Anyone active in the technology world in the last decade or so has heard of the blockchain. Yet a newer buzzword – one with plenty of curiosity and potential behind it – is the metaverse.
A kind of new virtual reality powered by blockchain technologies, the metaverse is still in its relative infancy today. Yet while the progress of Web3, decentralization and blockchain tech evolution further empowers metaverse breakthroughs, many individuals and organisations are wondering just what the metaverse can give to them.
Is it all just virtual reality gaming like Decentraland, with some NFT and blockchain tech thrown in? Is the metaverse just another Big Tech buzzword with no real basis in our current reality?
Or is it, in fact, an exciting new frontier for entertainment, business, property and creativity to flourish – a new boom and the next internet rolled into one?
The foundations of the metaverse are all around us
Movies like Ready Player One have shown what a truly realised metaverse could look like – yet at the same time, also fall far short of the true ideal.
That’s because films and sci-fi like that present virtual reality as a way of using a metaverse to escape how unpleasant and unbearable our real world has become. The goal of our real-world metaverse is to realise ways to improve the world we live in using metaverse and blockchain technology – not to replace it.
As you find ways of understanding the metaverse and do your research, you might well find ideas that are shaping this blockchain technology are already all around us.
In fact, they’ve been around for decades in some instances. For example, Second Life is a virtual universe of computer generated avatars, each of whom is controlled by a real life person. People build communities in Second Life, make friends, fall in love – and even do business.
How did Second Life predict the metaverse?
In fact, Second Life operates by unlocking powerful tools for creating objects, clothing and entire games within games. While not truly demonstrative of the concept, the fact that developer Linden Labs gave these tools to the Second Life community is a clear step toward the decentralization empowering the metaverse being built today.
Millions of items have been created in Second Life, from homes and vehicles through to fashion items or outlandish items like jetpacks and robot butlers.
If you’ve got kids who like their tech, this description might sound familiar to you. After all, the idea of making your own items, games, vehicles and navigating a world of infinite creativity with a customisable avatar is also a huge part of the success behind Roblox.
Is Roblox a metaverse?
Video games like Roblox are not a true metaverse, mostly because they lack the blockchain technology and decentralization empowering Web3 games and apps such as Decentraland.
However, the sheer level of customisation in Roblox, together with its ability to build communities and empower creative people to earn currency from their creations, certainly shows how viable a metaverse can be – both as an avenue for creativity, but also a fantastic source of entertainment in its own right.
Remember also that neither Second Life or Roblox feature currencies that can (legitimately) be reverted to fiat currencies such as USD, EUR and others. Conversely, metaverse platforms like Decentraland use blockchain cryptocurrencies that hold intrinsic value – whether swapped via exchanges into crypto like BTC or ETH, or withdrawn into traditional currencies to spend in the real world.
A computer game you can profit from playing? That’s just one of the promises the metaverse provides.
Why it’s OK to find the metaverse confusing
Much like any new technology – the internet, television, the telephone, the automobile – we are at an inflection point today when it comes to the development of the metaverse.
In other words, the technology is new and exciting enough that it’s still being experimented with – much like the blockchain technology that empowers it.
It’s why games like Decentraland draw so much attention when it comes to discourse surrounding Web3 and the metaverse. Sure, it’s massively exciting – but these innovations feel more like an evolution than a revolution of the kinds of entertainment we already enjoy today.
That’s because we are only now unlocking the potential of metaverse technology as a society. We are only so far building on ideas seen in Web3 that have their roots in things we were already making for Web2.
That’s the deepest secret of the metaverse that we can give you. The best ways to use metaverse technology are still only just being invented.
The real value of the metaverse is destined to fall into the hands of those willing to show the most inventiveness and ingenuity in building brilliant new things within it.
What opportunities await you in the metaverse?
A common misconception about the metaverse is that it will simply be a virtual reality computer game – much like Second Life before it. Of course, games like Decentraland prove that this kind of application of metaverse blockchain technology can work extremely well.
Yet it’s only really the tip of the iceberg. Asking what you can use the metaverse for will, in the very near future of Web3, be just like asking what you can use the blockchain for, what can you use the internet for – what do you want to do today, if you could do anything?
The metaverse in the entertainment industry
Video game giants like Square Enix, the creators of Final Fantasy, are keen to invest in blockchain and metaverse technologies.
Famously, Mark Zuckerberg has pivoted the function of his entire company toward the metaverse – and entertainment industry executives like Nintendo’s retired American boss Reggie Fils-Aime are keen to move blockchain in gaming forward.
Yet the metaverse actually has plenty to offer every entertainment industry – not just video games. Metaverse cinemas, with no physical space constrictions and tickets for movies minted on the blockchain, can revitalise the flagging moviegoing industry.
Metaverse concerts by top artists can create safe and immersive spaces for established and new acts to make beautiful music. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg are incredibly excited by the opportunities of the metaverse too.
Does this mean that the metaverse is only going to be the playground of the rich and famous when it comes to entertainment? Not at all. Remember, the true power of blockchain technology like this comes from decentralization.
That means an artist building a 3D model of a dragon in the metaverse can potentially be as successful as an experienced video game programmer building one of their own. There’s no gatekeeping here to restrict talent. An indie musician just starting out can command the same, or even bigger, audiences as the likes of Snoop and his metaverse compatriots.
Decentralization offers egalitarianism in creativity online for perhaps the first time – and because this artistry is locked into the blockchain, we have the chance to eliminate digital piracy for perhaps the first time in the internet’s history.
With Web3, creatives and their audiences will enjoy deeper and more meaningful connections, cutting out middlemen who take massive cuts of artists’ earnings for utilising their platforms.
The metaverse and business
Not a single business on this entire planet has made it into the 2020s without facing disruption – be that from the global health crisis, armed conflicts arising around the world, or the worrying skyrocketing statistics of cybercrime. In fact, even the world’s leading law enforcement agencies seem unable to combat cybercrime today.
Whatever industry you’re in and whatever kind of business you operate – from a family business to a multinational enterprise – the metaverse promises to unlock incredible opportunities for you.
Does this mean opening a storefront in Decentraland and trying to encourage people to visit your bricks and mortar store? Not quite – although that could be a fun marketing idea.
Instead, the metaverse has plenty to offer businesses at the functional as much as the promotional end. For example, while many of us are weary of remote work meetings by now, the metaverse can create a greater sense of presence and togetherness.
A more immersive metaverse meeting environment can minimise the distractions that plague other kinds of remote meetings, while also promoting team togetherness and letting ideas bounce naturally off one another. Using metaverse technology, it can be easier for managers to gauge if participants in the meeting are engaged and present, too.
This can also help when doing deals with companies from anywhere in the world. With blockchain technology unlocking smart contracts, which function trustlessly and are free from the potential for foul play, the metaverse presents an incredible place for entrepreneurs to discuss venture funding capital and give presentations – or for realtors to give over property contracts or conduct like-for-like tours of real-world premises.
Customers can experience your products in a more immersive way than a mere web page or video review could ever promote, too. Better yet, all of these ideas we’ve discussed are safe and secure, powered by decentralized blockchain technology and Web3 that eliminates so many of the cybercrime risks derailing well intended businesses today.
Is the metaverse just for making money?
While the metaverse unlocks incredible potential for creatives and for businesses, as well as people just wanting to have a good time, it would be cynical to suggest that anyone’s incentives for using this Web3 technology are all about making money.
A double-edged sword in any conversation about blockchain technology is that its most famous success story is Bitcoin, the world’s first mainstream cryptocurrency. As such, there can be misconceptions that all blockchain technologies need to be money-makers for them to be viable.
To believe this is to sell the metaverse short of so much potential. In truth, it’s a platform for expression and personal liberty, a step beyond anything we have ever seen before, including the internet in its entirety.
That’s because decentralization and the blockchain provide avenues for people to freely express themselves in ways no company can shut down, no government can censor and no marginalised groups in our society ever need to feel alienated by.
Creating meaningful connections
Indeed, the metaverse can simply be for escapism. People unhappy in their real lives can, much like the Ready Player One comparison we opened our article today with, immerse themselves into an alternate reality where their dreams are easily in reach.
Yet people in search of personal fulfilment and improvement, or even wisdom and inspiration, can likewise use the metaverse to discuss philosophy, share art and exchange life experiences.
Forget the cold hollowness of forum posts and tweets. The metaverse empowers conversations closer to fireside chats or town hall meetings, where people can debate and theorise no matter their place in the world or their background.
Furthermore, with data and personal privacy now a rarity rather than a right in the world of today, the metaverse gives many of us the chance to begin anew. That’s because the blockchain and decentralization make safe and effective anonymity far more simple to realise, and everyone who participates in the metaverse can choose how much or little of their physical-world selves they are willing to share.
Experiments, ideas, inventions and potential
The metaverse is still in its infancy, and many of the applications for this blockchain technology simply haven’t been thought of yet. It could well be that you have ideas for the metaverse far beyond anything else that’s yet been seen, and need a partner to help bring those visions to life.
Is this a call to action leading into a ‘contact us’ form, you may ask? Perhaps – but don’t forget, you can visit us in our Metaspace to discuss your ideas right now! This is what is vital to understand about the metaverse – it’s not some far-off dream scheme being cooked up by Meta, Square Enix, Microsoft or other corporate giants.
It’s here right now, being built by decentralized stakeholders who all have entitlement to the creations, inventions, innovations and entrepreneurship that they produce.
For the first time in decades, a technology is at our collective fingertips that promises to fulfil our wishes, no matter how big we dream. If the internet has never been able to handle your business plans, Web3 can help – if you’ve never dared share your creativity for fear of piracy and greedy businesses exploiting your talents, the blockchain conveys true ownership.
How, then, to make the most of the metaverse? It’s truly up to you.
