Metaverse — the future of Internet?

An introduction to the popular term metaverse, and all that you should know about it.

Being a technologist, this term Metaverse attracted my interest and I hope I am not sailing alone. Many of you would have travelled in the same boat like me. With the recent rebranding announcement by Facebook (now Meta) and tech behemoths like Microsoft competing to win in this race that would potentially define how the virtual world powered by computing would look like in future — I just tried to explore a bit and present here my views and understanding of Metaverse.

It is told that the term Metaverse is coined by Author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash,” in which he envisioned lifelike avatars who met in realistic 3D buildings and other virtual reality environments.

What is Metaverse?

It’s a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality and video where users “live” within a digital universe. Supporters of the metaverse envision its users working, playing and staying connected with friends through everything from concerts and conferences to virtual trips around to the world.

How does the metaverse look like right now?

The metaverse is a place where people can do real-life things — like work out, meet with colleagues, or take a class — but all online and in virtual reality. Currently the metaverse already exist — which you could experience in online game universes such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox. And the companies developing those games have ambitions to be part of the evolution of the metaverse.

“These are virtual worlds that, when you’re inside of them. It is not just like you’re inside a kind of a cool video game, but much more. you can do just about anything in the metaverse.”

Industry experts predict that it would take 5 to 10 years for the metaverse to emerge as a mainstream technology, in spite of the technology currently exists. Wide spread availability of ultra-fast fiber internet speeds, virtual reality headsets and persistent always-on online worlds are essential for the metaverse to exist. Although such kind of infrastructure is already up and running in many parts of the world, they are not accessible to many at present.

Microsoft already uses its hologram technology and is developing mixed and extended reality (XR) applications with its Microsoft Mesh platform, which combine the real world with augmented reality and virtual reality. Just recently, the beginning of this month, Microsoft announced its plans for bringing mixed-reality including holograms and virtual avatars to Microsoft Teams in 2022. Also, the company is working on for next year — explorable 3D virtual connected spaces for retail and workplaces. Beyond that, Xbox Live already connects millions of video game players across the globe, too.

Facebook on the other side, is heavily investing on their next gen platform / medium which would bring in an immersive and embodied experience. Not just like a user using it.

Online gaming platforms like Fortinite, Robolox today allow their users to create and experience their own persistent virtual universe.

What all can I do in a metaverse?

Communicate : You will be able to communicate with other people with voice or text.

Navigate : You can navigate the virtual word through your avatar. This is the core interaction of the metaverse in fact. Your friends, other people or even companies would set up stores, museums, games, houses, casinos etc. you just go find them and interact with them.

Create: You will be able to build your own things like, structures / buildings and display it to the rest of the virtual world. How do you create / buy? Using crypto currency. There come the monetization aspects in metaverse.

I would say monetization will become the key driver in the emergence / growth of metaverse.

How can I monetize in metaverse?

Experts say that monetization already began and we all will rely on some form of crypto currency. If you do not understand what crypto currency is — there are plenty of articles out there that can help you.

Who knows, metaverse can even have banks in future. 😊 Most of the things in metaverse have to be purchased with cryptocurrency. You may have your digital wallet or bank account where you will have your money loaded.

Buying and selling digital assets would become common in a metaverse. You will be able to buy all sorts of stuff like clothing, land, buildings, cars and other assets.

In fact, metaverses are nowhere near ready for the masses. However, the future looks very disruptive for all types of metaverses.

I am just recalling the Avatar movie character Jake sully now. For a person like someone who is disabled, an accommodating Metaverse might be life-changing in this virtual world.

To wind up

I hope that you now have a better understanding of what a metaverse is and can further educate others. How far is a user-friendly metaverse, well it’s close, but still far away. Companies like Disney and Meta recently announced plans to create the Metaverse. So, I am keen to watch how this would make an impact on people, technology, budget and other resources.

Metaverse may not be built by one company alone. Just think of it like the next gen Internet. No company can claim to own internet. However, there is still this unanswered question — whether people really want the future of internet to be the metaverse.

Stay tuned!

Originally published by me at https://www.mumas.in.