Many of you must have seen the popular TV series Black Mirror on Netflix or any other OTT platform. This series shows us a dystopian future where the development of technology affects human behavior. An episode of the TV series depicts a future where a human being, in the grip of technology, forgets to differentiate between the virtual and the real world.
Our future is also going to be the same in the next few decades. Now we are going to step into the world of a metaverse, where there will be a virtual world along with the real world. You might have also heard the term “Metaverse” several times on the Internet and you probably have many questions in your mind about it.
In this article, we will discuss what is the metaverse, how this is going to change the Internet world and after the advent of this future technology, will we really forget to differentiate between the real and the virtual world?
Table of Contents
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is an evolution of the stage of the Internet where reality will be given a virtual form. In this virtual world, we will have virtual avatars of you and many others with whom we will interact in 3D form.
In this augmented reality world of the Metaverse, we will need to have a VR (Virtual Reality) headset to meet with each other virtually. Today, the world’s largest tech giant companies are investing billions of dollars in Metaverse to make this project a success.
How will the world of metaverse be like
The way we interact with each other in the real world today is by physical means. Similarly, in the world of the Metaverse we will interact with each other in augmented reality. Not only that, we and our friends will have virtual 3D avatars in this Metaverse world, with whom we will be able to do anything which we can do in the real world.
We will be able to buy a virtual house and land for our living. We can travel to different places around the world without being physically there. On Metaverse, we will be able to enjoy disco, play sports, watch movies, and do other things with our friends together. However, for all these things to happen, you have to use VR box which will give you the 3D experience of all this virtual world.
Human avatars in virtual form
The metaverse would be a virtual world. In this world of augmented reality we will all have a virtual image called avatars. These avatars can already be seen in the gaming world today where we buy equipment and different clothes for our characters. Similarly, people will spend money to improve their clothes, shoes and hairstyles for their counterparts in the metaverse world.
Metaverse as business platform
Parallel to the normal people who will use metaverse to interact with their friends, family, and colleagues, there will also be businesses, companies and small virtual shops present on the metaverse who will offer you various services and products such as clothes, land, hair styling, shoes, and other stuff. Metaverse is also going to become a very big business platform in the upcoming years.
Many big brands of clothing, footwear are planning to enter the world of metaverse. Soon their virtual shops will be available on this platform. You will be able to buy these things on Metaverse with the help of cryptocurrency and NFT (Non Fungible Tokens). In such a situation, on one side many people will take advantage of the services on this platform. On the other hand many people will earn a lot of money by selling these services.
3D virtual meetings in metaverse
You will be able to attend business meetings with your digital avatars on the metaverse. You and your allies will have the exact same virtual appearance. You can have a meeting with them and the whole experience will be very close to what real meeting feels like.
Apart from that, you will also be able to work with your office colleagues on the metaverse platform. You can work at the comfort of your home without going to the offices. In the world of augmented reality, you will be able to experience working with your fellow employees on mountains, rivers or other virtual beautiful places.
Online learning in metaverse world
The education sector will also change completely after the arrival of the metaverse. During that time the relevance of going to school will be completely lost. Children will be able to enjoy the full school experience simply by putting an AR or VR box on their eyes.
Seeing this future change, schools will also have to change the way they work today. They have to get an exact replica of their school on the Metaverse. Today many big OTT platforms, news agencies, big clothing brands etc. are all set to bring their service on the metaverse. Let’s see what the future unfolds.
Pros of Metaverse – What are its advantages
- Metaverse will bring people together via virtual medium.
- People will have a lot of fun. They can play games, watch movies, have social gatherings, travel to their different places with their friends, family and loved ones even when they aren’t physically together.
- Metaverse will make work from home and online learning more advanced and interactive.
- It will be a good opportunity for businesses and companies to sell their online products and make profit.
- Metaverse will take gaming to the next level.
Cons of Metaverse – How will it affect humans
- After the arrival of the metaverse, humans will start being confined to themselves. The physical social life will be gone to many extent.
- As everything will go virtual from schools to offices to meetings and social gatherings, humans may even forget to differentiate between the real and the virtual worlds.
- People will meet virtually in metaverse which will severely affect the real face-to-face physical interaction. Due to this, the person will be alone most of the time.
- Being alone most of the time will make a person prone to depression and many other types of mental illnesses.
- The virtual world will be the new status symbol for people. Those who won’t be able to afford expensive things in the metaverse will feel inferiority complex.
- There is a risk factor of addiction with metaverse. Like kids are addicted to games today, people will be addicted to be in the virtual world and they may forget the value of real life and nature.
Who are developing metaverse?
Speculations are being made that Microsoft may be able to beat the world of Metaverse. The Bill Gates company is doing great work in this area. Microsoft’s Mesh platform could revolutionize the world of the metaverse. This platform was launched by Microsoft at its Ignite event in the year 2021. You get to see tremendous holographic rendering on the Mesh app. Till now, there is no one even near to this technology.
At the same time, Facebook has also entered the world of metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg is investing in this sector in a big amount. However, the company that is leading the race in the metaverse is still Microsoft. Metaverse is going to be a very big domain, way bigger than the Internet 2.0. Keeping that thing in mind, we can say that there will be collective collaboration of many companies to build this virtual world.
Examples of metaverse
Now since you know a lot about what the metaverse is and how it’s going to look, let us have a look at some examples where you have already seen Metaverse being used.
Horizon Worlds by Facebook
Horizon Worlds is an online virtual reality game developed by Meta Platforms (formerly named Facebook). As of now, this game is in beta stage but it has been launched in countries like US and Canada. Facebook describes Horizon Worlds as a social experience where you can explore, play and create with others in VR.
Movies and series on metaverse
There are already many movies and web series made on the concept of virtual world which are quite similar to the metaverse. These are sci-fi and adventure based movies. If you love this genre, you can definitely watch them to know more about metaverse. Some of the examples are Black Mirror, The Matrix, Sword Art Online, Ghost in the Shell, Her, Ready Player One etc.
Travis Scott virtual concert in Fortnite
Fortnite is a battle royale game developed by one of the most popular gaming companies named Epic Games. Over the years, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite, has made clear references to establish Fortnite as more than just a game. In 2020, 12.3 million people attended rapper Travis Scott’s virtual concert within Fortnite, making it the world’s first biggest online virtual concert.
General FAQs on metaverse
No, Facebook is not the owner of metaverse but it is the big player making this virtual world come to life. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, is investing billions of dollars in the metaverse project and hiring experts at high scale from all around the world. Facebook has been renamed to Meta in order to reflect the idea of what the company is working toward i.e. metaverse.
The answer is no. Metaverse is basically a virtual world but it has similarities to the real life. You can do things on the metaverse which are possible in the real world such as buying clothes, travelling to different places, attending office meetings, going to schools, to name a few.
Yes, it will be safe to use metaverse but as everything has some pros and cons, the same applies in this case as well. Metaverse is going to be a world of virtual reality where you can be a victim of online frauds, bullying, and other online threats.
Metaverse is made up of two words: meta and verse. Here meta means beyond, on the other hand, verse means universe, So metaverse means a world which is way beyond our thinking.
The term metaverse was first used by science fiction author Neil Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. Many similar words have been invented from novels such as cyberspace, robot, etc.
Wrapping up
Metaverse is going to revolutionise the world in the upcoming decades. It will totally change the way how people used to interact with each other today. As much as the metaverse has advantages, it has equal amount of disadvantages as well. Some people are afraid that technology will take over the world and it can have adverse effects on human behaviour and lifestyle.
Let us know what are your views on the metaverse and the concept of virtual world. We have shared all the information related to this topic. If you have any questions, free free to share them in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to share this article with your friends and family on social media.
