An introduction to the popular term: metaverse
You may have heard the recent news (Zukerberg’s Interview) about Facebook’s name change to Meta Platforms and their futuristic plan of implementing a Metaverse into daily life. If you don’t know what the Metaverse is, don’t worry…. I have a Masters’s in Human-Computer Interaction and I’m still a little confused about it. Is it Virtual Reality (VR), is it a game, is it a gimmick, or a massive advertising realm? Well, it’s sort of all of those and none of those. I’m going to attempt to define the Metaverse for you and explore its possibilities.
First and most importantly the metaverse is a blanket term for a virtual experience. There is not one Metaverse, there are many. Within each metaverse they can include games, movies, art, casinos, exploration, building, buying, selling, chatting, and more. Think of the metaverse as a digital world. Within that digital world, you participate in whatever that Metaverse caters to.
What’s does a metaverse look like?
This is where VR and video games come into play. The metaverse’s that I have visited remind me of an avatar-style video game. You select a character and are transported to a digital world. The worlds are part cartoon, part low-poly, and a lot of wonders.
What can you do in a metaverse?
Communicate:
You are able to chat to other people via text or voice
Explore:
You can navigate your avatar, throughout a digital world. This is a core interaction in a metaverse. Other people and companies set up stores, museums, games, houses, casinos, you name it and you go find them and interact with them. When I played in Decentraland I found all sorts of wonderful creations, even a mini Vegas.
Games and Casinos:
Many locations in a metaverse have games that you can play. Some games are solos, such as an Atari classic that I came across, and some you can play with others. Some metaverses also contain casinos, where you can bet play or actual crypto (See the Metaverse monetization section below).
Art and Music:
There are limitless possibilities for artists and creatives in a metaverse. When I was in Decentraland, I ventured into an Art house where an artist was displaying her/his art throughout the building. As soon as I stepped on the premises music began to play. I also saw advertisements for music festivals.
Customizing Appearances:
You can create a virtual avatar of yourself or your best/wild/crazy version of yourself in a Metaverse. In Decentraland, you can purchase unique clothing and accessories to set yourself apart from the crowd.
Building:
This is where the concept of Roblox and Minecraft comes in. People can build any type of structure and display it to the rest of the virtual world.
Real Estate:
In Decentraland, you can buy a plot of virtual land and sell it. Before you read this next bit you need to be sitting down. Back in June of this year, a real-estate firm spent $913,000 on 259 virtual lots of land in Decentraland (https://cointelegraph.com/news/digital-land-in-decentraland-sells-for-913k-to-a-virtual-property-developer). Decentraland’s recent cryptocurrency (MANA) has seen a huge increase in value (it’s currently $3.17 per coin 10/14/21) and current single plots are going for as much as $3,172,000! Now that I have you thinking about monetization in the Metaverse, let’s talk about it.
Metaverse monetization
Decentraland and many metaverses all rely on a form of cryptocurrency. If crypto scares you, don’t let it. I’m not going to go into detail about the advantages of using crypto there are plenty of articles to help transition you over. For me, I would much rather use something that doesn’t link my bank account to a metaverse where thousands of people congregate.
Conversion:
Most things in metaverse have to be purchased with crypto. So here’s a general path of converting your current nation’s currency into whatever a metaverse supports. The first step is to get a crypto wallet. I suggest MetaMask (https://metamask.io/). With MetaMask or the wallet of your choice, you can purchase crypto. In the case of MetaMask, you purchase Ethereum. When you start in a metaverse you will be asked to connect your wallet. Decentraland and MetaMask make this process very easy. Next, you will need to convert Ethereum to the Metaverses in game currency. Now you are ready to buy digital land and assets. If this still doesn’t make sense, it’s very similar to converting your currency to another countries currency before you travel to a foreign land.
Buying and Selling:
As mentioned, you can buy and sell digital assets in a Metaverse. Some people are raking in some serious cash doing so. In Decentraland, you can purchase all sorts of clothing and collectibles. If you have experience making 3D objects, you can make and sell items in Decentraland’s marketplace. I have yet to try this feature, but I’m pretty well versed with Blender and I will give it a go in the coming weeks. The owners of Decentraland take a small percentage of each sale.
Earning and Free NFT’s:
Although I have yet to explore these routes of making crypto. I have seen advertisements mentioning earning coins in games and free NFT’s in Decentraland.
Advertising and Big Business:
There is a lot of space in Decentraland’s Metaverse and a lot of places for advertising. I was walking around in Decentraland and saw an ad for raspberry pie Arduino kits (DIY small computers). This is where things get interesting… I was exploring again and came across an Atari arcade. Atari partnered with Decentraland and placed an arcade! This opens up a whole world of possibility (see my discussion on Metaverse’s Future below).
Social aspect
Text and Voice:
I’m not one for a lot of social interaction over the internet. Sure I love a good team while gaming, but I’m not the type of person to seek out online friends. So I don’t think any Metaverse will be any different, however, in Decentraland they do offer the ability to both text and voice chat to other players. I can see many different applications where this will be utilized like selling art, teaching people skills, or even running a guided meditation within the Metaverse.
The Future
Don’t get me wrong, metaverses are nowhere near ready for the masses. I did encounter some bugs and lag in Decentraland and I don’t think this game is ready to properly educate complete newbies. However, the future is very bright for all types of metaverses.
If you or you know someone who is disabled, an accommodating Metaverse can be life-changing for individuals. The metaverse can also help in times like pandemics where no one can go out.
Where I see metaverses shining is the utilization of big business. How cool would it be to walk into a Home Depot or Amazon in Decentraland or whatever Metaverse you are in and have the store be filled will all the types of whatever item you are looking for. With the implementation of VR, one could theoretically pick up and inspect that item before purchasing it without leaving their computer. Big Businesses could also have an employee working in the Metaverse ready to help customers with issues.
Metaverses could also make playing games with family and friends spread across the county possible. What about Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services? How fun would it be to meet up with old friends in a Metaverse and go watch a movie together?
Conclusion
I could go on and on about various implementations in a metaverse, however, I think it’s time to wrap the article up. I hope that you now have a better understanding of what a metaverse is and can further educate others. How far is a user-friendly metaverse, well it’s close, but still far away. Disney and Facebook (Meta Platforms) recently announced plans to create a Metaverse. Imagine what they can do with their user base, technology, budget, and resources. I highly encourage you to invest and learn as much as you can about metaverses, in particular Facebook’s (Meta Platforms).
References
How the metaverse will change Facebook and retail
