8 Keys to Understanding What the Metaverse Is All About

Zuckerberg has said that his company, Meta, will be dedicated to the creation of the metaverse. But do you know what it is? Here are some keys to understanding the metaverse.

Are you one of those who believe that change is good and promote it, or do you prefer to stay in your routine for fear of taking a step into the unknown? If you are of the second group, start to let go and get out of that sphere.

Now if you are good with changes, this post is for you, because everything points to the metaverse being one of the biggest technological changes that the internet and humanity will experience, and here you can find 8 keys to understand the metaverse.

Keys to understanding the metaverse:

1. Virtual spaces

If we look back to a year in the past: the pandemic arrived and with it a succession of unfortunate consequences such as staying at home even to work. We had to deal with “that” from which we could escape with a few hours in the office, an outing to the park, cinema or shopping at the mall, because we could no longer leave the house.

Yes, you already know that, as you probably also know that platforms like Google, zoom and Meta, formerly Facebook, made use of the opportunity generated by that crisis to promote tools on their platforms. For example, zoom became the most used platform for virtual meetings and classes, Google promoted its meet tool. But, for its part, Meta (formerly Facebook) went much further and created a virtual reality office that marked its first step towards the metaverse.

Because the metaverse consists of virtual spaces that allow the creation of an alternative reality, spaces that can be a virtual version of a real place or simply spaces designed solely for that virtual world. Not only like the telecommuting office developed by Meta; Horizon Workrooms, but the metaverse can include cinemas, shops, and virtual cities.

2. Multidimensional Internet

With a metaverse, the internet as we know it today will be transformed, it will become a three-dimensional experience, because we will be inside it and we will be able to explore it as we do with the real world, where we experience multiple dimensions; although in reality, we perceive physical dimensions + time = 4D.

Just as we can go to a shop, see the clothes and try them on from the inside, so it is in the metaverse. Trying on clothes, and meeting people in a café or restaurant who are millions of kilometres away from us, with the perception of being in the same place, thanks to the multidimensional internet.

3. Virtual reality glasses

The most important element so far to take that first step into the Metaverse is virtual reality glasses. The virtual reality glasses are so far the main point of connection between our reality and the reality of the metaverse.

We can only see this new universe through the glass of virtual reality goggles. This device allows us to block out the outside world, allowing a wide range of vision that allows us to immerse ourselves in a new reality, the reality of the metaverse.

4. New reality

One of the films that best shows us what the metaverse can be is Ready Player One, where humans make a life by connecting to a video game that has become much more than that.

And since at a certain point the metaverse will become a new reality, where you can explore, socialise, etc., the metaverse will become a new reality. A quote from Ready Player One comes in handy, giving us a preview of what this new reality could be like, where we can adopt avatars and immerse ourselves in a purely virtual world, which, given what I have already mentioned in the previous items, will be nothing more than a new reality.

Aech: She might as well be a dude, dude.

Parvizal: No, come on.

Aech: I’m serious. Actually, she could be a 300-pound guy who lives in his mum’s basement in the suburbs of Detroit. And his name is Chuck.” Ready Player One, 2018.

The quote points to a dialogue between characters referencing that one of the main characters, with whom the protagonist has fallen in love, might not actually be a girl, and although in the game her avatar is a young girl, because it is a virtual reality, she might not actually be one.

5. New technologies

The use of new technologies is fundamental to the functioning of the metaverse, as existing technology is not adapted to a project like a metaverse.

But… What technology does the metaverse use?

I know I mentioned virtual reality glasses as a connecting element between the metaverse and the real world, but the truth is that for the metaverse to exist as such, it takes much more than virtual reality glasses or rather, mixed reality (virtual reality + augmented reality). Glasses are the beginning and what could be a small technological link, new technology is required.

And to have the required technology, it will take between 5 and 10 years, because it is about creating or building equipment, holographic screens, projectors, silicon chips, cameras, batteries, sensors, hardware, among many other elements that will allow the transformation of networks and the creation of the metaverse.

So if you want to know when the metaverse will arrive, it will take at least 10 years for the metaverse to become a reality.

6. Meta

When you hear the word Metaverse it is very easy to associate the term with Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company; formerly called Facebook. And the reason is that this company has become the main company working on making the Metaverse a reality. So much so that Zuckerberg changed the name from Facebook to Meta with every intention of better adapting to this new digital universe that will be the Metaverse.

For Meta, the creation of a Metaverse represents the future of the connection between people, which is why at the company’s latest “Connect” conference, Zuckerberg emphasised that

“Today we’re seen as a social networking company, but in our DNA, we’re a company that creates technology to connect people. And the metaverse is the next frontier, just like social media was when we started.

7. Billion-dollar business

Although Facebook is the main company struggling to create a metaverse and be a pioneer, the reality is that other companies are not only interested in it, but have already taken the first steps towards it. This is because the metaverse is a business worth millions.

And as in any business that promises millions in profits, there will be many aspiring to have their own share, either directly or indirectly. For example, Zuckerberg is creating the metaverse of meta and has invested millions of dollars to make it happen in the shortest possible time.

Tim Sweeney, co-founder of Epic Games; the creators of Fortnite, is also working on creating the metaverse with his company. A model that can replace the internet as we know it, where everyone has equal access to the advantages that the metaverse can offer.

Like this pair, there are other companies that also want to be part of the metaverse boom, such as Microsoft and SoftBank or Google itself; although they say they are more cautious about it.

8. The Metaverse is not new

While it is true that the term metaverse has become known thanks to Facebook and all the media impact they have generated as a result of the creation of their metaverse, it is also true that the “metaverse” is not new.

What does metaverse mean? Metaverse is a term used by Neal Stephenson in his fictional novel Snow Crash published in 1992. It is a grammatical contraction of meta-universe that has been used in virtual communities such as Second Life.

For Benjamin Dean, director of digital assets at WisdomTree, a research and investment firm, metaverses are not new. “What is new is the amount of investment that is going into them and the growing acceptance of digital assets among a population that is increasingly digitally native.”

Metaverse is a very ambitious project and requires technological change and inclusion that will not emerge overnight. But when it happens, we know it will be a before and after of the internet as we know it and of life and society in general.