Metaverse: The Virtual World of Possibilities

Metaverse: A brief introduction

Imagine you are meeting your relatives not actually but virtually in an artificial world. You are wearing special headset glasses that take you to another world where your avatars can do whatever you cannot do in the real world. This is what the metaverse claims to be: a virtual reality space where users can interact with each other through their avatars and can even buy properties in this world. Avatars are the characters that are created by users to interact in the virtual world. Metaverse is slightly different from the technologies that we use today. Our mobile devices and computers are based on 2D technology, whereas the metaverse is based on 3D technology, in which we experience everything not as viewers but as players.Mark Zuckerberg, while introducing the metaverse, said "the next platform after the internet will be ever more immersive. It is an embodied internet where you are in the experience, not just looking at it, and we call this the metaverse".

Where did the name Metaverse come from?

The term metaverse is the combination of two words "meta" and "verse". "Meta" word has been taken from the Greek language, which means "beyond", and "verse" is taken from the word "universe". So, as the name suggests, it is beyond the universe and reality and generally used for artificial worlds.

This term was first used in 1992 in a book called Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It tells us about a dystopian world where the real world has been destroyed and the outside environment is no longer liveable for humans or animals. As a result of this, they are confined to their rooms and have to take support from virtual reality in order to survive in a social environment and keep themselves mentally healthy.

Many companies have tried to create virtual worlds on Metaverse. Many artists have performed virtually at their concerts and sold their tickets to the audience. Facebook has changed its name to Meta, claiming that now it is not a social media platform but a metaverse platform. Thus, it can be seen that the metaverse has become a bee in a bonnet because of its growing craze around the world.

How this platform was created

This is a combination of many technologies, which are discussed as follows:

• Virtual reality: Where we have to wear special headset glasses At present, the animations are not completely developed, which fails to create real effects when we are using these glasses. Moreover, these headset glasses are so heavy that we cannot wear them for a long time. It will cause headache and eye strain. It is expected that these glasses will eventually be available in our size.

• Augmented reality (AR): It is a combination of some artificial elements with some real elements of the world. You might have seen Google’s AR, where we can create the effects of animals and cartoons next to us.

• 5G technology: As it is a virtual world, a lot of data needs to be uploaded and downloaded at a very fast speed for better performance. So, here, 5G technology plays a very important role because of its speed.

• Blockchain technology: To purchase anything, we need money. And real money cannot be used in virtual reality. So, here comes the role of cryptocurrency, and these currencies are based on blockchain technology to prevent them from getting hacked.

• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs): This technology is used to prove ownership of the assets. For example, ticket confirmation in the case of a concert performed on the metaverse platform.

Future of Metaverse technology:

These technologies are widely used individually and are very successful in their individual forms. Metaverse is just a combination of them. Mark Zuckerberg said that it will take 5–10 years for the key features of the metaverse to become mainstream. But according to some experts, it will take two to three decades before becoming mainstream in the lives of people.

There is no doubt that the metaverse is the next big thing after the internet and that it is going to change our experience completely. But here the question arises: Do we really need it? Do we really want to escape the real world and live in virtual reality? Do we really want to confine ourselves in our rooms and remain indifferent from the outer world?

The answer is a big no. As per my opinion, we don’t need it. We can actually meet our near and dear ones instead of meeting them virtually. We can connect through a video call if we are unable to meet them in person.

Conclusion:

This platform is very useful in the fields of engineering and interior design, where one can get a better idea of designs as it is a 3D platform. One can wear headset glasses and have a better vision of their designs. But it is not required to interact with someone virtually.
Moreover, there are privacy issues with this technology, as it will track our every move in the virtual world. Its algorithms are created like this. It will create bubbles around us that will show us things based on our previous searches, which will confine our minds to only a few things and we will be unable to make our own choices without the influence of anyone.

What are your views on the metaverse? Express yourself in the comment section.