Metaverse: THE RECENT BUZZWORD IN TECH AND BUSINESS
Do you have an idea of how the future version of internet will look like? Well, experts, digital networks’ CEOs and many other tech businessmen are growing the roots of Metaverse referring to it as “the next big thing”. As Metaverse is starting to unfold and expand, people are excited to discover this immersive transition in the digital world. However, Metaverse it is still a blurry nebulous concept for some. Therefore, this article will attempt to simplify this vast and incredible idea to you.
So what does the term Metaverse mean?
Metaverse It is a composed word that means “beyond” (meta) “universe” (verse). People use the Metaverse term to refer to the next stage in the development of the internet. Simply, Metaverse concept is about merging social media, websites, mobile applications and video games in a three-dimensional format. As we all know, the Internet is a two-dimensional media type that includes text and image. On the other hand, Metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual world that provides a whole universe instead of a simple internet page support through incorporating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Overall, people will be able to extend their capabilities to experience the world; that means that we will be able to interact in a more mesmerizing way than a traditional one. Believe it or not, our daily lives are literally going to be digitized through incarnating ourselves in a virtual world. Users will alternate into a digital reality universe and live within in.
How so?
We can say that Metaverse already exists on the Internet. It’s just in a 2D format right now. Nevertheless, the Metaverse concept is being integrated with multiple developed technologies combinations along with artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality in order to span the physical and virtual worlds simultaneously. That is to say, Metaverse includes a culmination of the Internet and boundless technological possibilities that will help connected experiences to coexist such as meetings, traveling, shopping, working…etc. As Mark Zuckerberg shares his vision of bringing the Metaverse to life together saying that “the Metaverse will be social. 3D spaces in the Metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine.” The most interesting thing about this idea is that the 3D virtual environment is imbedded by avatars of real people. So first, (redundant choose first or foremost), people must create their own avatars, which is “a creation engine that allows users to generate new activities of their own“. Basically, creating an avatar in the Metaverse world is as important as getting an ID card in real life.
Metaverse is already here!
Some argue that Metaverse is just a reflection of the physical world, and therefore it remains unreal. Well, it is actually more powerful than it seems to be; think of it as if science fiction is becoming a reality. At first, the term Metaverse was coined in Snow Crash, a 1992 sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson, where it refers to a shared virtual space. Then in 1999, the perfect analogy of Metaverse (that you may have already heard of or watched) was shown in the movie “The Matrix” where people lived in a virtual environment with the incarnation of their bodies in VR equipment. Besides, the games industry already ran into Metaverse concepts like Epic Games in Fortnite, Roblox, Second Life, Minecraft… and some others. All of these games tried to emerge the Metaverse and changed the way people entertain themselves.
THE METAVERSE INVESTOPEDIA
With the increasing popularity of crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and online gaming, there’s plenty of potential coming to metaverse stocks. According to Jed Strong, CEO of gaming payments company Tiv. Metaverse is gaining huge influence upon an investor’s point of view. As J.Strong states: “It’s going to be a very, very gradual process,” he said. “And I think there is something, a little bit of tension, because the market is so hot.”. For instance, Facebook- that recently renamed itself meta-spent at least $10 billion on its Metaverse division. Mark Zuckerberg announced his plan to turn Facebook from a social network into a Metaverse company in just five years. He intends to make Metaverse be used as a workplace where you can work, shop, play, attend seminars as an avatar, using Quest VR headsets. In addition, Microsoft Corporation provided a tremendous capital for its 365 Connected Spaces, Apple for AR technology and Shopify for digitalization of assets. On that account Bloomberg estimates Metaverse investment to be worth $800 billion by 2024.