Facebook is no longer Facebook… It is Meta now. It was enough for Mark Zuckerberg to announce it and BOOM! News from the Metaverse, experts preparing analyzes about it, companies investing in projects to be part of it. Even the first festival about the Metaverse was held! Apparently no matter where you look, everyone is talking about the metaverse.
However, despite the euphoria and information bombardment, many still wonder what the f*** is the Metaverse? That is why at El Dorado we have decided to prepare this guide, in which you will be able to find all the details of it so that you understand it as well as Zuck himself.
Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t Invent The Metaverse
Although the fever for the Metaverse has appeared after the Facebook name change was announced, the term Metaverse is not new; It first appeared in the 1970s, when Neal Stephenson coined it in the science fiction novel Snow Crash. In the work, the author used the word to define an alternative digital universe to which people went to forget about the problems of the physical world.
Basically, Zuckerberg (and other companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Sony) seek to create that virtual universe in which physical and digital reality converge, making everyday and extraordinary activities possible regardless of physical barriers; creating a mixed reality in which virtual reality is combined with augmented reality.
According to the promotional video of Meta and the latest posts on Zuckerberg’s Instagram account, it can be inferred that the activities that will be enjoyed in the metaverse will be very varied, since it is expected to be able to bring virtuality to an experience closer to reality. , which is still not achieved even with video calls.
In this new universe you will be able to generate your own avatar, which will move and interact according to your movements and expressions; design and visit virtual meeting spaces, and even enjoy through projections the visit of people who are far away (as shown in this video). We even know that the company is working on gloves and suits with the technology to interact with objects in the Metaverse and feel their texture, weight, and more.
Does the Metaverse already exist?
Although there are news announcing associations and events in the Metaverse and there are even platforms such as Decentraland and Roblox (which already claim to provide access to a Metaverse in which people can play and create virtual spaces). The reality is that the Metaverse we imagine is still several years away from becoming a reality, so the current spaces that promise access to the metaverse are mostly limited to offering a VR experience of avatars and personalized spaces with graphics that leave a lot to be desired.
In the case of Meta, you can now access Horizon Worlds, one of the platforms that make up the Metaverse of the technological giant; access is free, but it is necessary to have a Facebook account and a pair of Oculus Quest 2 glasses. In this space, users can build social worlds, interact with up to 20 people in the same space, play games and attend virtual events such as this Young Though concert.
Although you can already enjoy different initial versions of the Metaverse, the reality is that there are still several years to go before it feels as real and close as physical reality. The obstacles? The non-existence of an internet network that can support a metaverse in which millions and even billions of people are connected (a simple delay in internet speed can significantly hinder the experience in metaverses) and the impossibility of transmitting certain sensations through of the digital.
In fact, that is the titanic task that both Meta and the rest of the companies are working on, focusing their efforts on creating devices and protocols that allow a true metaverse experience to be generated, since it has to be faced; With today’s technology it is not yet possible to consolidate the metaverse as we dream of it. Therefore, at present we can only speak of a proto-metaverse and say that we find ourselves in a situation similar to what happened at the beginning of the internet, where the original experience is nothing compared to the one that, luckily, we can enjoy today.
If you want to learn more about the current status of this new mixed reality universe and witness its progress firsthand, you can explore some of those platforms that are offering experiences close to the Metaverse.
It should be noted that although Meta is the company that is being targeted by the spotlight, the different companies that are working on building their own Metaverse have different visions about what this new universe should be like. So we still don’t know for sure if a single Metaverse will prevail (which is what Meta seems to point to) or if there will be several decentralized Metaverses with different functionalities that will interconnect with each other.
Why do big companies invest in the Metaverse?
A new universe means a new economic ecosystem, and companies like Nike, Balenciaga, Nissan, Coca.Cola, among others, are clear on that. In this new digital economy, micropayments, cryptocurrencies and NFTS will be the protagonists.
But why would cryptocurrencies, NFTs and micropayments be used in the metaverse? Well, the answer can be found in video games like the Sims; where you create your avatar, and although you have access to free accessories and outfits to customize it, you have to admit that the most original options are usually paid.
In the Metaverse the same thing probably happens, you will have your avatar and it will surely come with a couple of accessories by default; In addition to that, there will be thousands of paid customization options, and, therefore, it will be necessary to make micropayments with some new currency or perhaps with existing cryptocurrencies. In addition, NFTs will be an essential part of acquiring property, clothing and even digital works of art.
And although the word micropayment sounds like a small expense, there are already estimates that currently the proto-metaverses accumulate a value of 500,000 million dollars and that at the end of the decade the value of the economy of the Metaverse will reach 30 billion dollars .
Obviously, companies want a percentage of the money generated to be part of their profits: Because of this, Coca-Cola launched its own collection of NFTs in style at an event on Decentraland, Nike created its own Metaverse on Roblox to allow users to users to exercise virtually and Adidas created a virtual farm in The Sandbox and allied with Bored Ape.
We are probably only seeing the beginning of investments by big brands in projects for the Metaverse, so over time there will surely be new announcements of companies launching projects to guarantee the presence of their products or services virtually.
How to benefit from this new universe?
Due to the current state of open proto-metaverses, the general public has limited ways to harness its potential. At the moment it is only possible to benefit through the enjoyment of virtual games and experiences (such as festivals and similar events) or by working in a sector linked to the development of elements of the Metaverse; for example game design, NFTs, accessories or virtual clothing.
However, there are latent opportunities that can be exploited for future economic benefits. For example, you can invest in cryptocurrencies or NFTs whose projects are linked to the Metaverse, and you can even buy your own plot of land in the Metaverse to create whatever you want (this option is available on Decentraland).
And if you consider that investing is not your thing, then it is up to you to wait for the Metaverse to advance and with it the possibilities within it, since when a new economic ecosystem originates, it is most likely that new jobs will arise that perhaps we are not even able to fully imagine. Just as today there are those who make money in games like Axie Infinity, in the future there will be those who make money within the Metaverse.
Our grandparents would never imagine that someone would say “I work on the internet and without even having to leave my house”. Perhaps the same is true in the Metaverse, and over the years we’ll hear more often of someone working in the Metaverse in a way that doesn’t even exist today.
Only time will tell, and while we wait for the future to arrive, perhaps the best thing will be to invest and save on options that allow us to take advantage of this long-awaited new universe.
Disclaimer: This article has been written for informational purposes and is not intended to provide financial advice.
