The word Metaverse is derived from the prefix “meta” (beyond) and noun “verse” (universe).
The Metaverse is a medium beyond the universe, where you can interact with virtual objects with real-time information thereby creating borders between different digital environments and the physical world. It’s like stepping into a whole new virtual world.
Attempts to create the Metaverse started way back in 1992 but were typically gaming related. With the new wave being led by Facebook (now Meta), work-related use cases and ideas around communication, socializing, entertainment, gaming, education, and business can be materialized into a single Metaverse.
Let’s look at a few features of the Metaverse:
It’s a whole new world. You might have witnessed something similar in sci-fi TV programs or movies, where your avatar can socialize with other users whose avatars are also in the same Metaverse. You can thereby interact in a digital space, rather than meeting the person in real life.
This concept combines Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and information. Your digital self in the Metaverse is represented by an avatar that enables you to move around digital areas that can look similar to the real world. You can see other real users with their digital avatars in the same virtual world.
Figure 1 represents the combination of digital & real worlds which share common activities.
AR enables us to paint digital content over the real world. The most famous examples of apps where digital content is combined with the real world are Snapchat and Pokémon Go.
In the digital environment, the user can control content and objects virtually, interacting with them in the virtual space. The Metaverse concept applies to all real-world experiences in the virtual world. For example, your avatar could take a walk and meet friends around the virtual Taj Mahal in India.
You could visit a Samsung store inside a virtual mall and buy products that can be delivered to your real-world home, as the environment knows your physical address and other details. Payment can be processed on any digital payment medium. In this new world, we are not visiting any physical store but traveling there and having an experience virtually. It is almost as if you are visiting yourself.
Movies such as Ready Player One and Free Guy are classic examples of the Metaverse and how it could be imagined.
Some events are organized and attended by people in the Metaverse, as well. Use cases like these are not limited to physical restrictions.
Industries are working to improve the virtual world with interesting possibilities we may not have imagined yet, in which this new virtual world would act as a second life in itself.
There are few apps where you are paid for the virtual content you create. Soon, you could be able to purchase a space or house with the help of cryptocurrencies in the Metaverse.