" alt="" title=""/>The metaverse is a term used to describe a virtual space in digital environments such as online gaming, social media, and virtual reality. It is a combination of the prefix “meta”, which means beyond, and the stem “universe”.
The Metaverse was coined by Neal Stephenson and is indeed the stuff of science fiction. He talked about this at length in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”, in which people put on virtual reality headsets to interact in a game-like digital world. The book has long enjoyed cult status among entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley.
The term, which comes from digital antiquity, was reinterpreted as an oasis in Ernest Cline’s novel “Ready Player One”.
Freed from cultural and economic sclerosis, a utopian metaverse can be presented as a new frontier in fiction, at which social norms and value systems can be rewritten. But more often, metaverses are a bit dystopian, virtual sanctuaries from a fallen world.
Recently, Metaverse has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the tech sector, and companies are pouring millions of dollars into its development.
“The next big leap”
Metaverse is a vision of the future that may sound fantastic, but is banking on tech titans like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as the next big leap in the evolution of the Internet.
It refers to shared virtual worlds where land, buildings, avatars, and even names can be bought and sold, often using cryptocurrency.
In these environments, people can walk around with friends, visit buildings, buy goods and services, and attend events.
With the help of augmented reality glasses, you can see information right before your eyes as you stroll through a city, from traffic and pollution updates to local history.
Popularity increased
As Covid lockdown measures and work from home guidelines pushed more people online for both business and pleasure, the concept has grown in popularity during the pandemic.
Games in which players immerse themselves in immersive digital worlds offer a glimpse into the possible metaverse and blur virtual conversation with the real economy.
World built on blockchain
Back in the early 2000s, the game Second Life allowed people to create digital avatars that could interact and shop with real money.
More recently, lots in Decentraland, a virtual world where visitors can watch concerts, visit art galleries, and gamble in casinos, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in MANA, a cryptocurrency.
‘More than a game’
The hugely popular video game Fortnite has spread to other forms of entertainment as well. 12.3 million people logged in to see rapper Travis Scott perform last year. Fortnite owners, Epic Games, said in April that the recently raised $ 1 billion would be used to support their “vision for the metaverse.”
And on Roblox, a gaming platform popular with kids, a digital version of a Gucci bag sold for over $ 4,100 in May, more than the physical version would have cost.
(With contributions from agencies)
