Everyone these days is talking about the meta verse, which is a new buzzword. The amorphous concept that inspired the new name has been a popular topic of discussion since Facebook relaunched as Meta in October last year. If you keep up with emerging technology, you’ve probably heard about the metaverse. To various people, the metaverse means different things, but it also means the lines between reality and the virtual world have blurred beyond recognition.
Understanding Metaverse
The metaverse resembles the online world where people do virtual activities and use their 3D digital avatars. Activities may include using a digital currency that may be used for virtual or actual transactions, and real-world types such as owning digital properties, building lands. The metaverse is made up of a variety of technologies, including various devices (software, hardware), and AR/VR/MR with a unique sound and geographic capabilities. Metaverse is not a new concept. A virtual realm is a metaverse. It’s a digital world out there. And, in some form or another, the concept of metaverse has been implemented and has been around for quite some time.
Metaverse Examples
- In online video games like Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft, people can construct identities, create avatars, exchange digital assets, and be someone else.
- Microsoft Teams allows individuals to hold online meetings in rooms where they can utilize their avatars.
- NBA Live is a game where you may play as a member of the team and become one of the players.
- Virtual concerts and parties are becoming increasingly popular with real people streaming live in the form of 3D holograms, meeting in a coffee shop, park, conference room, visiting a mall with pals, and going shopping, eating, and walking together.
The recent popularity of the Metaverse
The concept of the metaverse has been around for a long time, but the technology to make it a reality was lacking. To exhibit 3D things in real-time, you’ll need a much quicker internet, better computation, more data storage, and AR/VR/XR devices. The CEOs of Microsoft and Facebook made two of the most significant announcements this year.
Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) revealed metaverse innovation at Microsoft Build by announcing the HoloLens 2, its next-generation mixed-reality device, Microsoft Mesh, and AR/VR devices to connect and engage with people anytime, anywhere.
Also, Facebook’s CEO later declared that the company’s name will be changed to “meta” and that the metaverse would be the company’s next product aim.
Driving the Metaverse
Cloud infrastructure, user-generated content, applications, platforms, software tools, and hardware will all be driving forces in the metaverse. The metaverse will contain a variety of user experiences, including but not limited to research, education, social interactions, commerce, gaming, and entertainment, in addition to the technical requirements.
Technologies Involved
The metaverse, according to some experts, will be the next computing technology used to develop and access digital systems. digital behaviors, digital identities, digital items, and digital spaces that imitate the real world will be part of the systems. The term “metaverse” refers to a collection of technologies. Let’s have a look at some of the key technologies that make up the metaverse.
1. Digital Avatars and People
In the metaverse, 3D avatars represent users. These avatars represent real people and their actions, such as playing, dancing, working, strolling, conversing, and other activities. Touch, sense, and scent will all be possible to use with XR gadgets in the future.
2. Extended Reality (XR)
The term XR refers to a hybrid of mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). To enter the metaverses, the users utilize one or more of these XR gadgets. These gadgets not only create a virtual environment, but they also record geographical data and the player’s speech.
3. Connection and Collaboration
A metaverse’s primary function is to connect and collaborate with real-life individuals in the virtual world. People can not only interact, collaborate, and hang out in the virtual world, but they can also conduct business that can be used in the actual world. Real individuals can hang out, party, have a meeting, attend a virtual conference or exhibition, or even learn to sew using their avatars in the virtual world.
4. Metaverse Application Development
An app/game development platform a programming language, and a 3D gaming engine, such as Unity or Unreal, are all required for Metaverse application creation. .NET, UWP, C#, and Unity are essential to creating Microsoft Holographic applications.
5. Real World Representation in a Virtual World
The metaverse’s key premise is representing real-world economies in a virtual environment, virtual world transacting, and then bringing them back into the actual world. People from the real-world train in a virtual world, learning and applying the skills they learn in the actual world. Games generally use NFTs and Digital assets in which players can earn digital currency and then cash them out in real money.
6. High-Performance Computing
To support all of the above, there is a need for high-performance computation to develop and run metaverses. The majority of metaverse businesses are concentrating on high-performance computing infrastructures, such as high-speed internet, faster processing, and storage.
Metaverse used in the industries
Advertising, e-commerce, design, social media, entertainment, real estate, training, gaming, and healthcare are among the businesses most likely to adopt the metaverse. In the form of the digital economy, digital assets, places, towns, 3D avatars, and 3D worlds, the gaming industry was the first to use partial metaverse use cases. Most of the games use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital tokens (cryptocurrencies). Virtual world advertising and eCommerce are the upgraded phase of eCommerce and advertising. There are already billions of dollars in the virtual economy.
Possibilities and Challenges
Every popular concept comes with many possibilities and challenges as well. For a better understanding, it is good to understand in detail the possibilities of the metaverse and the possible challenges to face in the future. Let’s get to these two important aspects one by one.
Unlimited Possibilities
The metaverse presents a strong instance of success in today’s society, where employees are working remotely in more and more organizations and Covid is deterring people from meeting in person. People can meet and do business virtually via metaverse applications while presenting themselves as photos, avatars, and 3D shapes. Businesses can use Microsoft Mesh-powered Holographic Computing or Microsoft’s HoloLens, to create 3D holographic avatars or even live holograms for communication.
Further Challenges
Every new technology, including the metaverse, offers its own set of obstacles. We’ve already witnessed the negative effects of social media and augmented reality/virtual reality games on children. While there are benefits of social media, such as allowing humans to be more connected than ever before and allowing us to share content and stay in touch with our friends and family, it also has a negative side. Children playing many AR/VR games begin to live in virtual worlds and construct virtual identities. This results in not getting enough exercise, which may have an impact on their real life. While children can develop leadership abilities, communication, and problem-solving, not every youngster will be able to apply these skills in the real world. Virtual games are known to cause social isolation and antisocial conduct. Aside from these, metaverses will face more challenges in the future.
Investing in the Metaverse
How to invest in the metaverse is one of the most common questions. This isn’t financial advice. Investing in companies that construct metaverses and technology related to metaverse is one approach to invest in the metaverse. Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and Unity Software are among the businesses that are leading the metaverse race. Most gaming and AR/VR device firms, such as Google, Sony, Nintendo, HTC, and Samsung, must be already working or considering on the metaverse. If you invest in these companies, you might as well be investing in the metaverse. The most common way to invest in the metaverse is through digital assets.
Several Blockchain and cryptocurrency start-ups have begun developing digital tokens that we can use in gaming and other applications. Many of these games use Metaverse in some way, such as using 3D objects and real-world representations in virtual settings. Cryptocurrencies have been produced or are in the process of being developed for usage in games and apps based on metaverse. One of the first notable applications of cryptocurrencies in metaverses is NFTs.
Top 10 Metaverse Cryptos 2022
- Decentraland (MANA): It’s designed for businesses, sources of amusement, individuals looking for a new business venture, content providers, and artistic medium.
- Axie Infinity (AXS): Each axie functions as an NFT, with six out of hundreds of possible body parts that may be swapped for actual money.
- Enjin Coin (ENJ): ENJ provides in-game tokens with real-world liquidity.
- SushiSwap (SUSHI): Trading liquidity is created instantly between any two crypto assets using AMM.
- Chromia (CHR): For applications ranging from the DeFi options trading platform to the open-world agricultural game My Neighbor Alice, Chromia serves as the decentralized storage layer.
- Theta Network (THETA): Theta is a video streaming network driven by blockchain technology.
- The Sandbox (SAND): It’s a one-of-a-kind platform that’s bringing blockchain to the gaming industry.
- WAX (WAXP): WAX features a WAX-to-Ethereum (ETH) bridge that allows the token holders of WAXP to transfer their tokens into WAXE, an ERC-20 utility token based on Ethereum.
- Ontology (ONT): Provides several real-world use cases and allows enterprises to create their customized blockchain that meets their privacy, governance, and functionality requirements.
- Ultra (UOS): Apart from buying and playing games, it allows users to resell their used game things and earn money by participating in Ultra.
Point to the Future of Metaverse
The metaverse is the most recent addition to the emerging technologies category, and it is ready to grow rapidly in the future years. Microsoft and Meta are not only onboard but a growing number of businesses and start-ups are as well. We can determine the metaverse’s success over time, but it appears to be a natural extension of today’s digital world as it transitions from 2D to 3D.