Even if you are not a social media fanatic, the rebranding of Facebook to Meta would have been difficult not to come across in the recent past. So what is this meta, and how does it benefit us? The word ‘Meta’ comes from the word ‘ Metaverse.’ This blog aims to take you deep into the world of Metaverse and throw light on different aspects and scopes.
What is Metaverse?
Metaverse is a virtual world created by amalgamating multiple technologies, wherein a user will have the option to ‘live.’ Two of the main elements of technology used in building this new digital universe are Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. The term ‘Metaverse’ was coined by author Neal Stephenson in his famous novel Snow Crash, published in 1992.
Tech giants like Facebook and Microsoft have been working on this concept for a long time now. Epic Games, a leading game development company, has also been a frontrunner in this crusade. Over the years, Epic Games managed to conduct several music concerts, and release movie trailers and music videos using this technology.
One great example of this technology is the 2008 Hollywood film Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. The players could take part in a treasure hunt inside a digital universe named Oasis. Similarly, with the further development of Metaverse, users will be able to experience a different living when the digital meets real.
How Does Metaverse Work?
Now that you have a clearer picture of the Metaverse, let us discuss some of the activities that can be experienced in this new digital universe. Here are some of the activities that are speculated to get a revamp in Metaverse –
- Inside the Metaverse, you can virtually experience visiting a brick-and-mortar store and try your hands on the products. You can even make a purchase, and to your surprise, it will be delivered to your physical address. Imagine going to a supermarket or maybe a wine shop and ordering a bottle of your favorite wine; the seller will be able to deliver it to your physical address just like traditional online shopping.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted social gatherings. Through Metaverse, you can virtually conduct fairs and carnivals, movie premieres, and music concerts, eliminating the risk of Covid-19 transmission. And the best part of this is that users can be at any part of the globe and take part in these virtual events with their friends and family at a single location without having to fly down to the same.
- Metaverse will allow brands to sell digital versions of their products to users. Any enthusiast willing to spend a significant portion of their daily lives in the digital universe will want their virtual avatars to look the best and be similar to their real-life personality. This would open up the path for several lifestyle brands to create digital versions of their existing and new products, which the users can buy for their digital makeover. Several brands like Dior, Gucci are already implementing this idea and have launched several digital products.
- The way we look at public relations will also see a revamp with the further development of Metaverse. Businesses will be successfully able to create digital assistants to provide a more guided experience to any user interacting with the company. For example, it would be much easier to go to a bank and talk to the customer care executive and complain or ask for guidance regarding the services and products. In fact, according to the rumors, Facebook is planning to hire and launch a number of these customer handlers in the next few years. They plan to improve user experience considerably.
- Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have seen major popularity in recent times and will continue to do with the rise of the Metaverse. These are expected to pave the way for digital payments in the coming decades and build a decentralized economy.
What are The Challenges of The Metaverse?
With tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and many more leading the way to create a new digital world and the rise in the sales of products with VR and AR features be it headsets, goggles, or the newly designed ReSkin, the Metaverse is right on edge.
But with this new world will come a series of new problems. Issues like data and privacy breaches are expected to increase if not checked in this new way of living. Not only that, there would be a great impact on one’s identity and reputation as it would be much easier for the hackers to steal the identity of a user leading to the crisis of identity theft.
Digital transactions are also expected to be a major issue that needs to be tackled in this new space. With several countries banning cryptocurrency, it’s crucial to find some similar grounds with the governments and solve this problem. Parallelly, it’s essential to build new forms of currency for felicitating transactions, making sure it’s isn’t misused. All these can only be prevented through rigorous planning on how and who is going to govern the new world and to what extent.
When Can We Meet the Metaverse?
If the reports released by the tech giants are to be believed, it is speculated that the Metaverse is not so far anymore and can be a new reality within the next decade, if not sooner.
Wrapping Up
The world is already going to get a makeover in the next few years with the development of new forms of the internet like Web 3.0 and others, so it is guaranteed that the Metaverse is not just a dream anymore and will be here sooner than expected. So both users and brands have to update themselves to make sure they are in sync with the changes to reap the benefits of the new world.
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