We have been hearing a lot about it for a while now. Most people were unaware of the metaverse until Mark Zuckerberg made it a buzzword. However, the metaverse has been with us for a while now.
The term “metaverse” was coined by Neal Stephenson, author of the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash . In his story, he imagines life-like avatars creating realistic 3D buildings and other virtual environments. Various development companies have dropped hints about a possible metaverse between then and now.
This online virtual world combines three elements.
3D Holographic Aviators
Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality
What exactly is the metaverse?
This is a virtual environment in which people can interact in human-like ways. This is made possible by an avatar that represents you.
This may sound familiar if you are a gamer. This metaverse-like world is already replicated in games like Minecraft, Fortnite, and H1Z1 among others.
As it grows, it will provide you with a hyper-real world in which to co-exist. You will be able to virtually travel to a remote location and host meetings or have fun while your physical self rests at home.
Metaverse patents are already being used in online game universes such as Roblox and the aforementioned.
The companies behind these games hope to be a part of the metaverse’s evolution as well.
The complications that many people feel hover above the metaverse can be reduced by first grasping a clear understanding of what it is.
As a result, the metaverse is a synthesis of various technological elements, including but not limited to virtual reality.
Augmented reality video: in which users live in a digital universe.
Metaverse supporters envision users working, playing, and staying connected with friends through conferences, concerts, virtual trips around the world, and so on.
When will the metaverse become mainstream?
We are currently settling into web3, which is the next internet. Mark Zuckerberg ,the CEO of Facebook, rebranded the company to “meta” in October of this year. He stated in his speech that it would take at least ten years for the mainstream to enjoy the key features of the metaverse.
However, I’d like to inform you of the current state of the metaverse. We already have ultra-fast broadband speeds, virtual reality headsets, and online world interaction. The only disadvantage is that not everyone may have access to it.
What are some real-world examples of the metaverse?
Microsoft already employs holograms and is developing reality applications via its Microsoft Mesh platform, which combines the real world with augmented reality and virtual reality. Microsoft revealed its plans to bring mixed reality, including holograms and virtual avatars, to Microsoft teams in 2022 in early November of this year. They are also developing explorable 3D spaces that are linked virtually to retail and workplaces.
Microsoft reached an agreement with the United States Army. They are working together on Hololens augmented reality headsets for soldiers to train, practice, and fight in.
Then there’s Meta, the tech behemoth that recently rebranded from Facebook. It has already begun to invest in virtual reality. It bought Oculus, which makes virtual reality headsets, in 2014. Meta envisions a virtual world in which digital avatars connect via VR headsets for work, travel, or entertainment. “The next platform and medium will be even more immersive and embody the internet everywhere you are experiencing it, not just looking at it,” Zack said of the metaverse. He believes that meta could eventually replace the internet as we know it.'”
Both Microsoft and Facebook have staked claims on the metaverse. They aren’t the only ones. Xbox Live already connects millions of video game players from all over the world. Tim Sweeney, CEO of the company that created Fortnight, stated that “it’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse.” It has hosted concerts by artists such as Arianna Grande.
Why are there holograms in the metaverse?
Let’s go back in time to the start point of the internet. It began with a series of technological breakthroughs, such as the ability to communicate between computers located thousands of miles apart.
Another feature is the ability to create hyperlinks between web pages. Web2, which has revolutionized what we know today. These technical features served as the foundation for the abstracting features that we have come to love about the internet. Apps for our smartphones and computers. We must also include innovations that are not strictly related to the internet but are necessary for the technology to function. This includes the mouse, keyboard, and displays or touchscreens.
So all of these are required in order to have a full version of the internet working for you. It is being built in the metaverse to be able to host hundreds of people on a single instance of a server. They may also have motion tracking tools that can detect where a person is looking as well as where their hands and legs are. That is virtual reality, and argumentative reality headsets will play a role in the metaverse by connecting people to the inside of virtual reality.
These new technologies are very exciting and have a futuristic feel to them. The tech world in 2021 has been inundated with stories, conspiracies, fiction, and facts about the internet of the future. It can be difficult to separate the good from the bad, especially when everyone, expert or not, contributes ideas about what they believe they know. This has sparked a widespread debate about whether blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and the entire concept of a virtual reality world in which people live and interact in a virtual environment without the use of fiat money is a scam.
Yes, I understand the skepticism, because there are constraints that may be insurmountable.
Let’s take a look at what Microsoft and Meta have been showing us in recent months. They tend to gloss over how people will interact in the metaverse in their fictionalized videos of the future. VR headsets are still a little strange.
Most people have reported physical pain or motion sickness if they wear them for an extended period of time. Augmented reality glasses are not immune to the same issues, not to mention the question of how people will be able to wear them in public without looking like idiots.
So far, it appears that their primary solution is to create technology from scratch. Technology companies have been able to show us the concept of their tech without revealing the reality of bulky headsets and dorky glasses.
Meta, Microsoft, and every other tech company that displays wall demos like this is attempting to create an artistic impression of what the future could be rather than answer every technical question. By the way, this is not the first time in the industry. A screen controlled by a touch sensor or a voice-controlled foldable phone that could magically raise people from images and generate 3D models sounded similarly impossible in the 1800s. Look at the device you’re holding now to see how that concept not only became a reality, but improved upon it.
That is the allure of technology. It improves and evolves at a rapid pace. If VR and AR headsets become comfortable and affordable enough for people to wear on a daily basis, the idea of floating in space with your friends, robots, as holograms could become a reality.
What is the current state of the metaverse?
Here’s the metaverse paradox. You must define the present in order for it to be the future. There are already massive multiplayer online games that take place entirely in the virtual world. Digital concerts, video calls with people all over the world, online avatars, and commercial platforms are all available. The COVID-19 pandemic played a significant role in transforming the world from physical to virtual.
There must be some new element to these technologies in order for them to be sold as a new vision of the world. Otherwise, if you have a conversation about the metaverse today, people will see it as an overhype of something that already exists.
The concept of holograms in pop culture serves as an imaginative reference point for what the metaverse could look like. It’s critical to keep all of this context in mind because, while it’s tempting to compare the pre metaverse ideas we have today to the early internet and assume that everything will get better as time goes on, results might not be the same.
We can only hope for the best, despite the fact that it is not a given. We’ve seen the Apple Glasses concept, and they appear to be very wearable in public places. So we can hope that argumentative reality glasses will be wearable in public places in the future.
When it comes to prices, if we go back to the beginning of the phone, They could only be afforded by the upper crust of society. Fast forward to the present. There are many on the market at various prices to suit different tastes in people. We can only hope that as the future evolves to the metaverse, the gadgets required for access will be curated for each person’s needs and affordability.
So that’s my basic definition of the metaverse. So, if you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments section. Let’s continue the conversation because we are just getting started.