5 things I learned about the Metaverse– and you should know too
Following Facebook’s rebranding as Meta to reflect its concentration on the “metaverse,” Microsoft has said it will enter the field as well. While Meta has predicted that the metaverse will eventually allow us to engage across educational, business, and social contexts, Microsoft appears to be concentrating on the virtual workplace for the time being.
But what exactly is the metaverse, and how much should we accept that the vision that is being presented to us will be important to our daily lives?
The concept isn’t novel in and of itself. In his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, science fiction author Neal Stephenson invented the word “metaverse,” describing a 3D virtual world in which people, represented as avatars, might interact with each other and artificially intelligent agents. Many people have attempted to impose their own definitions on the metaverse, as they do with any large picture of a future that does not yet exist. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it may be helpful to learn about some of the qualities you can expect from a metaverse.
1. A virtual world: In my opinion, the most significant feature of a metaverse is its virtual world. You might experience 3D images and sound while exploring it on a computer, gaming console, mobile device, wearable technology, or other device. The notion is that you will feel more present in the metaverse and less present in the real world as a result of this (where your body stubbornly remains).
2. The use of virtual reality For this, you’ll need a virtual reality headset. The idea is that by immersing yourself in the virtual world, you would feel even more present — at least until you come across something that stays in the real world, such as a coffee table.
3. Other individuals. The metaverse is a social environment. There are a slew of other people there, all of whom are represented by avatars. Some of these avatars could be bots, virtual agents, or artificial intelligence forms. You can socialize with the other members of the group or even accomplish stuff together. Given Facebook’s background as a social network, the social aspect is likely to be key in its metaverse.
Fans of the metaverse and some experts claim that communication is more natural than video conferencing since you may use gaze to show who you are addressing, for example (your avatar can turn its head to look at another person). To initiate a discussion, your avatar might walk over and sit next to someone else’s avatar.
4. Perseverance. This means you can access the virtual world whenever you want. You can alter it by adding new virtual buildings or other things, and the modifications will be retained the next time you return. You might be able to move in and own a piece of the property. In the same way that social media relies on user-generated content today, the metaverse will rely on your user-generated content — your digital inventions and personal stories.
5. The ability to connect with the real world. In certain metaverse views, virtual objects in the virtual world represent real objects in the real world. For example, you could use a virtual drone in the metaverse to control a real-world drone. People refer to the physical and virtual worlds as “digital twins.”
What can I do in a metaverse, and when will I be able to do it?
Different organizations will most likely have their own visions or even local copies of the metaverse, but they will all be connected, allowing you to move from one to the other, just like the internet.
It’s conceivable that certain things will be more enticing and practical right away than others. Gameplaying appears to be a logical leap, as many gamers already love online gaming, and certain games have already infiltrated the metaverse to some extent (think back to the characteristics above).
It’s also enticing to be able to socialize or meet with individuals and feel as if you’re actually there with them in person — especially in today’s epidemic age. We don’t yet have a good picture of Meta’s metaverse offers. Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, listed several options when announcing the rebranding. You might be able to hologram yourself into a real conference or play chess with someone halfway around the world on a virtual chessboard superimposed on the real environment.
The metaverse, according to Facebook, will be our future internet interface. But it remains to be seen whether we will one day be able to access all internet services using 3D virtual worlds and virtual reality glasses.
Despite numerous huge firms’ attempts to bring headsets to market in recent years, including Facebook’s purchase of Oculus, they still look to be a niche technology. I believe Facebook will have to be in this for the long term, and that their vision of the metaverse will take many years to materialize.
Last but not least,
Stephenson’s original metaverse vision was exhilarating, but it also had a lot of potential for harm, both online and offline, ranging from addiction to criminality to the disintegration of democratic institutions. Governments were demoted to being mostly inconsequential paper-shuffling outposts in Stephenson’s metaverse, which was mostly owned by enormous businesses.
Given the present global tensions between big companies and governments over privacy, freedom of speech, and internet dangers, we should seriously evaluate what type of metaverse we want to build, and who gets to build, own, and manage it.
