A New, Digital World: The Metaverse
A deep dive into understanding the Metaverse and how it will impact society
Introduction
Silicon Valley’s new favorite buzzword: Metaverse. What exactly is it? Why should we care? How will it impact us? These are the many questions that, rightfully so, have come into purview following Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on October 29th that Facebook will rebrand to Meta. This marked a huge turning point in the development journey of Facebook and the digital world. Here is everything you need to know about the Metaverse.
What is the Metaverse?
The idea of the Metaverse is actually not a new concept. Its first appearance was in the 1992 science fiction novel, Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson as his prediction for what the successor of the internet would be. Shortly thereafter, Jaron Lainer, a computer scientist, was the first to mention the term virtual reality (VR), which would later blend Stephenson’s prediction with Lainer’s applications. VR was built for military, NASA, airlines and automaker applications because those organizations were the only ones that could afford the technology (the cost of a headset was approximately 3 million dollars in today’s terms). The term Metaverse consists of the combination of meta, which means beyond, and universe. It is the mixing of worlds, where buildings, land, avatars and names can be sold and bought using digital currencies. People can do virtually anything in the Metaverse: spend time with friends, buy goods, attend meetings and events…the list goes on.
How Long Has the Metaverse Been Around?
The closest parallel to the Metaverse nowadays is video games, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft (5 million subscribers), and Runescape. Second Life was at its peak popularity in 2007 with thousands of daily active users who created avatars to live a ‘second life’ in the Metaverse. These video games did what many internet giants, including Facebook, are trying to do today: build and move people into a digital world. Microsoft recently announced a work-focused Metaverse concept where professional teams can collaborate using avatars and VR. New startups, such as Gather, are building use-case applications for how teams can work together digitally. And of course, Facebook wants to build a 3D digital world where socializing, working, and gaming can all be done from the comfort of one’s home.
What’s to Come
Imagine putting on a headset, teleporting straight to the office (goodbye, commute!), checking in at your friend’s house for a coffee break, and then attending a live concert during lunch. The best part? You haven’t left your couch and it’s barely noon. Virtual reality is just the tip of the iceberg. Augmented reality, or technology that displays images on a user’s real-world lens, is being ushered in through spectacles, goggles, and other spatial recognition devices to help human’s apply a digital lens to our physical world. These devices have the ability to increase future-of-work productivity, education across all levels and borders, and improve internet accessibility as we know it. The use cases for the Metaverse goes on.
There is so much that the Metaverse unlocks by way of financial freedom and security. Since cryptocurrencies will be required to buy, sell, or trade in the Metaverse, a digital economy will form. A digital economy that runs parallel to the fiscal economy, one that crosses boundaries to the Metaverse, will raise the stakes for global economies around the world to wake up and help us move to a decentralized world. A digital world.
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Sources:
https://blockonomi.com/forget-facebook-meta-the-metaverse-will-be-decentralized/
https://www.reuters.com/technology/what-is-metaverse-how-does-it-work-2021-09-08/
https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/us-news/2021/10/29/617bfcbc46163f7f628b457c.html
https://www.information-age.com/looking-into-future-of-metaverse-123497104/