El metaverse The one we are approaching stands as an evolution of the internet, but not as a substitute for it, but questions are already being raised about the risks it could bring to sociability, mental health and physical well-being.
At the moment we don't even know what it will be and what features it will have, but we will probably expect a virtual reality full of avatars crossed with the material world. It is, therefore, a new way of living one's identity and interacting with people, products and services completely immersed in new technologies.
What is the metaverse?
El metaverse - since its creation, by writer Neal Stephenson in 1992 for the novel "Snow Crash" - is a concept used in works of science fiction, particularly in the negative sense, which see humanity alienated from material reality to live in The virtual one Traditionally, the Metaverse is seen as an immersive virtual reality in which everyone can interact with the elements of this world through three-dimensional avatars.
A version of this concept appears in Ernest Cline's novel “Ready Player One” in which participants in the virtual Oasis system can interact through virtual headsets in a three-dimensional digital environment.
The Metaverse is proposed as a direct evolution of the internet. A virtual world in which you can carry out practically any type of action: watch movies, attend concerts, play games, hold business meetings, play sports, attend fairs and meet your friends.
The concept returned to the fore with Mark Zuckerberg's decision to rename his Facebook holding company Meta, a new project that makes it possible to play, do sports, and work without leaving the living room. The world of the metaverse, therefore, welcomes all the interaction needs that can be sought in reality, from work interactions to university teaching through games.
Large companies like Facebook, in fact, are betting on this new reality, betting that in the coming years it will become a standard available to everyone. A truly new way of living!
Obviously, everyone's concerns are directed at the possibility that such a lifestyle will end up swallowing us whole and making material life lose its appeal.
How does the metaverse work?
In the original version of "Snow Crash", the Metaverse was represented as a black sphere interrupted in the middle by a path where people could achieve what they wanted through 3D avatars, whose resolution reflected the class differences of their respective human subjects.
Today the idea of the Metaverse, as this concept is commonly understood, is that a subject, using headphones, can enter the virtual universe in which they can do practically everything they want, since we decide what to do in the face of a computer. For example, he can choose what clothes to wear, watch movies, play or play sports, admire works of art, and buy virtual objects. This is precisely what many major companies are looking for, as product sales are already starting through blockchain and NFT.
While we are currently accustomed to navigating through a screen that separates us from digital functions, the evolution of this state of affairs in the Metaverse will lead to total immersion through portable headphones.
Obviously the success of this project will depend on the economic accessibility of the devices to enter the virtual world, to expand its use. But the possibilities in the air are many: from business meetings, to surfing, to dedicate yourself to fitness as well as playing or attending a concert.
How to access the metaverse
The phenomenon has yet to be defined. First of all, it is necessary to understand whether an entity will be created that manages access to the Metaverse, or if everything will be in the hands of individuals who will each give their own version of the virtual world. In fact, it is not yet certain that all companies will agree to cooperate in creating a single shared Metaverse that users can access differently.
The times are beginning to be ripe. New wearable technologies and the cloud allow you to have all the information available, computer graphics are so advanced that they are capable of simulating a world with its own rules in terms of lights, sounds and perspective. The idea, however, is not to replace the Internet or material life with its equivalent made of bits, but to integrate the two types of reality to pursue a natural evolution of the lifestyle that began with the massive takeover of the Internet in our lives.
During the Facebook Connect 2021 convention, Zuckerberg introduced Horizon Home, which appears to be the first step towards his Metaverse. Apple, Samsung, Sony are just some of the companies that follow this trend in their new devices.
Zuckerberg's company is already working on headphones that can be worn all day more comfortably than the traditional ones we are used to.
How the metaverse will change the world
Many large companies such as Microsoft, Alibaba, Tencent, Epic Games are investing considerable sums in this project. The evolution of the Internet in its meta version seems to be not only a certain stage, but even the next one. And the possibilities of making profitable the sale of virtual goods that only exist in the digital world seem just around the corner.
Microsoft, for example, has developed the technology to participate in video conferences in avatar format. An innovation of this type is within everyone's reach, since you don't even need a viewer to use it, but rather it is prepared by Microsoft's own cloud.
Epic Games is already planning to prepare to enjoy games, virtual events and movies. ByteDance (from TikTok) is studying how to convert videos to 3D format.
Facebook In the words of its CEO, has already begun the path that will lead the company to evolve from social networks to the metaverse, developing an immersive life experience in virtual reality.
Apparently, therefore, the big brands are already committed to creating a virtual world in which it is possible to carry out all the actions that are familiar to us: talking, dancing, working, shopping, dressing, buying objects to show off. But experience it all with your own senses through an immersive experience, instead of with a screen that stands between us and the content.
Of course, obviously, the process is still ongoing and millions of viewers will be needed to make the metaverse usable on a large scale.
Current estimates suggest that Within 5 years, part of the population will live a virtual existence parallel to the material one. And at that point, new questions will arise regarding the security, privacy and legality of the actions that can be carried out in this virtual universe. We will be ready to face them!
