The metaverse is often imagined in the same vein as its science-fiction cousins - parallel dimensions and alternate universes. The term was coined in a 1992 science fiction novel, by Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, which depicts a virtual-reality based internet. While a shade less fantastic, the metaverse has practical far-reaching applications to society and has the potential to transform sectors such as education, health care, manufacturing, job training, communications, real estate, entertainment, and retail.
What is the metaverse?
Currently, there is no authoritative, agreed-upon definition of metaverse. Thought leaders, however, agree on the common elements. Media and gaming venture capitalist Matthew Ball, in an interview with McKinsey, cited the following:
- The metaverse encompasses immersive environments, often (but not always) using virtual-reality or augmented-reality technology.
- The metaverse is “always on” and exists in real time.
- The metaverse spans the virtual and physical worlds, as well as multiple platforms.
- The metaverse is powered by a fully functioning virtual economy, often (but not always) built on cryptocurrency and digital goods and assets, including nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
- The metaverse enables people to have virtual identities, presence, and “agency,” including peer-to-peer interactions, transactions, user-generated content, and “world-building.”
The metaverse traces its origin to as far back as 1962, when Sensorama, the first immersive theater, was created. It is widely recognized as one of the first virtual reality systems. The gaming industry was at the forefront of the evolution - from the first game to represent players as avatars (1974's Maze Wars) to 1990's Neverwinter Nights, the first massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) to the present Roblox, which now has 47 million daily active users globally and 9.5 million developers who build out “experiences,” aka user-created worlds and games.
The metaverse is not all games, however.
The power of the metaverse is anchored on it addressing the challenges of a world significantly changed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the full fruition of the technologies that power it - blockchain, internet of things, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and virtual reconstruction.
The pandemic restricted mobility and physical, on-site interactions and transactions. Metaverse stepped up with virtual environments, tours, shows, experiences, and consultations.
Other use cases of the metaverse include:
Real estate
In the metaverse, Web 3.0, buying real estate is akin to acquiring a webpage in web 2.0's -you may use it to build your own city, your store, as an expression of personal identity, house NFTs or digital collectibles, or own the digital token of a real-world property. Virtual property has a breakthrough potential for the real estate industry, with far-reaching and long-term consequences.
Currently, just over 25,000 individual cryptocurrency wallets are used to invest in metaverse real estate and other assets.
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplaces
The metaverse is the ideal platform for more exciting and realistic NFT marketplaces where users can interact with other users, look at desired NFTs, and make better buying decisions. In-game tokens and digital art work can be bought and sold, all within an immersive, all-digital economy.
Virtual work and learning spaces
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught new-economy businesses an important lesson - adopting digital modes of communication and doing business is key to survival. AR and VR makes remote work, online classes, and other work-from-home arrangements more compelling and engaging through graphically rich virtual environment, 3-D avatars, and immersive meetings.
Virtual businesses and markets
The metaverse ups the e-commerce experience a notch from the two-dimensional surface of e-commerce to lifelike virtualized spaces. Purchases and advertising can also be extended to real world interactions via AR technologies.
Expansion of social media platforms
Mark Zuckerberg wants to get ahead of the game. His first step? Re-branding Facebook to Meta. Metaverse has the potential to introduce a three-dimensional space that is not limited to watching people on computers or mobile screens and listening to their voices.