Introduction to the Metaverse

? What’s the Meta With You?

? Defining Something That Doesn’t Really Exist Yet 

The metaverse is the convergence of physical, virtual, and augmented worlds in a seamless way. It is a futuristic world where ownership of digital assets will transcend borders to interact on a common platform enabled by the internet’s connectivity.

Glimpses of this sci-fi fantasy are already emerging:

• Last year, a concert in Fortnite gathered over 12.3 million viewers to watch a 10-minute Travis Scott performance.
• Snoop Dogg recently entered The Sandbox and is offering a variety of social events and concerts on the decentralized platform.
• Snoop also sold NFTs that could be used in The Sandbox which came attached with the opportunity to be featured in the above music video.

These examples cover some aspects of the metaverse.

However, such experiences are mostly specific to individual ecosystems.

Fortnite players can’t leave a concert to return to their virtual homes on a plot of land in The Sandbox. The skin you bought for your League of Legends character can’t be applied to your undead Priest in World of Warcraft. The metaverse could change all that.

? Where Are We Headed Next? 

But it isn’t all fun and games in this brave new world. The metaverse has plans outside the realm of entertainment:

• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed his “overarching goal is to help bring the metaverse to life” in an interview last July. Zuckerberg envisions a future where meetings are conducted in virtual and augmented reality, rather than over Zoom.
• Snap unveiled Spectacles, augmented reality enabled smart glasses, in May this year with the aim of helping content creators broaden their toolbox.
• The recent Cardano Summit took a different approach to hosting and presenting information. Instead of a webcast featuring visuals of speakers standing at podiums, seven virtual worlds were created to deliver 48 hours of content, news, and interviews.

From here it isn’t too far-fetched to picture a world where your office doesn’t exist on Wall Street, but in The Sandbox, or Decentraland. You may be wearing pyjamas when you log on, but by the time you reach your virtual corner office your avatar is sporting Armani.

This futuristic reality will not be built without blockchain. Migrating value from the real world to the metaverse requires infallible and persistent data. As it stands, the only truly immutable ledger technology resides in the crypto space, making it intrinsically tied to the internet successor’s advancement.

? Concluding Remarks 

As crypto enthusiasts, we wear early adoption as a badge of honour. The metaverse stands to change how we view and interact with our world. If successful, this is quite possibly the next age of our civilization.

Unlike NFT Gaming, Yield Farming etc. the Metaverse has yet to really disrupt the crypto space. For those that believe in its promise, potential and have carried out their due diligence, upcoming Metaverse projects may present significant opportunities.

I hope you’re ready, player one.