinfo.com/evolution-of-the-web-3-0-history-and-the-future/
JOHNNY LYU (2022) The metaverse will change the paradigm of content creation. Retrieved from https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-metaverse-will-change-the-paradigm-of-content-creation
Oli Welsh (2022) The metaverse, explained While boardrooms chase a VR internet no one asked for, video game metaverses are all around us. Retrieved from https://www.polygon.com/22959860/metaverse-explained-video-games
