🪐 MetaVerse

What is the Metaverse? First coined by science fiction author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, the word “metaverse” refers to a believable, immersive, and realistic virtual worldview that is so complex, useful, and absolutely addictive that it is hard to show. real world. “People can legitimately spend most of their time, just as many office workers spend most of their time on computers today. The Metaverse is similar to the idea of ​​virtual reality, but it goes beyond in its splendor and its connotations. This term means the meaning of the word meta, its general meaning and an additional meaning, as in “universe”.

Metaverse is a technologically sophisticated idea. As of 2008, the metaverse lacks the necessary infrastructure, processing power, interface devices, and software to create a true virtual reality world worthy of its name. Some futurists speculate that a full-scale metaverse will emerge sometime between 2020 and 2030.

The primitive precursors of the Metaverse were developed out of various gaming and other online communities. An example is the popular World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which has millions of subscribers and has become a mecca for real-life networks. Another virtual world, Second Life, is even more meta-like in that it's not a focused game but an open-ended world where "winning" means discovering, communicating, and creating objects just for your own pleasure and for other players. . Some items in Second Life are bought and sold using the world currency Linden dollar. Second Life's economy is similar to that of many mid-sized cities. Numerous companies have set up spaces inside Second Life to promote their products and allow consumers to preview their models before they buy.

A true metaverse would be not just a separate world, but a complementary world closely connected to the real world. It allows people on one side of the planet to meet people on the other side in a virtual environment and have normal conversations as if they were in the same room. More advanced input and imaging technologies will be key to unlocking a metaversal along the lines of Stephenson's original vision. Perhaps tactile gloves that allow hand gestures as input and retinal screens that project images of virtual worlds directly onto our retinas will be enough to engage millions of people in a new intimate virtual reality.