Can you imagine a world where you could conquer outer space from the comfort of your home? Or send your digital twin to a business meeting?
This combination of virtual and augmented reality and computer simulation of a three-dimensional environment is exactly what the Metaverse offers. Its infrastructure includes various technologies such as virtual reality platforms, blockchain, digital currencies, 3D graphics, and VR-enabled games and headsets.
Essentially, the Metaverse will be the next level of the Internet — a network of 3D worlds that exists on top of our current reality. And this new format of AR in the future will remodel the way we interact with each other on the Internet and completely immerse us in an alternative world.
The Metaverse: New Level of Experience
Since the expansion of augmented reality has now started, a future in which the boundaries between the real and the virtual world will become even more blurred is not far off.
While some users will prefer the real world and others will surf between the real and digital worlds, a portion of the global user base is likely to move much of their social activity into the Metaverse. People will go shopping, meet friends, attend concerts, play games, work, and make money. Therefore, we should soon expect:
- Alternative forms of social interaction. Soon, AR is likely to become as important as social media. Many users have already turned to the Metaverse for social events. In the future, well-being spaces will allow users to relax and experience something new.
- Immersive structures of team collaboration. The Metaverse will offer new opportunities to reimagine the office and remote work environment, bringing elements of adventure, spontaneity, and the unexpected. For example, NextMeet has created an avatar-based immersive reality platform for work, collaboration, and learning, and PropTech Zigbang has opened a 30-floor VR office called Metapolis.
- Interactive work solutions. As the Internet has brought new professions such as digital marketing managers and cybersecurity specialists, the Metaverse reality is likely to come with a huge number of new roles that will also be popular and in demand.
- Economics of the Metaverse. The new economy provides ubiquitous customer-driven financial movement not limited to traditional financial institutions. And then there are NFTs, which are digital certificates that prove property ownership, both digital and analog. If Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptos are the money of the Metaverse, then NFTs represent the stuff that fills up the Metaverse.
The Metaverse and Business: the Race to the Forefront
Even in its infancy, the Metaverse has already become a big business. Tech and gaming titans like Epic Games, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), and Roblox are building their virtual worlds or metaverses. And they compete fiercely with each other to be the first to release a viable product. The Metaverse is projected to be a trillion-dollar industry by 2025.
The possibilities are endless, and judging by the way Americans have gone digital, change is already happening. A Pew Research study in 2021 found that 31% of Americans are online 24/7, and 79% go online multiple times a day.
Recent trends show that not only are people shifting from physical to virtual goods, but entire industries are using AR and VR as valuable tools. In the Metaverse, anything can be 3D-modeled, allowing more precise assessment, design, and decision making with fewer time constraints and financial costs.
Walmart enters the virtual world by providing currency and allowing customers to buy and sell NFTs. Bosch and Ford Motor Company have developed a VR training tool for electric vehicle service technicians through the Oculus Quest headset. The British company Metaverse Learning has teamed up with the UK Skills Partnership to use virtual reality in healthcare. With the help of medical software development, they created a series of nine training models using 3D animation and AR to test students’ skills and reinforce nursing best practices.
The Metaverse and the Real World: Mutual Dependency
Despite the huge promise, some obstacles hamper its further development: the computing infrastructure and power requirements for a fully functioning Metaverse are huge. Today’s Metaverse comprises various virtual worlds that are not as connected as the original Internet.
And while the augmented reality metaverse offers a habitable, alternative environment governed by our universe’s physics laws, it entirely depends on those same rules. That is because blockchain and blockchain-based computing consume many natural resources and energy, which is only possible due to the real world around us. Without electricity generation, creating a cryptocurrency to support the blockchain ecosystem would be impossible, and the Metaverse platforms simply could not exist.
Currently, every other aspect of the work of the Metaverse in virtual reality uses some kind of physical resource or law. User interactions with these platforms follow the rules that govern our perception of light so that we can put on virtual reality headsets and enter an immersive digital universe.
Navigation aids such as remote controls, eye tracking, hand controllers, and omnidirectional treadmills use human anatomy and the laws of motion to create a realistic experience. In virtual reality, developers mimic physical properties such as gravity anchoring to develop a sense of authenticity for every occasion.
Conclusion
Given the haste technology advances and companies’ innovation, the introduction of the Metaverse is a certainty. However, the effort required to make it a reality may be significant.
Firstly, the speed of acceptance is important. Major business players will need to act quickly to avoid being late with the Ьetaverse and virtual services. Otherwise, they will risk being overtaken by more energetic competitors.
Secondly, the Metaverse will only be profitable if deployed as a tool for engagement and experience, not for control and oversight.
And thirdly, working based on the Metaverse must match the virtual adventures that the current generation expects from technology in their consumer and gaming lifestyles.
If you’re looking to invest in the future of VR, it’s time to embrace the metaverse virtual reality concept and get early access to some pretty cool tech. If you don’t, you may be left behind when everyone else starts living and doing business in this digital space.
Also Read: How will the Metaverse Change our Lives?
