The metaverse is a concept being talked about as the next big thing by tech companies, marketers, and analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s attracting attention – and money – from some of of tech’s biggest names, such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the metaverse?
\nTo the outsider, it may look like a souped-up version of Virtual Reality (VR) – but some people think the metaverse could be the future of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the belief is that it could be to VR what the modern smartphone is to the first clunky mobile phones of the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of being on a computer, in the metaverse you might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike current VR, which is mostly used for gaming, this virtual world could be used for practically anything – work, play, concerts, cinema trips – or just hanging out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people envision that you would have a 3D avatar – a representation of yourself – as you use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But because it’s still just an idea, there’s no single agreed definition of the metaverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it suddenly a big thing?
\nHype about digital worlds and augmented reality pops up every few years, but usually dies away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there is a huge amount of excitement about the metaverse among wealthy investors and big tech firms, and no-one wants to be left behind if it turns out to be the future of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There’s also a feeling that for the first time, the technology is nearly there, with advancements in VR gaming and connectivity coming close to what might be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is Facebook involved?
\nFacebook has made building the metaverse one of its big priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s invested heavily in virtual reality through its Oculus headsets, making them cheaper than rivals – perhaps even at a loss, according to some analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s also building VR apps for social hangouts and for the workplace, including ones that interact with the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite its history of buying up rivals, Facebook claims the metaverse “won’t be built overnight by a single company” and has promised to collaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has recently invested $50m (\u00a336.3m) in funding non-profit groups to help “build the metaverse responsibly”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it thinks the true metaverse idea will take another 10 to 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who else is interested in the metaverse?
\nMr Sweeney, the head of Epic Games (which makes Fortnite), has long spoken about his metaverse aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Online multiplayer games have had shared interactive worlds going back decades. They are not the metaverse, but have some ideas in common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years Fortnite expanded its product, hosting concerts, brand events, and more inside its own digital world. That impressed many with what was possible – and thrust Mr Sweeney’s vision of the metaverse into the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other games are getting closer to a metaverse idea, too. Roblox, for example, is a platform for thousands of individual games connected to the larger ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Unity, a 3D development platform, is investing in “digital twins” – digital copies of the real world – and the graphics company Nvidia is building its “Omniverse”, which it describes as a platform for connecting 3D virtual worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is it all about games?
\nNo. Even though there are so many ideas about what the metaverse might be, most visions see social human interaction as the core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook, for example, has been experimenting with a VR meetings app called Workplace, and a social space called Horizons, both of which use their virtual avatar systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another VR app, VRChat, is entirely focused around hanging out online and chatting – with no goal or purpose other than exploring environments and meeting people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other applications may be waiting out there, ready to be discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Sweeney recently told the Washington Post that he envisions a world where a car manufacturer trying to advertise a new model is “going to drop their car into the world in real time and you’ll be able to drive it around”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps when you go online shopping, you’ll try on digital clothes first, and then order them to arrive in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the technology exist yet?
\nVR has come a long way in recent years, with high-end headsets which can trick the human eye into seeing in 3D as the player moves around a virtual world. It has become more mainstream, too – the Oculus Quest 2 VR gaming headset was a popular Christmas gift in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The explosion of interest in NFTs, which may provide a way to reliably track ownership of digital goods, could point to how a virtual economy would work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And more advanced digital worlds will need better, more consistent, and more mobile connectivity – something that might be solved with the rollout of 5G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, though, everything is in the early stages. The evolution of the metaverse – if it happens at all – will be fought among tech giants for the next decade, or maybe even longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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