Educational Post:
What is the metaverse?
The metaverse is a concept of connected, virtual universes that are explorable via 3D avatars. You can think of it as the next evolution of the Internet, with more immersive and interactive online experiences.
The metaverse incorporates technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain. While AR enables users to morph digital visual elements into the real world using a camera, VR produces computer-generated virtual environments that users explore through VR headsets. Meanwhile, blockchain technology enables properties of digital proof of ownership, digital collectability, and transfer of value.
What can be done in the metaverse?
The metaverse creates shared virtual spaces that combine the physical and digital. For example, businesses could start using the metaverse for hosting mixed reality meetings using VR headsets or signing contracts without being physically in the same place.
Similarly, you could do groceries by interacting with virtual aisles, showcase your NFT collections to virtual buddies, and visit art exhibitions without leaving the cozy of your home.
Play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity and work socialization tools like Gather town already prove working aspects of the virtual worlds possible. They invite users to have fun, meet people, transact using digital currencies, and even earn a living.
Decentraland, on the other hand, is an online, digital world that successfully mixes social elements with cryptocurrencies and NFTs, representing anything from cosmetic collectibles to virtual real estate. For example, a player can use Decentraland's native cryptocurrency, MANA, to purchase 16x16 meter land parcels that are issued as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on the Ethereum blockchain.
Is there just one metaverse?
The metaverse concept suggests that there is one common and shared virtual ground that everybody shares. But, as we have seen, there can be various metaverses that are separate from each other.
Therefore each metaverse has a specific function in the collective of metaverses. In the same way, as each social media platform provides specific services to its users, metaverses offer distinct virtual possibilities. Likewise to earlier examples, one metaverse could concentrate on gaming while others on meetups or concerts.
Crypto metaverse projects like Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and SecondLive each have their unique approach to building metaverse. In addition to blockchain-based metaverses, big tech is moving forward with the metaverse narrative. For example, Facebook changed its name to Meta and invested billions of dollars in developing metaverse content, software, and AR and VR headsets. Likewise, big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Tencent are building metaverse and are entering the space by developing new technologies.
In the long run, we may see various metaverses with different purposes becoming part of a single metaverse. Creating a web of different metaverses could also encourage further adoption.
