The coming new internet of things - The Metaverse

The world is changing, and it's a very big change – one that will leave many people behind.

To put a name to it properly, I'll call this shift "the coming new internet of things" (the metaverse), where the internet as we know it today won't just be about typing on a keyboard, but will become an internet we are actually involved in, almost physically.

Facebook, with great foresight, changed its name to Meta to stake a claim in this land of infinite possibilities. Why would a company with a name so widely recognised, by young and old alike, choose to rebrand entirely? That decision alone tells you how significant the metaverse, or this new coming internet, really is. In the metaverse, people are the key ingredient – a land with no inhabitants is no use to anyone, and Facebook clearly saw itself in a strong position to capitalise on that, hence the bold move.

Before going any further, it's worth understanding where the word "metaverse" came from. Trying to explore this topic without that context would be like trying to walk without legs – confusing, to say the least. So, what is the metaverse? It's been a hot topic lately, with both Facebook and Microsoft staking their claims. But what does it actually mean, and when will it truly arrive? Author Neal Stephenson is credited with coining the term in his 1992 science fiction novel "Snow Crash," in which he imagined lifelike avatars meeting in realistic 3D buildings and other virtual reality environments.

Since then, various developments have marked milestones on the road toward a genuine metaverse: an online virtual world combining augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, video and other forms of communication. As the metaverse grows, it promises a hyper-real alternative world for people to exist alongside our own. Early glimpses of this already exist in online game universes such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox, and the companies behind these games have ambitions to play a part in the metaverse's evolution.

Credit: USPost. How do we get ahead of this change, become part of it, or even help shape it? Every major change brings with it a degree of uncertainty – a kind of nightmare born from not knowing, because not understanding something leaves you in the dark. That's why the phrase "knowledge is power" rings true, though perhaps it's more accurate to say knowledge is light, or enlightenment, since power without understanding means little. So, first and foremost, we need education and a genuine grasp of what's really happening. But knowledge alone isn't enough – knowing how to apply it is what truly matters.

Blockchain & The Metaverse To recap, the term "metaverse" first appeared in Neal Stephenson's iconic cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, published in 1992. So what exactly is the Metaverse? In Stephenson's fiction, it's described as a shared "imaginary realm" made available to the public across the worldwide fibre-optic network and projected through virtual reality goggles. In practice, the term can apply to any digital setting enhanced with virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). "Meta" means "beyond," and "verse" refers to "universe." Some also use the term to describe virtual worlds where players can roam and interact with others – spaces where developers build structures, parks, signs and other things that don't exist in physical reality. This can include sweeping overhead light shows, districts that ignore the rules of three-dimensional space, and even free-combat zones where people hunt and fight one another.

The COVID-19 pandemic reignited interest in the metaverse. As more people began working and studying from home, demand grew for ways to make online interaction feel more lifelike. In this article, we'll cover metaverse coins, tokens and wallets, along with blockchain metaverse startups, crypto metaverse projects, and how the metaverse actually works. What are its core attributes? The Metaverse is often described as a kind of "jacked-in" digital internet – a reflection of real life, but set within a virtual, often theme-park-like world. Its core attributes include: being synchronous and live, meaning that while scheduled events will still happen, the Metaverse itself runs continuously and in real time, just as "real life" does. It's persistent: it never resets, pauses or ends – it simply keeps going. It's available to everyone, individually and simultaneously, allowing each person to take part in events, places or activities with their own agency. And it has a fully functioning economy, where individuals and businesses can create, own, invest in, sell, and be rewarded for work that others find valuable.

An experience: It should span both the digital and physical worlds, as well as private and public, open and closed platforms. A wide range of contributors: it should be built from content and experiences created by many different people and organisations, from individuals to informal groups to full-scale businesses. Unprecedented interoperability: it should allow data, digital items and content to move freely between experiences – for example, a car built for Rocket League (or even Porsche's own website) could, in theory, be brought into Roblox. Today's digital world, by contrast, works more like a shopping mall, where every store has its own currency, membership cards, measurement systems and rules. So, what isn't the Metaverse? While the comparisons above are likely part of it, they aren't the Metaverse itself. Virtual worlds and AI-driven or human-populated games have existed for decades, but a "virtual world" isn't automatically a "meta" universe – it's a fictional, purpose-built space created for a specific goal, like a game.

Similarly, digital experiences like Second Life are often described as "proto-Metaverses." While they share certain features – digital avatars representing people, virtual hangouts, a lack of fixed game-like goals, and near-simultaneous updates – these alone aren't enough to qualify as a true metaverse. So "a virtual space" isn't a metaverse either. Virtual reality (VR) is simply a way of experiencing a virtual world, and a sense of presence within a digital space doesn't make it a metaverse on its own. And while the metaverse may include game-like elements, features and gamification, it isn't a game in itself, nor is it built around fixed objectives. In short, it's neither "virtual reality" nor "a game."

A metaverse also isn't centrally designed like Disneyland, so it's not a "virtual theme park" either. Nor is it simply a "new app store" – it's fundamentally different from today's internet and mobile models in design and purpose. So how does the Metaverse actually work? Broadly speaking, it can be split into two types of platform. The first uses nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies to build blockchain-based metaverse projects, where people can buy virtual land and create their own spaces – platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox are examples of this. The second type uses "metaverse" more loosely, to describe virtual worlds in general, where people gather for business or leisure. In July, Facebook Inc. announced the creation of a dedicated metaverse product team. While many metaverse services offer free accounts, anyone wanting to buy or trade virtual assets on blockchain-based platforms needs cryptocurrency. Platforms such as Decentraland (using MANA) and The Sandbox (using SAND) rely on Ethereum-based tokens for buying and selling virtual assets.

In Decentraland, users can trade NFT artworks or charge admission to virtual shows and concerts. They can also make money by trading virtual land, which has seen notable increases in value in recent years. On Roblox, users can earn money by charging others for access to their games. So what can you actually do in the metaverse? You could take a virtual trip, buy digital clothing, or attend a virtual concert through crypto metaverse projects. Amid the shift to working from home during the pandemic, the metaverse could prove to be a game-changer. Horizon Workrooms, a free open beta from Facebook, is available for download on Oculus Quest 2 in supported regions. It's a virtual meeting space designed to help you and your colleagues collaborate more effectively from anywhere. You can join meetings in VR as an avatar, or dial in from your laptop or PC via video call.

You can brainstorm using a large virtual whiteboard, bring your own computer and keyboard into VR to work alongside others, or hold conversations that feel far more natural than a standard video call. That said, tech companies still have work to do when it comes to connecting their various platforms. For this to work smoothly, competing technology providers will need to agree on shared standards, so users aren't forced to constantly switch between the Facebook metaverse, the Microsoft metaverse, and others. Is crypto essential to the metaverse? The metaverse's aim is to offer people an augmented reality experience that, in some respects, could surpass physical reality in terms of opportunity and experience. So why does the metaverse rely on encryption to function properly? The unhackable, immutable nature of blockchain is a critical feature for any virtual reality technology hoping to achieve widespread adoption. Hacks and data breaches are common today, and if people are going to operate within an entirely virtual environment, the underlying platform needs to be secure. Blockchain doesn't just allow for quick confirmation of information – it also enables cryptographically secure, protected transactions. In this sense, blockchain and crypto assets are a fundamental part of how virtual reality will be deployed, since the metaverse will need transactions to happen on demand, something blockchain technology is well suited to support.

For a genuine virtual reality environment to function as intended, transactions need to be both secure and extremely fast. People within this ecosystem need to be able to transact and interact as naturally as they would in person, and trust that these transactions will go through reliably. Crypto transactions offer a proven way for individuals and institutions to carry out virtual, traceable, real-time exchanges. That said, even without continued reliance on blockchain and crypto-asset technology, the broader shift toward online and virtual payments has been growing steadily. Conducting business online has become mainstream, further reinforced by the adoption of crypto payments by Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. As crypto-enabled payments become more common within virtual ecosystems like the metaverse, it's likely such payments will play an increasingly central role going forward. The metaverse remains a developing and rapidly expanding field.

Still, the bottom line is this: to support and realise a fully functional metaverse, blockchain and crypto assets will need to play a significant part in how it's built and run. Are there concerns about the metaverse? Yes, a few, though not all are universally agreed upon. One key question is whether participants will have a single digital identity, or "avatar," used consistently across every platform and encounter. That would certainly be convenient, but it seems unlikely, since each major player in the "Metaverse era" will probably want to maintain its own identification system. Today, for example, there are already several dominant account systems, none of which covers the entire web – they often overlap, with limited data sharing between them. You might, for instance, use your Meta (formerly Facebook) ID to log into an app that's also linked to your Gmail account, while your iPhone runs on a separate iOS account. There's also ongoing debate about how much interoperability a platform needs before it can be considered a "true" metaverse, rather than simply an evolution of today's internet. Many also question whether a genuine metaverse could ever be run by a single operator, as depicted in Ready Player One, or whether it must be a heavily decentralised system built on community-based standards and protocols, similar to the open web – an "open source" metaverse OS or platform, even if dominant closed platforms continue to exist alongside it.

The negatives of the Metaverse

There's also a strong argument that the metaverse could bring with it some serious downsides: mind control tactics, and the real-world consequences of events that happen within the virtual world.

There are genuine concerns around mental wellbeing, particularly the risk of participants losing track of the difference between what's real and what isn't. Consider how many social media users have become so engrossed in it that behaviours once considered out of bounds in real life have quietly become normalised. It may all seem harmless at first, but it could carry real risks for people's wellbeing, so it's something users should approach with care. The early stages might look appealing, but there's potential for things to take a darker turn further down the line. (If you ever feel that time online is affecting your mood or wellbeing, it's worth speaking to a GP or another healthcare professional for advice.)

The future of the metaverse remains uncertain – it's hard to know just how closely a true metaverse could ever mirror real life, or how long it might take to build one. Many blockchain-based metaverse platforms are still refining their AR and VR technology to allow for genuinely interactive environments. PwC, the global accounting and advisory firm, estimates that virtual and augmented reality could add $1.5 trillion to the global economy by 2030, up from $46.5 billion in 2019. Facebook Inc, Alphabet-owned Google, and Microsoft have all invested heavily in cloud computing and virtual reality companies in anticipation of this growth. Just as enormous value was created for companies that came to dominate "the internet," there's likely to be significant opportunity for firms that can establish themselves in key areas of the metaverse, from supporting platforms to payments, subscriptions and advertising.

Credit: Cointelegraph