What is the Metaverse and How does it Work ?

    The first person who famously coined the term metaverse was Neal Stephenson. He mentioned the term in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. The term metaverse refers to a 3D virtual world inhabited by avatars of real people.This term does not have a universally accepted definition. Think of the metaverse as the internet rendered in 3D. Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as a virtual environment you can enter, instead of just looking at the screen. In short, it's an endless world of interconnected virtual communities. Where, people can work, meet, play using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps and or other devices. Facebook's simple description of the metaverse is a set of virtual spaces, where a person can create and explore with other internet users who are not in the same physical space as that person.

Things to do in the Metaverse

The metaverse allows you to do things like go to virtual concerts, travel online, create or view art and try on digital clothes to buy. Metaverse can be a game-changer for the work-from-home shift system in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of only being able to see co-workers in a video call box like video conferencing applications, employees can join together in a virtual office. Facebook itself has launched meeting software for its company called Horizon Workrooms and is used with its Oculus VR headset. This $300-plus headset puts the ultimate metaverse experience out of the reach of people. According to Zuckerberg, a lot of metaverse experiences will be around to create the ability to teleport from one experience to another. Tech companies must find ways to connect their online platforms to one another.

Is Metaverse Just For Facebook?

Some big tech companies like Microsoft and chipmaker Nvidia have talked about the metaverse. So, metaverse is not just a project from Facebook. Nvidia's vice president of Omniverse platforms, Richard Keris said that there are as many companies building virtual worlds and environments in the metaverse as there are companies doing things on the World Wide Web. Richard explained that the metaverse is very important to be extensible, so that users can teleport to different worlds from one company or another. In the same way, metaverse will allow internet users to move from one web page to another.

In addition, the video game company behind the popular Fortnite video game, Epic Games, has also stepped in and has raised $1 billion from investors to help with its long-term plans to build the metaverse. Another big player is the gaming platform Roblox. Where their platform has outlined its vision of the metaverse as a place where people can come together in 3D experiences to work, play, socialize, learn and create. Brands such as Italian fashion house Gucci are also collaborating with Roblox to sell digital-only accessories collections. In addition, Coca-Cola and Clinique are also selling digital tokens as a stepping stone to the metaverse. The Facebook party gave a statement that the metaverse is not a single product that can only be built by one company. Instead, the metaverse is just like the internet, whether it's off Facebook or not, it's still there. 

Is Metaverse a Substitute for the Internet?

Maybe you will wonder and have read that the metaverse will eventually replace the internet. Are Facebook, Microsoft and Disney trying to take over the internet via the metaverse?

In an interview with The Verge, Zuckerberg described the metaverse as the "internet to be made," which is essentially an enhanced version of the internet. Users can have a different experience that is not available on a 2D app or web page.