Shruti Khemka Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you couldn’t awaken? How would you know the difference between dreams and reality? The Matrix trilogy had us asking questions we couldn’t dream of. The movie brought about a revolution in the genre we know as science fiction.
The humans plugged into the Matrix don’t realize they are in a simulated dream and sleep through their entire lives. Think of metaverse as being the same just you are thereby your own choice and you get a sort of animated world than a real one.
What is a meta-verse?
The Metaverse is a controlled, online, three-dimensional environment that integrates numerous virtual spaces. You can think of it as a mall with many shops or a country with many states. It is comparable to a future rendition of the internet. Thanks to the Metaverse, users will be able to collaborate, assemble, play games, and fraternize in these 3D environments.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the Metaverse is a virtual world where individuals can connect, attend meetings, acquire real estate, and much more. This has been featured in science fiction films such as Ready Player One and the cartoon series Jonny Quest from 1964. The Metaverse allows people to execute virtual everyday tasks, resulting in a virtual economy that runs alongside our real one.
Although the Metaverse does not yet exist in its entirety, metaverse-like elements can be found on various platforms. At the moment, video games give the closest metaverse experience available. By holding in-game events and building virtual economies, developers have pushed the boundaries of what a video game can be.
Let’s do a deep dive into Metaverse and video games.
Video games and Metaverse
If you are a gamer or just a curious reader, you will know how virtual reality has long been a strong contender in the gaming industry (VR). Early 2D immersive games, such as Minecraft and Second Life, showcased features of the now-completed Metaverse, such as 3D avatars, world-building, and observation as a form of gaming.
Gamers that are serious about their hobby may attest to this. When it was first released in 2000, The Sims, one of the most well-known games of all time, allowed players to experience a life simulation through their virtual avatars. Its numerous sequels and spin-offs have only added to the overall immersion of “living in virtual reality.”Gaming now has a new home, thanks to businesses like Meta and Epic Games attempting to create a connected universe of virtual realities.
Gaming will overpower VR spending for the next few years, according to 59% of industry experts. Among all other use cases, 64 percent said gaming has by far the most potential to gain from VR.
AR and Metaverse: Learn More
Augmented reality will power the Metaverse, with each user managing their own character or avatar. Some characteristics of the Metaverse can already be seen in virtual video game worlds. Games like Second Life and Fortnite, and work socialization tools like Gather are examples. Multiple aspects of our lives are brought together in online realms by town. These applications aren’t the same as the Metaverse, but they’re pretty close. The Metaverse does not yet exist.
In addition, the market is developing a variety of employment associated with virtual reality gaming, including game designers, producers, programmers, artists, and business, sales, and marketing positions. I think we can all get behind more jobs, right? According to 3Dinsider, job posts for designers, programmers, and artists for VR games increased by 93 percent between 2015 and 2018.
Due to its specific applicability for games, such as HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, VR headsets are gaining popularity across the market. For example, Sony claimed that it had sold over 4.2 million PlayStation VR headsets worldwide in March 2019.
Covid and VR
With the recent spread of COVID-19, the market for virtual reality gaming is seeing a substantial boost in acceptance, as most countries have imposed multiple lockdowns, and people are spending more of their time playing virtual reality games. Many VR gaming providers, such as HTC Viveport, offer various options to encourage consumers to stay at home and play rather than go out. The annual subscription to Viveport Infinity, for example, has been reduced by 75%, from USD 107.88 to USD 27.
The future of Metaverse intertwined with gaming is as bright as a shooting star.
Metaverse, NFTs, and Crypto tokens
We all have at one point wondered why is everyone talking about crypto, blockchains, NFTs etc. You know you have too! Each of these entities, the Metaverse, NFTs, and Crypto tokens, serves a specific role while also sharing and contributing to the evolution of the others. Let us first learn what NFT and crypto are to understand them better.
What is NFT?
NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens are a type of non-fungible token. NFTs are digital assets that may be purchased and traded using blockchain technology. They are not fungible, though, and are thus classified as a different form of investment, one based on value and popularity.
What is a crypto-token?
On the other hand, crypto tokens unlike cryptocurrency coins, tokens do not have their own blockchain. They use bitcoin blockchains in their work. Ethereum, for example, is used by several tokens, including stable coins.
Multiple metaverses?
There are several Metaverses to choose from. And many companies are working on these, each with its own set of network protocols. The purpose of these Metaverses is to allow for more crossover between our physical and digital lives. You can think basically of all different metaverses as countries and the one final culmination of them which will be the Metaverse as the world. Confused, believe me, I was too!
As you know cryptocurrencies are digital assets used as a medium of exchange and a store of value in these virtual worlds. While cryptos are primarily used to handle transactions and other tasks related to the physical world, cryptocurrencies are digital assets used as a medium of exchange and a store of value in these virtual worlds.
NFT’s in Metaverse
There are also NFTs, which allow one-of-a-kind digital artworks to be purchased or sold on the blockchain. When it comes to paintings, only a few people can claim to own a Monet. Others can manufacture prints of the original, but they aren’t as valuable as the original.
Thanks to NFTs, users can have complete ownership over their digital assets in the Metaverse. Blockchain technology underlies these virtual worlds by providing irrefutable proof of ownership.
If you acquired a quantity of LAND in Decentraland, for example, the Metaverse would supply you with verification evidence in the form of NFTs, which the blockchain would secure.
On the other hand, the Metaverse’s money is a cryptocurrency, and each Metaverse has its own set of coins. They’re used to paying for everything from NFTs to virtual real estate to avatar shoes. I know right, we have to pay for shoes there too, this is blasphemy!
For example, MANA, Decentraland’s native token, can be used to buy and sell anything on the platform. Another widespread Metaverse uses SAND, the Sandbox’s native token.
Anyone with a simple understanding of the above can see how the virtual world is heading to a broader virtual reality. The future looks very straightforward yet beyond recognition.
Companies currently investing in Metaverse
The industry was keen to refocus its investments and behind whoever would build the future when Facebook rebranded itself as Meta. But who is it that is constructing the Metaverse?
How can you define ownership for a concept that is basically decentralized and democratic? No single firm will own the Metaverse, as Meta clarifies its claims.
The Metaverse will be built by various organizations, individual developers, grassroots innovators, and the final piece of the puzzle that we shall describe later.
Nonetheless, a few corporations have already begun to invest in this approach. Some of them are as follows:
Facebook (Meta)
The majority of the seven infrastructural aspects we mentioned that establish the metaverse may be found on Facebook. It may launch a workable prototype in 2-5 years thanks to its Oculus headsets, an extensive social media marketing engine, and a growing creator economy.
Apple
In the race to the Metaverse, Apple could be a surprising dark horse. It is currently developing advanced virtual reality equipment that can transform the metaverse experience.
Morgan Stanley even went so far as to claim that, like the smartphone and tablet sectors before it, mass-market adoption of the Metaverse is dependent on Apple.
Microsoft
Meanwhile, Microsoft is attempting to create a work-focused metaverse that will connect its massively popular offerings in a digital environment known as Mesh.
You’d be able to access Microsoft Teams, Windows, and other services in VR through Mesh.
Epic Games
Epic Games, the creators of the popular immersive game Fortnite, was always well-positioned to create their version of the metaverse. This year, it made its goals clear by launching a $1 billion investment round to help the metaverse flourish.
Decentraland
Decentraland was one of the first companies to cite the Metaverse as a core product. It has progressively gathered traction since its creation in 2017, with a piece of real estate within its virtual reality realm recently selling for a record $2.4 million.
Niantic
Pokémon Go, developed by Niantic, was one of the first immersive experiences that blur the barriers between real and virtual worlds.
Niantic has an investment of $300 million to create its own Metaverse. An alternative to the “dystopian horror” is the current picture of Metaverse. This early flurry of activity leads to a single conclusion: user adoption, and eventually user-generated content from you, is the key to developing a successful metaverse.
Facebook’s rapid rise, as well as Microsoft’s, Decentraland’s, and other companies’, is inextricably related to user growth. This is, by far, the most challenging obstacle to overcome.
Conclusion
Even though the internet has been present for nearly three decades, we have yet to adopt 100% Web 2.0. For the Metaverse to succeed, stakeholders must focus on lowering adoption obstacles and resolving user skepticism as it is constructed. Web 2.0 alludes to sites and applications that maximize user-generated content for end-users. In other words, Web 2.0, is front and center providing people with various communication channels.
The contrast between Web 2.0 and 3.0 is that Web 3.0 is more centered around utilizing technology like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to provide each user with relevant content designed for them rather than bombarding users with content that is generic.
Furthermore, Web 3.0 is here to stay. Although certain versions of Web 3.0 technology are still in their early phases, if you’ve done a simple Google search today and utilized natural language to obtain an answer to your issue, you’ve already experienced the benefits of this next chapter in the World Wide Web’s tale.
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