What Is Metaverse and Why Are People Talking About It?

What Is Metaverse and Why Are People Talking About It?: We have been hearing about the metaverse a lot lately. Some of us are still new to this reality, which is going to be the future of technology.

In recent months, tech companies from Facebook to Microsoft have touted the virtual world's promise for their operations. According to analytics firm GlobalData, mentions of "metaverse" surged by more than 135 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 conference calls after Facebook renamed itself to Meta. We are sure are entering a new and improved tech-driven, especially after the Pandemic. This explains why so many new internet subscriptions including Spectrum internet services subscriptions were observed around the US to keep everyone connected.

What Is Metaverse and When Was This Term Coined?

The term metaverse originally appeared in Snow Crash, a dystopian cyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson back in 1992. According to the novel, Metaverse is a 3D virtual reality space that can be accessed via terminals and VR google (much like VR headsets). This space is basically an urban environment created along a 100-meter-wide road.

In the modern world, the metaverse (as defined by Mark Zuckerberg) is referred to as an online environment where people may interact, work, and play as avatars. Those places are shared and always available. They don’t disappear once you've finished using them (like a Zoom call).

There Is a Metaverse That Already Exists in Gaming

metaverse already exists in the gaming world. Consider Fortnite for instance. It’s a multiplayer online shooting game in which an average player spends hours playing the game, creating their own avatar and engaging in battles with other plays. Players can also earn virtual currency, which they can use to buy clothing and other accessories for their avatars.

Another example is Second Life. It is an online multimedia platform created back in 2003 that allows people to create their own avatars and live a second life in the virtual world. Users can also shop and create a property in the virtual world to improve the quality of their virtual lives.

In video games, virtual reality is also rather advanced. The PlayStation VR which is a headgear that plugs into PS4 was released back in 2016. But these were only stepping stones on the way to the full metaverse, which is continuously evolving. Fast internet connections, sophisticated VR headsets, and a vast audience of gamers have made it easier to live in a richly animated simulation.

What Will Be a Metaverse Like?

To connect to a metaverse, you will need a VR headset to experience the immersive, 360-degree digital universe.

You will have your own customizable avatar. Users will also get digital assets with titles that will be stored on a blockchain. You will also be able to buy digital land and build homes where you can invite your friends and entertain them.

This may sound crazy, but bets on the value of digital land have already begun. A Canadian company called Tokens.com has invested over $2.5 million in Decentraland. It is a 3D world platform that is a spiritual descendent of GeoCities or Second Life. This land accepts payments in cryptocurrency.
Everything that we are able to do on the internet today points to how the metaverse is likely to grow. It’s going to be a mix of everything – gaming, VR, AR, telepresence, avatars, and social media.

What Do You Need to Enter a Metaverse?

For now, all you need is good-quality VR headsets. Much of the equipment required depends on where you want to go.

To get into Facebook’s metaverse, you will need Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. Although the device is self-contained and does not require a PC or game console to function, it will cost you $300. Other VR headset manufacturers include HP, Valve, Sony, and HTC. By the end of the year, you can expect more headsets to appear on the market. Some of them might also connect to our smartphones.

If you want, you can also access existing metaverses from your computer, tablet, or phone right now by exploring the world of Roblox and Minecraft. Although it isn't a complete metaverse experience, these platforms are pretty successful and they can give you a glimpse of this new universe.

Will Metaverse Replace the Internet?

Much of the metaverse sounds like the internet itself, which begs the question will it ever replace the internet? Since Zuckerberg called it the “embodied internet”, the concern is real.

Metaverse is basically an online playground where you can do stuff. It’s different from the internet because it’s supposed to be a “presence.” It is meant to give us a sense of physically engaging with people and places instead of watching them through a screen/window. It’s not going to replace the internet. It will need the internet to operate and exist. One thing is for sure, the future of Metaverse is going to be bigger and better than what we see in Roblox and other platforms.