What Is The Metaverse?
If you’ve heard or joined in on the discourse surrounding the Metaverse, you should know that the term ‘Metaverse’ is nothing new. The term Metaverse is not exactly a space or area but a moment in time where both our physical and digital realms are interconnected to the point where we will evolve into a shared and connected virtual world. Sounds familiar? Well it’s happening right now, we can see this through our ability to work, play, shop and a multitude of other scopes in an immersive 3D realm.
WHY THE METAVERSE IS THE FUTURE?
Hollywood and the entertainment industry has painted a futuristic depiction of what the Metaverse will entail, we can see this from the movie, Ready Player One. Although Ready Player One was based specifically around an virtual online game, we can imagine that the Metaverse will consist of parallel virtual universes where individuals can connect and interact with each other along with an extensive array of options to do whatever they would like to do and design their avatars to their liking. However, the Metaverse can be used for just about anything from art to finances to online workspaces and virtual property. As technological development and evolution has advanced significantly within the last decade, it is only logical to explore this new way of living and there are already metaverses out there that you can join. By following this digital revolution, the way we consume, play, work and socialize will evolve, not only in the digital sphere but in our physical reality too.
What already exists in the Metaverse?
We already know that video games play a big part in the advancement of the metaverse, with World of Warcraft booming in the early 2000s to Fortnite becoming popular after its release in 2017. However, the possibilities are endless to what we can actually do within the Metaverse. The Metaverse has also recently seen celebrities joining in on the movement with Travis Scott holding a completely virtual concert within Fortnite and Snoop Dogg creating his own interactive realm within an online universe. You can currently also see a rising trend in NFTs and virtual real-estate. The biggest influence that has accelerated interest in the Metaverse is Facebook changing their parent company’s name to Meta, propelling the tech giant away from social media to a new digital age.
What the future holds for the Metaverse?
As of right now, the technology is still being developed to support an entire virtual ecosystem of sorts where every individual on Earth can interact on an interconnected web of virtual universes. Once the technology exists to support a shared, synchronized experience for all parties involved, there are endless possibilities for what can be accomplished in the Metaverse. Everything from paying bills, to buying consumer goods, festivals and global events, may move to the Metaverse. Below are a few of the next generation technological advancements that will emerge and be utilised within the Metaverse:
- XR – XR stands for ‘Extended Reality’, Both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are considered in Extended Reality. A Metaverse would not exist without these technologies creating content such as 3D models and renderings, audio, and other multimedia types.
- AI – Artificial Intelligence will be a digital frontier in the Metaverse too, it will help aid in the development and advancement of the overall metaverse experience, improving the way in which we communicate and navigate our way through the metaverse with content-rich information..
- IoE – Coined as the ‘Internet of Everything’ will be our means of providing the ultimate driving power for the metaverse, connectivity between devices and a flow of data is absolutely necessary to create a seamless experience and feed the entire system.
- Digital Humans – Also known as ‘Non-Player Characters’ or ‘NPCs’ for short will be integrated into the metaverse to possibly provide information and make our experience more comfortable as digital butlers.
- Neural Interfaces – Neural Interfaces take the metaverse up a notch as they will act as a bridge between both digital and physical reality. The ones being developed right now such as Neuralink aim to enable a fully immersive extended reality, allowing individuals to control aspects of their metaverse experience with their nervous system.
FINAL THOUGHT
The Metaverse represents an exciting new frontier in digital evolution to connect the physical and digital worlds. From art and finance, to online workspace and virtual property, Metaverse has unlimited possibilities. For now, we could see Metaverse through the rise in NFTs and virtual real estate, as well as celebrities joining in on the movement. In the future, the Metaverse will rely on XR, AI, IoE, Digital Humans, and Neural Interfaces, which will aid in the development and advancement of the overall Metaverse experience, improving the way we communicate and navigate through the Metaverse with content-rich information.
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