Metaverse seems like a plot of a good science fiction novel or if you are a fan of DC TV shows then you would know the concept of metaverse was elaborated in THE FLASH, with much vigour and pomp.
But what does it mean now as we enter the third year of a Global Pandemic? With even our social media biggest friend Mark Zuckerberg changing the much-revered name which made him a household name Facebook to Meta?
Let’s dive in to know all about this mysterious new world Metaverse.
Metaverse is a network of the 3D virtual world with a social connection. And the chunks of it is based on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, which is the way that we use the Internet and no specific technology backs up this. It is an amalgamation.
The technologies that give weight to the Metaverse is already known to us the likes of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
But for it to work in real-life scenarios it has to be through a technology that is called Ambient Computing that is defined as a mixture of human/ machine learning, hardware, software and user experience, and it does not require one to sit and give commands to the devices directly. It is a seamless experience one that is unconsciously done just like having a random thought. Examples of Ambient Computing is Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
Let’s see how does that work
Virtual reality- Is defined as the stimulating experience that looks like real life or maybe completely different from it, and it can access by a Virtual headset, etc, The Metaverse is a part of this technology but there is a little distinction that one can still be part of that world when they are not playing it also. Does that feel real? Or can it be the future?
Augmented Reality- This is defined as the combination of both the Virtual and Real World and now in the Metaverse, you don’t require those specifics to access it without any external support.
It may seem that it is just on paper and just an extension of the above technologies but since time immemorial it has been known that improvement in the existing blocks give us the future we live in.
Why is everyone talking about it?
Metaverse started being the talk of the town when frankly speaking Mark Zuckerberg decided to change the name of our favorite social media app Facebook to Meta and propagated the idea of creating a holistic metaverse.
But he is not the first person to think about this technology it is already in use in Popular gaming apps where users in their virtual world have their own currency and can buy, sell and trade through cryptocurrencies, like Epic Games Fortnite, Roblox, Unity, Nvidia. The infrastructure of this is the basis of working of a Metaverse and is constantly being developed.
So, how is that going to happen?
It will mean the integration of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality but without its regular perks which have begun to come into use like Fortnite that can be accessed through all the modes of communication like cellphones, desktops, tablets etc.
It can also give rise to a digital economy where people can create digital products and buy and sell them too.
A virtual world just like ours where we can buy, sell, rent real estate and do all the things we do in our real world.And in the recent events where this was showcased brilliantly by a Virtual Concert of Pop singer Ariana Grande on the Epic Games Battle Royale game Fortnite.But in a more advanced version of the Metaverse, it is interconnected and is interoperable and one can take virtual items from one place to another.
One can even create a persona that can be used on multiple platforms at once like you can do on your Facebook and Instagram as well.More connectivity than ever and things that can be done just by sitting at home. Although it may seem like hunky-dory it might come true in the coming decade.
Many big tech companies have already invested in the idea like Facebook and Microsoft though the latter thinks of it as a simulation of the real world. In metaverse, one server can hold up to hundreds of people without crashing, which would require a lot of power and good connectivity and speed of 5G.All these requirements seem far-fetched at the moment with laws roll out of 5G a big question in itself.
For it to work in the real world the electronic devices have to be specifically designed to fit in the Metaverse and now the technologies that support AR and VR are experimental at best.
And like said before the advanced version of Ambient Computing as well.
Like in a presentation by Mark Zuckerberg that presented a case of a woman who was scrolling through her Social Media
App Instagram when her friend shared that she was in the concert half a world away and then in the second scene
the woman was represented in a Hologram present in the
concert making eye contact with her friend enjoying the
concert with her and their texts hovering above them like
a halo.
It all seemed glossy and futuristic but all the technology that it will require to bring this to fruition is primitive.
Metaverse may or may not be operable in the next decade but the possibility of it coming alive is more than probable and it will be a sight to behold.
Why is it the next big thing?
Metaverse is already here if look at it as fragments all that is required is an amalgamation of all the factors.
We already have Virtual Reality and Augmented reality in some aspects that are present in the society like millions of people are already spending a large part of their time in games like Roblox, and the emergence of Cryptocurrencies and the surge of buying in the NFTs that is Non- Fungible Tokens, and Facebook heading towards the Metaverse and Microsoft also looking to expand.
Smart classrooms, hybrid offices, and video-based education are all part of the Metaverse. With all the apprehension we have adopted these fragments and maybe with all the other things, this might just come true.
Metaverse is like a shining new example of better connectivity and making the experience of using social media a better one than it is today.It aims to dominate our everyday life without us giving any direct commands and only through our thought in mind. It may seem like a seeing a film but it may come true in the coming times.
The only daunting aspect of it that whether it will be able to reach all the strata of society or not given the technologies that it will require to work on.The Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality and a server that does not crash with the load and a powerful anchor that will be the 5G.
In, this current state and a Pandemic raged World it feels like a long way to come.So, come what may this Technology if it arrives is going to change the way we are living right now and change the whole dynamics of the Human and Machine World.
