Metaverse is a complex concept that is continuing to develop and becoming more complex. It could be defined as a large-scale universe that connected 3D virtual worlds focusing on social connection. According to Mark Zuckerberg, metaverse is something like “embodied internet”. So, what is the place of a metaverse in our lives nowadays, how does its evolution will affect would change the perception of reality?
The main focuses of metaverse are universality and decentralization. It allows imagining a world where we could control our digital experiences and access them in a more flexible environment. Although the technology is still developing, we could say that the most common forms of technology that we associate metaverse other than the internet itself is extended realities, blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Extended realities: it is bringing the physical world and visual world together with enhanced 3D visuals. The technology used for this is virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR simulates an alternate world which is entirely generated by computers and headsets are needed. On the other hand, AR morphed the physical into the visual one by projecting characters and pictures through a screen. So, anyone with a smartphone can access AR.
Blockchain: it unable its users to control their online experiences. With things like Non-Fungible Tokens, an NFT can be thought of as the virtual equivalent of a high-value property for example cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as a way of investing in and supporting artists, smart contracts, and decentralized finance, blockchain is already causing a stir in the metaverse.
Artificial Intelligence: Machines need a certain level of intelligence to connect the digital world and the physical world which is why AI is necessary for the metaverse.
The metaverse is a virtual world where we can learn, create, play, communicate, and interact with everyone on the planet. At the same time, it makes the world smaller by linking us regardless of our geographical location, and it makes the world more significant by providing more chances. When used appropriately, the metaverse has the potential to bring people together like never before, allowing us new ways to communicate regardless of language barriers or geographic location. It might be the start of new contexts in which we can create entirely new economies based on value sharing. Fans of the metaverse see it as the start of a new era, one in which experiences are created by people, for people, in an increasingly accessible landscape.
However, there are possible difficulties with the metaverse, such as the risk that in a decentralized environment, we may struggle to trace down and prevent crime, we may risk our personal privacy and be misinformed. Other than that, the metaverse might be a threat to our perception of reality. We do not know how much it would evolve so we cannot say anything certain about this issue. However, we can still say that in the future there might be many people getting consumed by this metaverse and losing themselves in digital reality by getting obsessed over metaverse/virtual reality and wasting a lot of time on it.
To sum up, even though I believe that metaverse would be a game-changer and it would have a positive effect on many things, it might affect some people negatively and cause the perception of reality change. Nevertheless, it is up to us as a global community to harness the metaverse’s potential for good.