You should know about the Metaverse
The pandemic has pushed us towards an impending digital transformation. The tech leaders of the world have been working on separate technologies like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and NFTs, which are but of limited value when used standalone.
Then comes Metaverse, projected as a future where all these digital or virtual entities will come together to form a virtual world or ‘The Metaverse’. The famous author Yuval Noah Harari in his book ‘Homo Deus’ talks about the future we build for ourselves with the latest technologies.
With Metaverse we take it one step ahead to rewrite the rules of how we interact with the virtual world and with each other within that world!
Currently, it holds the potential to become a digital alternate to our actual reality, a place to collaborate and perform activities enabled by various standalone virtual technologies, bought together to function seamlessly.
What the f*** is the Metaverse?
Metaverse is a combination of two words. Meta and Universe. Meta means ‘beyond’ and ‘verse’ is taken off from the universe. So, something that is beyond our current universe. One can also say that it describes the future of the internet as we see it today.
So in a nutshell, Metaverse is a place between the real and the virtual for people to come and collaborate whilst finding value in the activities they do. People through their virtual avatars will be able to interact with applications across digital technologies within the metaverse framework. Blockchain will make Metaverse an open economy, the one which will be owned by its people. VR design and headsets will make it operational. Your avatars will be able to experience Augmented Reality within the Metaverse. You will be able to transact using Cryptocurrencies. You could buy a car or a virtual piece of land. You could build a stadium to host a concert or build an art gallery to showcase and sell NFT art. You could win cryptocurrency at a casino and then use it to rent a movie or even buy video game weapons and power boosters, all within the metaverse.
This will all be done by the family of technologies consisting of the following foundations:
- The internet
A decentralized network of computers which is not owned by any single entity or government, and does not require the central permission of any such entity to use.
- Open standards for media
Including text, images, audio, video, 3D items, 3D scenes and geometry, vectors, sequences, and procedures to generate and combine any of these things.
- Open programming language standards for any of the above
Such standards include HTML, JavaScript, WebAssembly, WebXR, WebGPU Shader Language, etc.
- eXtended Reality (XR) hardware
Such as smart glasses, haptics, and omni treadmills.
- Decentralized ledgers and smart contract platforms
For transparent, permissionless, and censorship-resistant transactions. Examples include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Flow, and Theta, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and many others.
What lies ahead
These form important foundations for the ownership economy that will support the metaverse and make it a viable public good
Right now, we have some prototypes of what a metaverse could be, but we are only scratching the surface. What is for sure though is that we are living in very exciting times. Internet bought the world closer, blurred geographical boundaries in terms of how we connect with people. Metaverse will bring people even closer by enabling them to come together in this virtual space, share interests, interact and collaborate, changing the way we play, work and experience life.
