The tech world is inevitable, metaverse continues to be a hot topic even today. Metaverse still might not into full existence, however, it was first narrated two decades ago.
Many tech billionaire moguls are spending billions to build it and looking at it as prosperity in the future.
Author Neal Stephenson wrote the novel “Snow Crash”, and the author showed a character of a hacker in a virtual world where avatars meet- describing the ‘Metaverse’.
Surprisingly, the fictitious concept of Stephenson is still today, as it could be real.
Table of contents
1. What is Metaverse?
2. Examples of Metaverse
3. How is the metaverse changing the world?
4. How is Metaverse Different from the Internet
5. Replacement of the internet with metaverse
6. Difference between social media and metaverse
In 2021, Facebook was renamed as ‘Meta’, surprising the users and that was the time Mark Zuckerberg got a Knick for being motivated to bring the metaverse to his business. Even China’s- Tencent, a tech conglomerate, declared its intention to engage with the metaverse. Since then, most of the companies have been involved in the concept of partnering with themselves and raising funds.
Many digital experts speak about Metaverse technology, what it is, and how it will change the world once it comes into reality.
So, what is Metaverse?
Metaverse is the next generation of the internet world. Many experts believe that the metaverse technology is powered by a completely functioning virtual economy that is often built on digital assets and crypto including NFTs.
It is built on a digital environment possibly to go ideally between shopping, work, socializing, playing, etc. in one digital landscape. In friendly usage, the metaverse is a network of virtual worlds in 3D that focuses on social interaction.
‘Pokémon Go’ phone game is not new, it is based on the metaverse to experience the physical environment with digital where the real world is covered with digital objects and surfaces.
At present, metaverse is a trading platform- the big corporates are building the blocks involving games and technology companies. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook (Meta) are in the way of competition to draw big technological resources for designing their metaverse offerings. Equivalently, the metaverse could be described as bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds- technologies like 5G, blockchain, VR, and AI working on this principle.
Some Real-World Examples of Metaverse!
However, metaverse is in the early stages, but there are already several platforms and experiences that are often referred to as examples of the metaverse.
- Second Life: Second Life is a virtual world that has been in existence since 2003. Users can create avatars of things and interact with each other in a 3D environment. Second Life has its own economy, with users buying and selling virtual goods using a virtual currency.
- Fortnite: Fortnite is a popular video game that has been described as a “social space” by some reviewers. Players can interact with each other in a shared virtual world, and the game is constantly evolving with new experiences and events.
- Roblox: Roblox is a platform that allows users to create their own games and experiences using simple programming tools. These games can be shared with others and played together in a shared virtual space.
- VRChat: It is a social VR platform that allows users to create and share their own virtual worlds. Users can interact with each other in these worlds using customizable avatars.
- Decentraland: it is a blockchain-based virtual world where users can buy and develop virtual land, create custom avatars, and interact with each other in a shared space.
How is Metaverse Changing the World?
Skeptics will continue about how the metaverse is changing the world. It’s changing the people in the business world.
Are you a potential business owner who runs an online company? Metaverse might change your lifestyle. You can run a virtual office for your employees to start working remotely with metaverse.
Many service-based companies are going in online mode and operating through metaverse workspace. Virtual icebreakers and online team building make new connections to work with different people across the world.
Here are some fascinating ideas that may occur soon to influence daily life with the metaverse technology-
- Retailing
Retailers like Amazon and Warby Parker have already established ways for customers to try out the products without buying them yet.
Even brands can try metaverse to let users try on clothing- creating a more attractive online shopping experience.
Can you imagine what design of clothing suits your body? With the development of technology like a metaverse, you can try clothes virtually before buying.
- Medical Field
Reaching out to the doctor virtually could be beneficial for the general patient and the general physician.
A doctor can help a patient remotely- for a medical practitioner, metaverse can provide benefits like patient monitoring, getting digital payments easily, improved online care, etc.
Indeed, a patient gets a good level of treatment- all done with metaverse technology.
- Fostering Innovation
The metaverse can work as a sandbox for experimentation and innovation, it helps companies to use innovative tools to have a better experience, especially in online programs and seminars.
For example, virtual icebreakers allow employers to work remotely and could use digital workspaces.
How is Metaverse Different from the Internet?
Let’s figure out straight away the metaverse is different from the internet in many ways-
The metaverse provides an immersive experience with 3-D, that simulates the virtual world, on the other hand, the internet is a 2-D network of web documents and pages.
The base of the metaverse is about digital human interaction, and with the real-time environment by using avatars to represent themselves, at the same time, the internet is designed for one-way communication.
The metaverse lets the users have virtual ownership of assets and properties which can be monetized and traded while the internet is being dealt with digital content and information.
The metaverse includes the convergence of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and blockchain- it combines these technologies to make a consistent virtual environment. Simultaneously, the internet focuses on sharing a piece of pieces of information and joining people.
It is a virtual world that basically differs from the internet world.
Replacement of the internet with the Metaverse?
Is it a Matter of dilemma?
Still, debates continue about how metaverse will replace the internet. Whether or not it will replace the internet. There is no surprise many things are getting replaced by bots or automation, such as automated cryptocurrency dealing.
Honestly, metaverse will take years to be in its realistic version. We can imagine what the metaverse looks like, games like Roblox and Fortnite or other virtual reality products might help you to recognize it, but over time we will come across more improvements of the metaverse.
The bottom line, the metaverse is built on the internet only.
Metaverse can enhance the internet but can’t replace it. How interesting is Metaverse vs Internet? Let’s clear the ignorance around these two. Metaverse drives the result with super-fast internet.
Let’s have additional clarification of how metaverse expands or enhances the internet-
Metaverse- Virtual Reality (VR)
Internet- Smartphones/Computers/
Metaverse- Experience all Virtually
Internet- Websites/Software Applications
Metaverse- NFT/Crypto
Internet- In-app purchases
Metaverse- Natural UI/UX
Internet- Using Mouse or Touch for 2D Screens.
Metaverse- Universal ID/Personalized Digital Avatars
Internet- User ID/Profile Pic
Metaverse- Everything is set in 3D.
Internet- Images, Audios, Videos, Text
Forget Metaverse vs Internet a fact that these two might become more integrated in the future, with the metaverse will be serving as a new layer of interaction and experience on top of existing internet infrastructure.
Let’s not consider the metaverse a replacement for the internet, accept it as an internet 3.0!
So, until now, we have covered some hot topics about metaverse, let’s discuss-
The difference between social media and metaverse
There is no apprehension, metaverse and social media are two different concepts, however, both may have some similarities.
As all know, social media is a digital platform that allows users to share, create, and interact with their interests to others virtually without traveling.
It is designed for the purposes like sharing photos, videos, messages, and games. Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok are well-known social media platforms- unforgettable.
On the other hand, metaverse refers to a virtual shared space for the users to interact with a computer-generated environment in real-time.
Metaverse is often imagined as a fully immersive 3D environment, just like a video game but with an economic and social function that lets the users collaborate and interact with others.
Some platforms that were once considered gaming spaces are gradually turning into social media spaces. Fortnite and Roblox are some famous ones.
Some social media platforms exist in the metaverse- for example, ‘Gravity’ that offers users the ability to manage their news feeds and rewards them to be on the platform with crypto-tokens- Gravity is considered a unique SocialFi Project.
In the end, metaverse is the digital world that allows people to engage and interact with each other, while social media focuses on connecting people in the digital world. Metaverse is part of virtual reality, while social media is part of the internet.
This is how each differs from the other.
Who is Leading Metaverse?
The concept of metaverse is being explored and developed by various companies across various industries including entertainment, gaming, finance, and technologies.
It is difficult to say who is leading the development of metaverse technology and metaverse marketing. Of course, some companies are spending enough on the development of metaverse platforms that enable users to create, interact, and share in the virtual world.
Many prominent companies like Facebook- rebranded itself to Meta has knocked others to start focusing on developing the metaverse.
Roblox, Decentral, Fortnite Creator Epic Games, and Somnium space are the notable players in the meta space.
In the marketing of the metaverse, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and Ethereum provide the blockchain infrastructure to enable a decentralized virtual economy.
In short, the rise of the metaverse is an integrated effort by many companies and is likely to happen to continue shaping and affecting the development and evolution in the coming years.
Well, keeping this whole topic in mind, curiosity will be continued about the metaverse. Concerning the advancement of internet and emerging technologies, a lot is needed to wrap up the mind!
FAQ
· How will the metaverse affect your life?
Metaverse will be empowering the design of our own environment and sharing our experiences with others. It will be influential on how people interact with others- socially and personally.
· What does the metaverse mean for the world?
Do you want to have a digital experience as an alternative to the real world? That is what metaverse is. It provides aspects like interaction, trading, and economy.
· What is Facebook Metaverse?
Don’t get confused with it. Facebook was rebranded to Meta in 2021 by Zuckerberg, the idea was to focus beyond social media to build the future version of the internet-the “metaverse”.
· Who is dominating the metaverse?
Tech experts answer it is ‘Microsoft’- it has introduced “Microsoft mixed Reality” to interact effectively in a 3D world.
