Since Facebook renamed itself to Meta, there have been discussions and debates about what is Metaverse going around.
Not too long ago, a Metaverse-based NFT real estate company called Metaverse Group bought a piece of land on a virtual real estate platform called Decentraland for €2.43 million. This was the highest amount ever spent on virtual real estate.
Metaverse has suddenly become an important trend topic even though the concept has been around for almost three decades. Therefore, Monica Weber, the author of CasinoSpotDe, has decided to answer all of your questions.
However, the answer to the question "What is Metaverse?" is not simple. This is because there is no Metaverse yet and nobody knows what it will be in the future.
Metaverse has been referred to as the "quasi-successor of the mobile internet" and it is said that Metaverse will not replace the internet completely but will build upon it and iteratively change it.
What is the Metaverse for? There are several possibilities
- For Games
- For other entertainment
- For work
- For study
As the Metaverse is constantly evolving, it is quite possible that by the time it becomes reality, it will be much more comprehensive and immersive than one can imagine today.
The Origin of the Metaverse
The word "metaverse" is a portmanteau of the two words "meta-" and "verse". The word "meta" is a Greek-origin prefix meaning "beyond", while "verse" comes from the word "universe".
It was first used in literature by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 dystopian novel Snow Crash. In the book, the metaverse is presented as the ultimate evolution of the internet - a sort of virtual reality where every virtual interaction can have direct consequences on the real world.
The book pretty much sums up what the metaverse is. It is a physically persistent virtual space where there are virtual avatars, digital social interactions and games, among many other unique things that we associate with the metaverse today. Snow Crash also highlights how the metaverse affects the development of the protagonist's real world, including a conspiracy that drives people insane who are connected to the virtual world.
Since the book's release, several other books, movies, and TV shows have explored the concept to varying degrees, including Steven Spielberg's much-anticipated film Ready Player One (2018), based on Ernest Cline's 2011 novel of the same name.
What they all have in common is that the metaverse is a virtual reality where people can do everything they can do in real life, depending on the era's progress.
What is Facebook's vision of the Metaverse?
On October 28, 2021, Facebook announced that it was renamed Meta Platforms Inc. or simply Meta - a name that was carefully chosen to benefit early from what will be the inevitable future of human connectivity and perhaps even life itself.
Zuckerberg makes no secret that he does not view this project as an interesting experiment or as a spin-off of the company. He openly explains that the Meta-world is the future of Facebook. At a meeting with investors, he said that Facebook is already spending around 5 billion euros per year on the development of the technology that will lead to the creation of the Metaverse.
"I think we're going to make the transition from a company that's seen as a social network to a company that's going to be running," he said.
The Meta-world development team will be part of Facebook's Reality Labs division, which focuses on research in the area of extended and virtual reality.
Zuckerberg pointed out that the Meta-world will not simply be a series of devices that are connected to the same social network (in fact, we already have such a series). Zuckerberg describes the future Meta-world as "a series of experiences that are as realistic as possible."
Imagine that in 10 years we can do in a digital parallel universe what we want: drink coffee, drive, relax on the beach or play roulette. And while we're all waiting for this phenomenon, you can play in new German online casinos. You don't have to be physically present, but the feelings and sensations will be very hot.
Is anyone else still in?
Microsoft is another big tech company trying to build a metaverse. Its idea is called Mesh. One of the most interesting features is what the company calls "holoportation." Simply put, users can project their holographic selves onto other users.
Virtual and augmented realities can best be experienced with HoloLens devices—a uniquely immersive way to experience "holoportation." But Mesh can also be used with VR headsets, phones, tablets, or PCs.
At first, projections will be represented as animated avatars. Over time, it will become a photorealistic, lifelike projection. Similar to how the characters in Star Wars interact with each other via hologram projection.
The introduction of Mesh for Teams is expected in 2022. It's clear that Microsoft is focused on how routine work can be made more immersive in a metaverse.
Other Metaverse Platforms
Some of the more advanced Metaverse platforms include Roblox and Fortnite. The former is particularly interesting.
Roblox was launched in 2006 and has since become so famous that in 2020 more than 50% of American children under 16 played the game, but it is more than just a game.
To compare, imagine a fair where visitors can play games at stands. Roblox is like a giant carnival in the virtual world. Users can create their own games on the platform and make money from them by exchanging them for the virtual currency Robux, which they earn on the platform.
Recently, Venture Beat reported that the company's technology chief, Dan Sturman, said at the GamesBeat Summit Next event that Roblox creates a Metaverse around its players. This is obviously because companies like Nike and the National Football League (NFL) have entered the Metaverse with NIKELAND - a virtual play area - or the Roblox Store.
While Nike announced its partnership on November 18, the NFL came out with its news ten days later.
Fortnite, on the other hand, is one of the biggest "competitors" in the Metaverse space. The game, launched by Epic Games in 2017, started as an online multiplayer game and has since evolved into a larger social media space where celebrated musicians like Ariana Grande give concerts.
But have we experienced the Metaverse yet?
Hardcore gamers have certainly. The Sims, one of the most famous games of all time, allowed players to experience a simulation of life through their virtual avatars when it came out in 2000. The numerous sequels and spin-offs have only made "life in virtual reality" more intense.
The Sims gave a taste of what a future Metaverse might look like. In 2003, Linden Lab, an American technology company, launched an application called Second Life. Both fans of virtual reality and experts credit Second Life with technically laying the foundation for the Metaverse.
Second Life allows its users to experience exactly what the name suggests - a second life. Real people can create their virtual 3
AR and VR shape the metaverse
The advent of VR headsets like Oculus has given a big boost to the idea of the metaverse. A lot of money is already being made with games that are tailored to VR headsets.
AR takes it one step further, where the user's reality perception is enhanced through the use of technology. It's as if you're getting more data about an object in the real world while viewing it through an AR device or headset.
A classic way to understand this is to look back at the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) where Iron Man is the lead character. The Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr. (also known as our favorite Iron Man) has repeatedly shown technology that is still beyond imagination. There are several scenes where he's wearing the Iron Man suit and getting information and multiple visualizations on his heads-up display (HUD) of things he's seeing in real time. To a large extent, that's AR. But it is, after all, movies; Iron Man is going into areas of insanely advanced technology that will take several decades to become reality.
The speed at which the real world is trying to make VR/AR and the metaverse a reality is, however, really impressive. Apple Inc. is already involved in AR and claims to have "the world's largest AR platform." Several AR apps in the App Store can be used for anything from upgrading Snapchat videos to exploring 3D projects in AR.
Nreal, a Chinese AR company, developed the Nreal Light glasses in 2020 and will be shipping the cheaper Nreal Air glasses to China, Japan, and South Korea starting in December 2021. In addition, the augmented reality glasses for consumers look like regular luxury glasses and make the experience of augmented reality even more exciting.
What is the future of the Metaverse?
The fact is that the Metaverse will become as real and commonplace as the Internet. As we can see, it's just a matter of time.
When asked by CNN what he thinks about the future of the Metaverse, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney said, "I think it's going to take a decade or more to really reach the endpoint, but I think it will happen."
At the same time, Sweeney said, "The Metaverse will not be created by a single company. It will be created by millions of developers, each of whom contributes their part."
In other words: The Metaverse is still being built stone by stone, and everyone will be involved in its creation.
Conclusion
Even though the metaverse is causing a lot of excitement, it seems like a lot of this excitement is just hype that's being spread by tech and social media companies themselves. If you're interested in the metaverse as an investment opportunity, you should be patient, because its meteoric rise is just beginning. The effects of the metaverse will be even greater in the future, so you can look forward to a lot.
