Metaverse — A no brainer introduction

Introduction to Metaverse

This is the first of a multi-part series aimed at providing a 360 degree view on the metaverse and how it will disrupt businesses in all industries.

Introduction

Once in a while, a new technology comes through that challenges our fundamental ways of living in our world. When electricity was invented every single mechanical device needed to be re-invented leading to a avalanche of new machines; when internet was invented all of a sudden, information is no longer stuck with one person; when smartphones were invented, it literally became our extension of ourselves, in a way making us things which were previously not possible. Now we have such a transformative invention called the metaverse.

History

The term metaverse is first mentioned in the science fiction novel “Snow Crash” by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992 which talks about a dystopian society where governments have collapsed.

Figure 1: Avatars socializing in the 2003 virtual world Second Life (Image credit: By HyacintheLuynes — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The invention of today’s metaverse dates back to the invention of blockchain in the 2010s as parts of the metaverse are built on the decentralization made possible by blockchain. However the precursor to metaverse has been around in some form or another as early as in the 2000s. For example, Second Life, an online virtual platform that allows people to create an avatar of themselves and have a second life in the virtual world. So, what exactly is metaverse?

What is Metaverse?

According to one of the early adopters of idea of metaverse, Matthew Ball “The Metaverse is a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments.”

Here is another definition, this one from Investopedia, “The metaverse is a digital reality that combines aspects of social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually. Augmented reality overlays visual elements, sound, and other sensory input onto real-world settings to enhance the user experience.1 In contrast, virtual reality is entirely virtual and enhances fictional realities.”

Here is my way of looking at it:

The Metaverse is an immersive world of interconnected experiences built on the concepts of blockchain, web 3.0 and interactive hardware devices.

Just like the present day internet, the metaverse is where you would go to work, hang out with friends, shop and play, just to name a few. However in today’s internet (web 2.0) these are presented to us in the form of websites and applications whereas in the metaverse all these activities are built as virtual-world replicas of real world so that you could feel more natural about interacting with it. In addition to being the replica of the physical world, since the world is virtual, it brings the best of digital — things that are not possible in the physical world.

For example, to buy a Samsung phone today, you might visit Amazon.com to check out features, then maybe visit Youtube to see some reviews and might visit the store to get the feel of the phone before buying it. In the metaverse, you will virtually visit a Samsung Experience Centre, pick a Samsung phone from the store, interact with a virtual associate who would give you an in-store experience from the comfort of your home, watch product reviews in the virtual store itself and then go on to place an order to get it home delivered. In the future, you can even feel the device in your hand (through haptic hand gloves). Also, there is not a single metaverse, there are many of them, each with its own policies and digital currency.

Guiding Principles

The metaverse is driven by few guiding principles. They are as follows.

• Metaverse, unlike a game, never resets, pauses or ends — it is persistent.
• It is live and synchronous for all inhabitants of a metaverse — If you and I have a coffee in a public cafe in a metaverse, a third person visiting can see us in the cafe and even engage in a conversation.
• There is no cap to concurrent users. Metaverse is essentially unlimited. In today’s virtual worlds, there is always a player limit which is due to limitations of today’s technology. Metaverse will make it a thing of the past — imagine a concert where 1 billion people join live in the metaverse all watching the concert simultaneously
• Metaverse comprises a fully functional economy where inhabitants or players can create their digital assets, buy land, invest in digital assets through non fungible tokens and be rewarded for different activities performed in the digital currency used in that metaverse
• Metaverse is pervasive — it will span across virtual worlds and our physical reality, and have public and private spaces.
• Metaverses allow interoperability so that you as a person can seamlessly travel between metaverses without having to start all over again. Your assets bought in one metaverse can be taken with you when you join another metaverse
• Metaverse empowers createrors through its decentralized creator economy so that creators can directly sell digital goods to customers without having to be dependent on a single platform.

Figure 2: Guiding principles of Metaverse

Myths about Metaverse

Now that we understand what metaverse is, let’s clear the most common misconceptions. People today believe some aspects of metaverse as metaverse itself — it’s like saying apps are smartphones. Many of the below aspects are part of the metaverse; however they are not the metaverse itself.

• Metaverse is not just a virtual world filled with AI humans and virtual experience. Metaverse will not provide just a synthetic and fictional experience; it will provide an experience that will reflect the physical world, but going way beyond that.
• Second Life, a popular virtual space built in 2003, is dubbed as Metaverse. Metaverse is not just a virtual space like Second Life, since metaverses are built with components of web 3.0, with an economy run by a decentralized currency running on a blockchain. Also, metaverse is not centrally owned but by a group of creators.
• Metaverse is not just a virtual reality experience provided by the likes of Oculus Rift since just the presence of something in the virtual world doesn’t make the world a metaverse.
• Metaverse is not just a virtual economy. Saying that is like saying Amazon is internet
• Metaverse is not just virtual stores like that of Dressex in Decentraland or Disney’s theme park. That is like saying Walmart.com is the internet.
• Metaverse is not just another app store. No one wants another app store.
• Metaverse is not just another user generated content platform like Facebook or YouTube because these platforms are siloed and content is centrally controlled by a company

Figure 3: Metaverse Myths

Why Now?

The trends and the numbers show that metaverse adoption is picking up pace. Adding fuel to fire is the big companies investing billions into the emerging trend. Not without a reason. According to a Gartner article, Metaverse will bring the kind of revolution that moving from Analog to Digital brought to the world. Fortnite, a metaverse-like web 2.0 gaming world hosted an in-game concert with DJ Marshmello which had 11 million concurrent players watching the concert and another 27 million views on YouTube. Morgan Stanley in an article stated the market size of Metaverse to be approximately $8 Trillion — In China Alone as it would replace smartphones over time.

Figure 4: Mark Zuckerberg speaks to an avatar of himself during the announcement of Facebook’s name change to Meta

In addition to this, big companies are pouring in billions of dollars in building metaverse experiences. Facebook changed its name to Meta in Oct 2021, highlighting that they are going to be a Metaverse first company and not a Facebook first company. Facebook has already invested USD 10 Billions so far in metaverse related technologies and experiences. Apple most certainly is working on an immersive experience head mounted display which is expected to be out in the market late 2021 or early 2022. Industry experts believe that the iPhone moment of the metaverse is here leading to big expectations.

Conclusion

While Metaverse is still a few years away from creating the magical experience that everyone wishes from it, the seeds of the same are already sown. Big companies and startups are rushing to become the next Google, Facebook, Amazon and Walmart of the metaverses. It makes sense considering that in the world of digital, the winner takes it all. To understand how future metaverses will develop it is important to understand the components of the metaverse which will be covered in another part.

Checkout Part II where I explain the components of the metaverse.