If you first heard about the metaverse from Mark Zuckerberg’s statements in October 2021, then you simply weren’t interested in them before, or they somehow eluded you all this time. This is far from a new term, and Zuckerberg certainly did not invent itl.
Neal Stephenson first coined the tem metaverse in his acclaimed science-fiction novel “Snow Crash” in 1992. However the ideas behind it had been mooted by Philip K Dick as far back as the 70s, and expanded on by the likes of William Gibson and the Strugatsky brothers among others.The ideas of the metaverse soon began to be embodied in cinema, in films such as: “Ready Player One”, “Free Guy”, “The Matrix”, “Blade Runner”, “Dark City” and others. And, of course, the video game industry did not stand idle, where the idea of the metaverse was developed into working realities such as World of Warcraft, Minecraft or simulations such as Cyberpunk 2077.
Today we will try to figure out what the metaverse means in the modern world, what its advantages and disadvantages are, and how much this sort of virtual world can change our real life.
The metaverse is a virtual space in which objects that do not exist in reality merge and interact with completely physical things and events. For example, you create an avatar and are transferred to the digital space, where you can interact both with virtual, non-existent objects and other quite real people.
Now let’s see how the metaverses can affect our everyday life. After all, this is not just about a VR game or a complex social network, but a real virtual world. Indeed many worlds and platforms!
Many workflows may well be transferred to the metaverse. Over time, the emergence of real virtual offices is likely, in which specialists from different parts of the world will work. And, of course, there will be coworking spaces where everyone can come together, work, build friendships and business ties, launch new joint projects and make the world a better place together. The possibilities are endless!
Who said that you can only be creative in the real world? What prevents you from painting in VR space, holding a concert in the virtual world, or, for example, publishing a book inside the metaverse that you can buy and read there? Yes, it’s hard to imagine right now, but we are standing at the very origins of metaverses, and very soon their capabilities will reach a whole new level.
Metaverses can become exactly the same sort of advertising platforms as, for example, social networks. And they certainly will! We guarantee that as soon as there are enough active users in the popular metaverses, advertising will definitely appear. There will probably be so many that it will be possible to separately purchase an “ad filter” or something similar to remove advertising junk from the VR world.
Expect that just walking in the virtual world, you will see an advertisement for a new iPhone, a candidate for president will broadcast from screens on the VR street, and all kinds of bright banners will become ubiquitous. This can be a very effective advertising format, as long as it is used wisely and does not turn compelling projects into an endless stream of spam.
This is a particularly interesting use case for the metaverse for the average user. After all, here you can not only communicate with your voice, but also spend time in enriching ways: go to a concert by your favorite band, watch a movie in a VR cinema, arrange a race in the latest sports cars, parachute jump and much more. And all this without leaving your own home.
But this is the future. Now, for a joint pastime, it is easier, more convenient and much cheaper to use online video chat. Here you can chat with random people, go on online dates, play games or watch movies simultaneously using add-on services. We recommend trying Bazoocam, Hola and coomeet.com/bazoocam video chats. They have proven themselves very well.
Buying and selling in the metaverse will be just like in the real world. Though the goods might be very different. First will likely be a huge variety of skins for your avatas. But to this, of course, the developers will not be limited. Virtual vehicles, real estate, advertising spaces for the aforementioned advertising — all this will be sold and bought in the metaverses in huge numbers. It is quite possible that there will be entire corporations earning real money purely on virtual goods.
As you can see, in just thirty years metaverses have come a long way from science fiction to reality. Yes, at this stage they are in their infancy. But a start has been made in this direction, so exciting new breakthroughs and achievements in this area will occur in the very near future.
Right now, the biggest threat to the metaverses is their over-commercialization. That is, the desire of developers to monetize their projects in all possible ways. This could easily scare off the average user. But when enough competition appears in the metaverse sector, they will become truly in demand and relevant. And don’t blink, it will happen faster than people think. This is why we’re following the news and waiting for the most opportune moment. The future is already here!