Metaverse is the hot current favourite topic nowadays. Be it techies, tech giants, or celebrities, everybody is talking about it. Facebook has rebranded itself as Meta, while Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard, a game developing giant at US$ $68.7 billion. It was Mark Zuckerberg’s (founder of Facebook) grand ambition to build a future of social media platforms as a metaverse company. Tech companies are betting on the metaverse as they believe it is the future of digital connectivity, virtual and augmented experience, and e-commerce. With corporate giants like Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Google investing significant time in the metaverse, it has become a desirable space. Let us understand this metaverse and why it is gaining much attention.
Metaverse is a digital reality universe that will connect you socially using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, and digital media. It is a digital life, like a parallel life to the physical world, where you can virtually do anything, like eat, shop, attend concerts, etc., in your digital avatar. According to Mathew Ball (a venture capitalist and angel investor), “It is a 3D version of the internet and computing at large.”The metaverse term was coined by Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash in his science fiction novel in 1992. It gained attention when Facebook renamed itself Meta. It is a digital stage where people can go virtually to interact and engage with their customized avatar and assets. Currently, only the gaming industry has mastered this concept of virtual reality. However, many new initiatives are experimenting with the idea. For example, the entertainment and Music industry are hosting their concerts in the metaverse. In addition, the top soccer franchise, Manchester City building a virtual stadium. This stadium will allow fans to watch and experience the game virtually. People will be able to enjoy real-world experiences. These experiences will be made possible through the virtual economy.
It is easy to relate and explain the metaverse through a video game, but it is far more than just a video game. The gaming world has adopted this concept long ago. For example, Fortnite is a shooting game where you can have your avatar, engage and interact with other participants, and earn virtual currency to have the advantage over things like unlocking other players’ avatars or moving to the next level with specific benefits, etc. Another close example to envision the metaverse is a simulation game called Second Life. In this, the avatar can perform anything that can be done in real life like shop, eat, bath, etc. According to techies, the metaverse will take virtual reality experience to a new level altogether. It will allow people to do everything through their digital avatar, from hosting concerts, and parties, buying/selling land, and to even getting married in this virtual world.
The techies believe that the metaverse will change the world’s future. The digital economy will grow by many folds and become the growth driver for the world economy. You will know the actual value of metaverse when it brings real change in people’s lives. For example- the students can experience what exactly happens while performing forensics, or a train/car mechanic can remotely learn and fix the problem. However, the metaverse is nascent, and all these uses will have a long way to go.
The safety of metaverse is still under discussion and is a significant concern. However, eventually, it will become a surveillance tool.Will metaverse create a safe and responsible environment is something to wait and see. Metaverse is presently in the state where the Internet was in the early 90s. It’s evolving, so let us wait and watch.
Experts and Techies believe that metaverse is a future. They anticipate that a large population will be part of this in some way or another by 2030, considering much work is still required.Currently, there are many challenges like:
• Hardware accessibility.
• Interoperability on different platforms (like taking clothes from one to another)
• Commercial and legal problems •Issues in policing
•There is not a guarantee that people will be eager to connect virtually.
All these above challenges are vital for metaverse success.
Metaverse is like nirvana for the digital world, where you can immerse yourself. It will be similar to the physical world, where you can virtually feel and see anything, anytime and anywhere. It represents a major shift in how we interact interact and communicate. This change is ecspecially significant in todays fast growing digital world. In other words, it mimics the natural world through virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, and digital media.
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