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Where did the idea of the metaverse come from, who will become a pioneer in creating an alternative reality, and whether the matrix can replace smartphones or the Internet, said Nikolai Dubinin, host of the Trends YouTube channel.
In this article:
What is the metaverse
The first idea of the metaverse appeared in 1992 in the science fiction novel Avalanche by Neil Stevenson. According to the plot of the book, in the XNUMXst century, corporatocracy reigns on Earth – all power belongs to large corporations – and in addition to the real world, which is shrouded in chaos and split into several corporation states, there is another one – a virtual one. There, people interact with each other in the same way. The real and virtual worlds are intertwined: events in one can affect what happens in the other. The same book became the origin of the term “avatar”.
Now we can give a very clear explanation. The Metaverse is a convergence of physical, augmented and virtual reality in a common online space. An example of the interaction between the metaverse and the real world is the movie Ready Player One.
How the Metaverse Works
The prototype of the Matrix in the real world is the Internet. Major players from the world of the world wide web and technology are already making plans to create a metaverse. For example, in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced the start of work on the “three-dimensional Internet”, which will completely change our understanding of interaction with content – we will not consume information, but be inside it.
There are many metaverse concepts, but the most famous one belongs to venture capitalist Matthew Ball. In his presentation, Bol gives seven characteristics of the other world.
The design of the metaverse is relevant in the educational and corporate environment, in the field of communications.
First Steps to the Metaverse
Facebook recently released a new app for its Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. Horizon Workrooms is a virtual space for everyone who works remotely. You can connect to such a meeting without using VR glasses or a helmet, a computer is enough. Each member has their own avatar. As of today, Horizon Workrooms doesn’t look like a metaverse, but for now it’s more like testing technology: the application supports hand tracking, remote desktop video streaming, spatial audio, and can also sync with Outlook and Google calendars. Inside there is a tracker for eyes, face, body parts, which helps the avatars move smoothly. The system can even control the wearer’s facial expressions. No more than 50 people can gather at the virtual planning meeting at the same time.
In fact, the technology is not entirely new: Apple introduced memoji back in 2020: emotions are copied there not only by an avatar that looks like a person, but also by those depicting animals, and even a unicorn.
Another Facebook project is Infinite Office, which was created to work from home through the same Oculus Quest. The company has not yet decided on something more technologically advanced. Facebook recently partnered with Ray-Ban to release smart glasses that were originally supposed to have facial recognition tools. But later this idea was abandoned, fearing that such technology could become a tool for invading privacy.
Microsoft hasn’t been left out either. The head of the company, Satya Nadella, believes that the set of cloud services Microsoft Azure is, in a sense, a corporate metaverse. One rule of the matrix definitely works in it: it mixes two worlds, creating digital copies of objects and allowing you to work remotely in mixed reality.
In addition, Microsoft has a Mesh platform that you can connect to using a VR headset, tablet, smartphone, or PC. All people inside the Mesh exist as virtual avatars from the Altspace VR social network, but the company wants to move to “holoportation” – then people will appear in the virtual environment in the form of themselves.
So far, Epic Games has advanced farthest in the development of the metaverse. In 2020, during the lockdown, about 12 million Fortnite users from around the world logged into the application to listen to the concert of rapper Travis Scott. From this digital performance, the artist earned $ 20 million, despite the fact that the entire concert lasted only 12 minutes. Now Epic Games has raised $1 billion for the development of the metaverse: first of all, this money will go to the development of the Unreal Engine system for new VR and AR projects.
The Metaverse has also attracted interest on television. Fox will produce a musical talent show called “Alter Ego”, which will feature digital avatars with “dream images” on stage instead of contestants, while real people will be on the jury.
How to make money in the metaverse
The Metaverse may well generate income. For example, advertising: events are held inside Fortnite, combined with what is happening in the real world. That is, advertisers can get a virtual world created specifically for them. And the creative mode provides almost limitless possibilities for customizing costumes, game plots, and even individual in-game worlds. This is where blockchain technology comes in handy. NFT can protect the rights to digital property, virtual real estate and land.
However, no one is yet ready for a complete transition to the metaverse. The infrastructure of the World Wide Web is not yet enough to completely transfer the user inside the platforms. Alone, no one can understand the mechanics of the metaverse, but also share exclusive content, if suddenly someone succeeds, the technological giants are not ready.