Metaverse: What is the buzz all about?

Are you aware that individuals are paying millions of dollars for a virtual car or virtual land in a virtual environment? In reality, a couple has opted to marry in a virtual environment!

If you spend the better part of your time scrolling the internet, you’ve probably heard whispers of the buzzword Metaverse. ‘Metaverse’ is a term that has been around for a while. However, the murmurs have turned into shouts after Mark Zuckerberg announced a new company name for Facebook, Meta (short for Metaverse), to include all they do into a virtual environment called Horizon that is still in construction.

So, what is the metaverse? 

As Mark Zuckerberg explains, “It’s a virtual environment where you can be present with people in digital spaces. You can kind of think of this as an embodied internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at.” 

Simply put,it is a virtual 3D living space where you may enter, exit, and chat with others. Through this, you’ll be engaging with people more than you are now as a result of this. Novelist Neal Stephson first proposed this idea in his work Snow Crash in 1992. 

It is built with many technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, and so on. Users may employ a virtual self — a custom-made avatar that can appear anyway they choose — to attend concerts, buy goods, meet a friend, or travel to exotic locations in these virtual worlds. Blockchain-based technologies such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Cryptocurrencies form the foundation of Metaverse.

Metaverse could be a major economic engine as it is expected to eventually become an extension of the real world economy. Simply put, individuals and companies will be able to build, trade and invest in products, goods and services.

The range of Metaverse potential applications appear to be endless, since with increasing technical understanding and developments, practically any activity may be carried out in this digital world. As a result of seeing this enormous possibility, tech-giants such as Meta, Microsoft, Nike, Apple, Nvidia, and others are working tirelessly to develop their own models of this futuristic virtual realm, each with its own set of network protocols. All of these Metaverses are working toward the same goal: allowing more overlap between our real and digital lives. Meta, for example, has released Horizon Workrooms, a meeting programme. People access it with the help of Oculus VR headsets.

The metaverse is still a vague concept, and no one knows how things will turn out. But we do know that it’s a large-scale endeavour with the potential to drastically alter our lives. There are also many who believe it might be completed in our lifetime. It’s possible that if it comes to completion, it will change consumer and business behaviour.

Sources: 

● India’s first Metaverse wedding – Business Insider 

● What is Metaverse and How will it work? – Times of India 

● What is Metaverse and How does it work? – The Economic Times 

● Explained: The History of Metaverse – CNBC TV18

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