What is the Metaverse and why’s everyone talking about it?
The metaverse is a virtual online world that incorporates virtual and augmented realities, as well as cryptocurrencies, which are all examples of emerging technologies. as well as social media concepts, to build areas for rich user interaction that resemble the actual world.
Consider Ready Player One, but much more approachable and practical. Consider social media as it already exists, but is more interwoven and comprehensive. The concept of the metaverse, which was recently popularized by Facebook’s renaming as Meta, will change how we engage with the environment around us.
The Metaverse’s Beginnings
While the “metaverse” may be unfamiliar to some, the notion has been around for quite some time. The metaverse was first introduced by American science fiction novelist Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. In the novel (as in others of its kind), users use the metaverse to escape from a dystopian, mostly bleak reality.
Over the last 30 years, the company has been laying the groundwork for a nonfictional metaverse, brick by brick. Virtual reality headsets are becoming more comfortable and inexpensive. Worldwide internet penetration has been constantly increasing. The growth of online gaming, which frequently reaches tournament levels, has enabled the creation and execution of complex digital avatars, transferable digital products, and even virtual real estate.
Facebook isn’t the first firm to consider the metaverse. We talked about the 2017 company Decentraland in March, which works on nearly the same principle.
Decentraland has a $25.5 million fundraising round and offers customers a VR environment builder, configurable avatars, a crypto-enabled marketplace, digital wallets, and a system of governance. Facebook is attempting to create a comparable experience, but one that will intersect with pre-existing, non-AR/VR social media. It announced a move into AR/VR in September 2021, as well as the launch of its metaverse.
What Does Facebook Stand to Gain from the Metaverse?
According to this concept, most of us are acquainted with the metaverse in some way, and we engage with metaverse-in aspects when we spend extended periods online.
Because of this, the New Yorker published an article titled “We Already Live in Facebook’s Metaverse,” which suggested that the new AR/VR-leaning notion is an extension of Facebook’s established organization in our digital-social lives and is based on the same principles.
Facebook’s metaverse is likely to advance over the next 1-2 decades, with a heavy reliance on worldwide relationships.
It is collaborating with the Alte Nationalgalerie in Germany on inclusive XR experiences, and it has also developed an AR/VR startup growth program in Israel in partnership with the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.
This is in addition to Facebook’s massive technological and hardware relationships, which will undoubtedly fuel the metaverse’s expansion.
As the web 3 and the Metaverse evolves, expect to see key players emerge to the forefront. With so much going on, it will be important for current business to adapt to the changing technology and gain a foothold in this newly emerging arena. Seattle Software Developers will be right there in the thick of it with our own space in the Metaverse, as well as offering blockchain development. Stay tuned for future updates and for Metaverse Developers as we plan to be very active in the Metaverse.
