One of the most hyped or overhyped word in Technology realm today is Metaverse. Metaverse will be the immersive 3D transformation of internet with impeccable & futuristic capabilities. Just to understand more about the origin and evolution of Metaverse as a concept, the word metaverse is a combination of 2 words Meta + Universe. Metaverse generally refers to the concept of a highly immersive virtual world where people gather to socialize, play, work and much more. The term “metaverse” was first used in Neil Stevenson's 1982 novel, Snow Crash. Stevenson's metaverse was a virtual place where characters could go to escape a dreary totalitarian reality. In the early 1990s, Sega introduced VR arcade machines like the SEGA VR-1 motion simulator, which users enjoyed in many arcades
Metaverse has garnered so much credibility and interest that Gartner recently named the as one of the top five emerging trends and technologies for 2022. With major global technology giants like Facebook, Nvidia, Microsoft, Roblox corporation etc investing heavily in developing the ecosystem, time is not far when we have the first version of a real metaverse available to a larger public. To add to the global interest Facebook CEO was so impressed with the concept that he rechristened Facebook to Meta to bring a lot of credibility and support the Technology. According to Zuckerberg, teleporting around the metaverse is supposed to be like clicking a link on the internet and it’s an open standard. To unlock the potential of the metaverse, there needs to be interoperability and a complete ecosystem to support the platform. Just to dig deep, Metaverse can be defined in easy terms as a networked virtual world that empowers users and enhances the experience of interaction between people using Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Users can create a customized virtual avatar to represent themselves in this world. Whereas a metaverse is in a virtually enhanced cyberspace, where each user is free to move independently and do the things they could not do in the real world. As the Metaverse does not exist physically in the real world, we cannot touch and feel it like other goods. However, it allows the users to enjoy different locations without moving an inch from their location. Disney is developing a metaverse theme park. In December, the company filed for a patent for a virtual-world simulator and by 2022 there will be 1.1 billion mobile AR users worldwide. Metaverse offers a plethora of capabilities, flexibilities, opportunities etc which can be exploited to reach next level in almost everything from socialising, education, healthcare, business, sports, trainings etc. Some of these are elucidated below:
You can be a part of a global conference virtually or a cricket game or visiting an exotic location without the hassle of spending a lot of money for travel, boarding and lodging, issues of any security, at a schedule of your convenience, shielded by any weather issues, in the confines of your home. You can interact freely as your metaverse presence will augment by your physical one.
Keep in mind, however, that AI is an emerging technology. As such, it is changing at a fast pace and may present some unexpected challenges.
You have a flexibility to use your physical attributes as the Metaverse Avatar or take on a completely different form. The same can be a disadvantage also.
Mixed reality (MR) technology combines VR and AR, allows total immersion in the metaverse where we can interact with physical and virtual objects and digital items can interact with both. In VR, engagement with digital world is possible with the use of a special pair of glasses or any other contraption incorporating the glasses. Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital content, data & information onto the physical world, as if they're present with you, in your own space.
Blockchain is an important catalyst in metaverse transactions. Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). According to a Grayscale report, people have already spent $200 million on metaverse items.
The existing education still is focused onto physical interactions and traditional brick and mortar classrooms which has too many limitations in terms of travel times, cost of infrastructure and repetitive teaching, inconsistency due to various factors, fluctuating efficiency due to weather and various other factors. The same can be overcome by the help of VR solutions which are evolving exponentially. This can be another great use of Metaverse by augmenting with AR.
Metaverse is a boon for creative and innovative businesses. With eCommerce fast replacing the physical stores the virtual stores are going to be the next transformation bound to happen very soon. This will offer immense flexibilities, ease of presenting the products without any major expense in infrastructure and related costs. The capabilities are immense, and it will become the best option to shop for all consumers due to the almost similar experience as physically going to the store, enjoying in the confines of your home.
An innovative and futuristic virtual asset called as NFT is the new offering in the metaverse which is fuelling its growth. A NFT is an intangible, digital object which can be a video, an image, or a in game object. Blockchain keeps records and data of the owners of the digital assets which are easily tradable.
One of the most innovative uses of metaverse is digital socialising which is as close to physical meetings as possible but without any threat of revealing your identity, any post interacting issues and with a lot of flexibilities. The flexibility to have the meeting at any place of your choice without any hassle is an added advantage.
Metaverse gives amazing opportunities of creating virtual exhibitions, art galleries, virtual road shows without any security, infrastructure, fear of any damages etc issues. This would not only provide a great opportunity to the existing players but would encourage new entrants to avail the ease of use.
One of the fastest growing applications of metaverse is Digital real estate which has been growing at a rapid pace. Metaverse- sales of real estate in the digital space surpassed US$500 million in 2021, and are expected to further soar by doubling this year. Digital real estate owners can make money by renting, leasing, trading, and allowing access to their Digital real estate assets.
Digital healthcare will take a paradigm shift augmented by the Metaverse as it offers capabilities like near actual trainings, availability of 3D images to assist in critical procedures, help in surgical procedures by the globally best surgeons with no limitation of distance using robotics etc.
Metaverse offers unimaginable flexibilities to advertisers who get accurate data of the Metaverse interactions and behaviour. Since everything is monitored and captured the advertiser will have accurate data about what the prospective buyers are watching, where they are spending more time and if there is any repeat focus. The same will help advertisers to have customised offerings focused onto individual prospects. The world works on equilibrium and with a set of advantages every concept has negative points also. a limited set of possible negative pointers are stated below:
Metaverse is not only addictive but has a solution for everything, so it is bound to engross users to spend most of the time. The mental pressure, eye and ear health are other major health hazards.
The users and the family will be socially isolated as all will get so engrossed and busy that they will not find time for each other and will have a bearing on family ties. They will start getting confused to differentiate between virtual and actual worlds.
Security is one of the major disadvantages where security breaches will be a regular feature and participants must invest huge amount of time and money to safeguard the assets.
It is still a concept in its initial days of infancy. All the building blocks must work in tandem to make it an executable technology. At this stage there are too many factors which governs the success and even though it is very exciting but still it has too many factors leading to a delay in the solution which can be a major setback to the stakeholders and participants. Very high stakes for investors, participants, and overall ecosystem partners does not stop them to take a risk due to its immense potential. But as with every technology, the world must evolve technologically and adapt Metaverse or a version of the same. With luxury and ease of use being the top priority for human’s time will not be far when we will be looking at advanced versions of Metaverse. And last but not the least the headsets used to access Metaverse must evolve to sleek, almost weightless, and comfortable versions. The world will enjoy consistent Technology innovations as the world races to graduate to the first real Metaverse.
