THE METAVERSE

You've likely heard about this word on the internet, amongst tech companies and non-technical corporations, and how it will bring in a new age of digital connectivity and e-commerce not just amongst companies but also amongst friends and family

Tech companies are getting more and more involved in it as Microsoft's massive US$68.7billion game giant spoke about the company's desire to fit into the new interactive space. Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg also showed interest in it and changed rebranded its lead companies name to "meta"

Non-tech companies are also betting big on it as Nike's new trademarks to sell virtual Air-Jordans and so on Exciting right?

It might be quite tricky to understand and really crazy to fathom but another hand its really exciting too so NO WORRIES in this article I'd unpack it in for you to understand

The big question now is WHAT IS METAVERSE?

The term was established by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 SciFi novel Snow Crash which he wrote to describe a virtual world. In Snow Crash, the metaverse is a virtual-reality world where activities are carried out exactly or similarly to the real world. Activities like buying and selling virtual estates, work, play, hanging out, shopping, club, attending meetings and classes, etc(just almost everything we can do in real life) with the use of virtual reality(VR) googles.

The metaverse focuses on "presence" which is feeling like you're there and feeling like other people is there with you. In the metaverse world, you can choose to go sea-surfing, go to parties, hiking, and other fun stuff with friends and feel like you're actually doing all of these even though they aren't there with you in real life. This is made possible with the use of VR goggles where users inhabit avatars (the digital representation of a person) and this can take on any form as the user pleases (3D, animated, photo or even a sketch). The avatars are audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with one another in the metaverse. This version already exists in Video games eg the early 1900s multiplayer online games titled The Second Life, World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Roblox, etc.

Having talked about VR and 3D avatars in the metaverse, Augmented reality( AR) wouldn't be left behind AR is an enhanced version of the real physical world achieved by the use of visual elements, the use of sounds via technology. An example is a photography and editing, editing is made possible through the use of visual elements to enhance beauty or appearance making it look real...that's the Augmented reality

Now I've given you a primary understanding of what the metaverse is the next big question is

IS THE METAVERSE BEYOND VIDEO GAMES?

Yes! It is.

The Metaverse holds a promising future of making life easier, creative, fun, faster, more comfortable, etc. Let's see how

BUSINESS-WISE The metaverse is bent on creating better work experiences, making them less tedious and exciting. During the COVID pandemic year, many businessmen and women worked, communicated, and held meetings on Zoom which was regarded as a relief since we were forced to stay at home. true! But some little problems were involved. Problems like everyone wanting to speak at the same time, not knowing when to speak cause you might be interrupted by someone else, and more than often we experience a lag in the network thereby disrupting the meeting or hearing ability same goes with WhatsApp calls. With the Metaverse, it could be more interesting to hold a meeting where we can visually see ourselves, assemble in a conference hall or table, and talk like we are actually right beside each other making communication easier.

EDUCATIONAL-WISE In the Metaverse, teachers have complete control of students' interactions, bullying, and distractions and help students to be focused on learning. Imagine being a class where Historical artifacts are being taught and instead of theories about the past suddenly the whole class is transformed into a typical world of a museum where students tend to see this artifact. Learning becomes easy and fun. The VR, AR, and the 3D world is promising for porting children to new environments that they couldn't have visited or explored making the class more active than passive and we all know that use of visuals helps knowledge stick to the brain in an exciting way.

A NEW DIGITAL ECONOMY

I mentioned earlier that different human activities are going to take place in the metaverse YES! Not exempting buying and selling. In the beginning of this article, I talked about Nike selling virtual air Jordans, I didn't mention Walmark preparing to sell virtual merchandise in online stores.

I mentioned earlier that different human activities are going to take place in the metaverse YES! Not exempting buying and selling. In the beginning of this article, I talked about Nike selling virtual air Jordans, I didn't mention Walmark preparing to sell virtual merchandise in online stores. businesses are also getting involved in the metaverse meaning that there will be a digital marketplace just as we have in the real world and the most exciting thing is that not only companies are allowed to sell or can sell their products online or in the metaverse. I CAN ALSO! I can be a creator or a business owner on the metaverse this has been made possible by NFTs (Nonfungible Tokens) which can exist in form of art, music, etc anything I wish to exhibit and bid in the digital marketplace without having to bother about the impersonation of my goods or theft cause digital economy here will run on blockchain networks showing authenticity, validity and also the original owner of the products so in the metaverse it is safe to market our goods freely and make profits from it

MAKE PROFITS? HOW? IS THERE A DIGITAL CURRENCY? Of course Yes! In any marketplace, Money is a means of exchange for goods right? The same applies to the digital economy, cryptocurrency will be used to purchase goods in the digital space. They are already in use now, it'd also move to the metaverse.

WHY DO I NEED TO OWN VIRTUAL PROPERTIES WHEN IN REAL LIFE I WOULDN'T OWN THEM? The metaverse is aimed at somehow replacing the social media making social connectivity appear more real meaning that hopefully lots of people will move to the metaverse. It'd be a whole planet on its own and of course, you'd be meeting lots of people too. Just like the media today, everyone wants to look good and stand out. The same applies to the metaverse, we would all want our avatars to be dressed in nice clothes, nice shoes, make nice hair, etc in the metaverse. It's going to be so much like our normal lives making people buy and own virtual properties.

The metaverse is quite interesting, right? However, there's a saying that "whatever has an advantage also has a disadvantage" No doubt the metaverse might also have some challenging and negative impact, I'd like to know what you think about the metaverse if it'd be useful or not. Please do well to drop your share your opinions in the comment section and also look forward to my next article cause it'd be an interesting one. Thanks for reading.